V-Flyer

All too soon, the time had come for our return to Blighty! My wife and 2 daughters checked in at the UC desk in MBJ airport and were escorted by a very helpful lady, through the Premium security channel and thence into the new lounge. This is a huge improvement on the old facility and very comfortable. When the time came for us to board, priority boarding was in place and we were quickly into the UC cabin, where we settled down with our pre-flight champers. Unfortunately I have to say, the cabin crew this time were not a patch on those who flew us out. Things started out well enough, but all 3 seemed to lose interest as the flight got underway and, we felt, the crew ended up just “going through the motions” – doing as little as they could get away with. The Jamaicans celebrated Independence Day, with parties and dancing all over the Island the day before our departure and it did cross my mind that the crew may have been partying a bit too hard and were a bit short of sleep! To top it all, the cabin heating was turned up so high during the night, that we all woke up at various times, sweating like the proverbial and gasping for water. Things did not improve when breakfast was served in the morning. I ordered ”the Full English” and was served what I can best describe as a gloopy mess – and one which was stone cold at that, having arrived on a plate that felt as if it must have come straight out of the fridge. I was not offered any bread, croissants or rolls, no salt and pepper shakers, no side plate, no O’ juice, nothing. When I asked for a coffee, a weak, cold revolting beverage arrived; unsurprisingly, I did not ask for a top-up! All in all, on this occasion, not service Sir Richard would have been proud of I think! Not the end of the world and certainly not enough to make us fall out of love with VA, but not great compared with many other flights we have had, all the same!

Thanks once again for the TR. Many people have commented that the return leg on the 'holiday' routes (principally the LGW ones) tends to leave a lot to be desired, especially CC service. I've always found that very interesting as my UC trips are principally to the more business type destinations - JFK, HKG etc, where I rarely see any drop in standards. As you say, perhaps a little too much partying going on, but I would say worth a note to Crawley towers here. With the new CEO in charge, you would hope this sort of feedback might get some more attention than it did in the past...

Even so, it sounds like bliss compared with my flight on Monarch to Faro earlier this week!