This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
It finally did and after flying in from JFK just two days before it really was time to be organised and plan well. The day before all five of us travelled down from wonderful Yorkshire to Gatwick to stay overnight - thanks to East Coast, a very talkative taxi driver and a jammed packed Gatwick Express. When we all arrived in the pouring rain at the Gatwick Courtyard hotel - we all a little travel tired to say the least
Greeted warmly and settled in before enjoying dinner and a few drinks before a reasonable retirement to bed
![][|)](./images/smilies/icon_smile_sleepy.gif "Sleepy"){kind=icon}
Up with the lark at 5am to catch the 6am shuttle to the South Terminal, we had decided to walk but the rain still pouring down changed our plans though to be charged £4 each for the 2min journey is somewhat sour tasting for this particular Yorkshire family....though we did stay dry
Arrived into the VS check in area to be greeted with a closed UC desk area - a supervisor quickly came over and apologised for the delay in opening up the desk and got things organised with only a few minutes delay - though why it was not open at close to 0630 is kind of strange and we were told it was normally
Checked in by a functional check in agent who was probably daunted with five people and six large cases to check in after been told to get a wriggle on by her supervisor
She was polite and wished us a good flight and we made our way up to the Premium security channel which worked like a dream - no queues and friendly staff - through in a couple of minutes 
Walked around the corner to the Clubhouse to be greeted warmly and though we were not the first in, we were pretty damn close
The female members of the party booked in for a spa treatment each whilst breakfast and champagne were ordered - enjoyed by all. Some redheads later and spa treatments completed we wandered down to the gate (some 15mins away) to join Cosmic Girl who was waiting patiently for us all just after 9am
We had specifically selected on the upper deck knowing for the last couple of months that this outbound flight would be operated by a LHR configured aircraft. As we passed through the gate area, my Dad had his seat changed from 3K to 3A as 3K was broken and soon we were at the door been greeted warmly with "your all the upstairs gang are you!!
Arrived upstairs to be greeted warmly by the CC member looking after us all - he quickly provided champagne and handed out newspapers, magazines and made sure we were comfortable. A delay of 25mins was confirmed from the gate due to some extra "catering items" been required for the flight - more on that later in the TR
Once pushed back the FSM made a very brief visit to the UC section to make sure everyone had their seatbelts fastened and then disappered again not to be seen until the afternoon tea service
Airborne at 1045 and with a flight time of 8hrs15mins confirmed with 273 passengers and 17 crew on board, Cosmic crew reached into the blue sky above all those rain clouds to start our journey to paradise....
It took about 45mins for the IFE system to be switched on as it was turned on quite quickly after departure but failed and it was quickly was established that the entire aircraft had blank screens - our hearts sank as the thought of 8hrs without a single film or comedy was just about to turn anyone to drink but a reboot all was in good working order and remained that way all flight long....
Our fantastic CC member handed out the newly designed menus (the purple has gone to be replaced with a distinctive white patterned cover) - no use of names and no recognition of AU status but other than that he was superb along with his colleague who was also very attentive throughout. It was clear that the upstairs section do not get the personal welcome from the CSS/FSM as happens downstairs on the LHR 744s but hey ho - if we had not received top notch service it might be an issue and I would shouting lack of consistency but the two CC members certainly made up for it
Hot towels offered and soon drink orders were taken and were dispatched with crisps with both refreshed more than once without even saying a word
Lunch orders were taken and though I have lived through this menu is all shapes and sizes since November - I ordered the Pea Soup and thai chicken curry - both superb as always. Tables were laid for lunch at just after noon with wine, water and bread all offered. The CSS came upstairs to help with the wine service but was not needed as our two hard working crew members had everything under control so she returned downstairs.
With the water and wine glasses never empty, I moved onto dessert with the warm sticky toffee pudding enjoyed. It was good to see the cheese trolley in full swing for just the nine passengers upstairs and extra cheese was offered with very generous port measures
After a quick trip around V-port we all decided to visit the bar which was quiet and we enjoyed a good couple of hours enjoying some drinks and talking to the crew - it was mentioned that only five bottles of champagne had been loaded so the extra "catering items" which caused our delay was in fact additional bottles of champagne arriving for the flight - I am pleased to report Lanson was free flowing all flight long and not even a word about stocks running low as had happened on some flights recently.....
When we first arrived at the bar the FSM was hovering around and asked a CC member to cross off on the manifest who was at the bar - never happened before and not too sure what it was done for and the CC member remarked it was new to her too...
After ice-cream had been delivered us whilst at the bar (mango sorbet or vanilla) we returned upstairs to get some rest. Not long afterwards the afternoon tea trolley arrived with the FSM also helping out - to be fair she was very nice and chatted to us as she was also a fellow "Northerner" - the afternoon tea trolley went down really well and I really like the individual cake stands - refills of tea were offered and the sandwiches were fresh - those little cakes really are nice too....
With afternoon tea out of the way = lovehearts and hot towels were offered - the cabin was secured and insect spray released as we made out approach to BGI via the West coast and along the south coast....touching down at 1400 local time - 8hrs15mins since leaving LGW.
The downside is sitting upstairs is that you disembark pretty late but we were guided to L1 door when we came downstairs to beat some of the crowd leaving from L2 - the humid Barbados sun welcomed us as we went down the steps with a cheery goodbye from the crew who were also enjoying a rare 4 night stay in Barbados.
In summary, a truly fantastic crew upstairs - having two crew members for nine passengers ensured very attentive service. I have already written to Crawley Towers to ensure they receive praise for been true VS ambassadors. The FSM was a little distant and did not make it upstairs until the afternoon tea service, some 7hrs into the flight but she was friendly and liked a joke.... this latest experience certainly got our 10 night stay in Barbados off to a flying start.
Thanks again VS - another good experience.
Jon
