V-Flyer

having blagged a miles upgrade from Ec for only £200+ and 25000 I always looked on this flight as a bargain.
OLCI hit a major snag as a new passport meant the computer couldnt put my old visa togther with it and kept kicking me out saying no ESTA no fly (could be a catchy song). eventually sorted but only got SEQ24 to my shame .
friday came and as my friend/driver had another early pick up I arrived at CI around 730ish. very empty and seen straight after a PAX who was half way through checking in the kitchen sink. very pleasant member of staff, made sure I knew where premium security (very good and very quick ) were and within a few minutes I was at the CH.

A very friendly and cheerful greeting , a quick enquiry if I knew where things were and with a 'welcome back' I was in.
the CH was fairly quiet, service good with a cappucino and OJ quickly served. I booked a massage for 9.15 and then settled into a full breakfast minus black pudding AND exploding tomato (" can you save it a Mr Slinky will be by soon to claim it")

the 3 hours passed quite quickly so I decided to wander down to gate 13, straight through priority and as boarding had just started I made straight for the plane. The forward EC and PE were already loading so a bit of a fight through. Very cheerful greeting from friendly lady and before I could even settle a drink was offered. Now its a well known fact I am weak when a drink is offered but I had a bit of a jippy tum from some prawns the night before so being sensible I declined and stuck to water.

not being Gold I hadnt expected a name check but it became noticeable no one got one. the cabin filled with 11 adults then horror a young couple and a screamer arrived. you could see 10 faces going 'oh no' but to be fair the lad was very well behaved the whole flight and caused no trouble at all.

we pushed back a minute early with 352 PAX and were soon off into the gray cloudy skies. A few bumps and as soon as the seat belt sign was off drinks and crisps were delivered. OK I succembed and had the Tempranillo which was very nice. The FSM appeared and helped served but little interaction noted.

after a while menus handed out and contents run through. the graze was available 'whenever you feel like a snack' but i went for the soup (not half bad) , beef (ok bit tasteless and the mash -watery) and sticky toffee pudding (delicious) aided by another couple of vinos.
I am not a cheese man so declined but it was interesting to watch the service. My opinion, on the 747 it causes no real incovenience and appears a nice touch and means the crew can serve everyone ion one 'run'. Picking up on another point from recent comments about changes -everyone had the main meal and I did not see one 'graze' meal served. so how muuch wastage is that ?

after dinner I sat at the bar and had a nice chat with a couple from Weymouth who were headed to disney with daughter, SIL and 2 grandkids and we were joined by the FSM. he was very pleasant and friendly and we had a good chat . he had recently been qualified on the 330 ("smaller and slower"), thought the new UC was 'well over due' (we were on Virgina Plain which is going in next for a refit next week), wasnt too sure how the new PE/EC upstairs would go down but admitted deplaning the 747 at MCO was always an issue with the small EC cabin getting off first. The other UC CC a younger lad joined us and as he had a friend on the 'inferno' recently we discussed that. he admitted they are trained to shout loudly and 'push', the impression I got was they all felt that everything had been done properly and were a bit p****d by the media coverage. we had a good laugh over the 'I knew something was wrong cos the plane wobbled on take off comment' , his response was 'no really hmmm could that be the wind ' with the merest hint of sarcasm

after a while I decided to try and sleep which I managed an hour of. watched a bit of TV -film choice was awful. then afternoon tea arrived.
again i wanted to observe bearing in mind recent discussions over the changes.
My opinion, its all too fussy. the CC have to mess around with those silly cake stands AND hand out plates. it would be far easier just to use the plates and I didnt hear one 'ohhhh a cake stand how lovely'
sarnies -ok, scone nice is about all that can be said. more style than substance.

anyway we eventually stated descent into MCo arriving a few minutes late.
usually I try and sit in 79K and be first off. not this time.
36 PE pax from upstairs, 16 plus all the EC downstairs in front PLUS oh great we arrive in the hall to find the MAN flight has beaten us in.
an hour and a half later I manged to reunite with my bag

so a quick summary.
Ground crew , check in and ch . Superb
CC - very good, friendly etc all that was missing (if I were a gold) was a personal greeting.
Seat - ok but tired and tatty
Food - good not spectacular
IFE -awful
deplaning -bad

so compared to my usual PE was it that much better. honestly not really . for me the main points on a flight are a) seat comfort and b) getting off quick. yes of course the UC is a better seat but they delay getting off really was not good.

however all in all -as is normally the case a good flight made better by the human element

Thanks for the TR

There are times that I feel I could spend my entire holiday in the Gatwick Clubhouse as the staff there are so good Good that the service on board picked up after loosing the initiative on boarding, and as we all know, those 747 workhorses now are in need of that refresh. Only hope that VS don't overdo the publicity when they come back

Your MCO experience mirrors ours and does seem to indicate that staff levels need some thought

buns

Great TR flabound. Getting off the plane at MCO after PE and some EC would would seriously p** me off too and then to be faced with a lengthy wait in the arrivals hall, yuk. Makes me realise how lucky we was back in March when travelling also on VS27 and arrived to find an empty immigration

At least you are back in a lovely warm and sunny climate. The rain in the uk continues .. on and on and on.

Great TR with some very valid points. I had a superb flight out to MIA recently, but only an average flight back - consistency is still a problem.

The FSM is supposed to greet each passenger by name whilst handing out the menus and explaining the service and the operation of the suite to first timers, so he wasn't doing his job there.

Thanks for the TR, seems pretty poor that the whole upstairs cabin were let off before you in upper, I was under the impression that they first let off the downstairs mini cabin and upper class pax, then the upstairs PE cabin?

Cheers for a great TR, Flabound I always wonder why representatives from VS don't read this forum as they would see that there are a couple of fundamental frustrations for PAX

Will be interesting to see what the refits do for the LGW/MAN a/c and if they have been as oversold as Ratechaser says the new UCDS has

Thanks again you lucky Floridian...sooooooo wet here today

So Virginia Plain is in next week for a re-fit? Does that mean VROM is back next week then?!

to answer a couple of questions.
the CSS handed out menus and explained them and the seats. FSM not seen.to be fair he was a really nice guy and very friendly just not hugely proactive in te PR stakes.
the comment was 'this ones going in for refit as the other one is back next week'

oh and if anyone needs to know its 88 here today :-)

flabound wrote:to answer a couple of questions.
the CSS handed out menus and explained them and the seats. FSM not seen.to be fair he was a really nice guy and very friendly just not hugely proactive in te PR stakes.
the comment was 'this ones going in for refit as the other one is back next week'

oh and if anyone needs to know its 88 here today :-)

Thanks! Well that was quick re-fitting! Enjoy the hol