This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We spent the weekend doing touristy things - we visited the aquarium and had lunch at Atlantis the Palm, and spent the afternoon napping on the beach there
; we spent a day at the souks, and bought some saffron (paid 45AED (£8) this time for 5 grams for the top quality stuff), a few pashiminas (paid 30AED, around £5, each for the top quality ones, and less for the thinner ones) and no gold, sadly. We went up Burj Khalifa one evening and watched the music fountain from above, and it was excellent. I had visited the fountain before - but this time having been a few more times (it's not far from my hotel), I realised just how much I will miss it! I think I might have to Youtube it when I'm back in the UK 
Had a load check done (thanks to gnjb) a couple of days before the flight, as dummy bookings have not been returning any results other than an error message that no flight was operating on that date, and by that time the flight was shown as completely full, with 0 all across the cabins
By that time I was really quite keen to get back home -- it's quite a long time to not have seen the hubby, and also whilst I was away, work was being done to the house again so I couldn't wait to see the result. With this in mind, I did not want any risk of being bumped off the flight, so I did OLCI as soon as I could, and dragged my friend to the airport nice and early.
As there was a queue at the economy check-in, I used the PE one with my Ag card. The lady was very pleasant, and later it transpired that she kindly tagged my bag with PE, too, so it ended up being one of the first ones to arrive
Passport control and security were pretty quick, and we were through to duty free before long. My friend was after some sweets to take back to her office, so I took a little stroll there with her. To my greatest surprise and excitement, there were tubs and bags of Maltesers Teasers sitting on the shelves
You know what this means, right? No more rummaging through Celebration tubs for those elusive red wrappers this xmas Time flew when you are in duty free - shortly after we finished shopping it was time to go to gate. C13 is one of the closest gates to duty free - it was literally just upstairs of it. It didn't take long for the empty seats at the gate to fill up, and it sure looked like the flight was going to be very full indeed.
Boarding was organised and prompt, and we took our seats on G-VLUV Lady Love. First impression was excellent - she looked brand spanking new and positively shiny! I'm not sure whether she was refitted lately (a quick search showed that she joined the fleet in 2012 - does anyone know whether she has had a facelift recently?),but the seats look newly reupholstered, and Vera looked different, too.
As predicted, the flight was completely full, with no empty seat in sight. I must admit that it's pleasing to see VS filling the plane on such a competitive route for once, and gave me some reassurance on the viability of it.
Take-off was half an hour late due to some issues with the airspace (apparently it was temporarily closed for 20 mins) but we made up the time during the flight. Thanks to the gate to gate Vera, I hardly noticed the delay.
Food was served shortly after take-off, and to my delight, my absolute favourite flight meal, a Malaysian chicken curry (last sampled by me on the VS401 back in May), was served
I almost felt nervous that it wouldn't be as good as last time, but it was just as tasty as I remembered 
The flight was smooth, and drama-free. I watched Jersey Boys (very average, and not as good as the show IMO) and the Inbetweeners 2 (hilarious and much better than the first film), and a few Destination Guides as usual. Some lovely Mars ice lollies were served mid-flight, and gratefully received. I even managed a nap for an hour and a half, before afternoon tea was served not long before landing -- it was nice enough, too.
Landing took a while (we had to go round twice as LHR was busy), and because of some cough/sinus issue I had been suffering, landing was quite painful in my right ear. It bothered me enough to mention it to the CC, and asked for her advice. I was so glad I did, as she brought me 3 lots of Love hearts!
They sure softened the blow - I think all that sugar helped 
. After circling for 20 minutes, we landed and taxied to the gate in the slightly misty LHR. When I looked out of the window, what did I see? The magical letters of V-GNEW just to the right of us!
I told my friend that this is VS's very own dreamliner, Birthday Girl, and she looked at me in disbelief I was pretty excited to be up close with Birthday Girl, and do hope that I'll meet her properly soon All in all an excellent flight in economy with VS, despite the plane being completely full. CC coped really well with the busy flight, as I didn't noticed any late collection of trays etc. They were highly visible, and I must make a comment about how lovely their cardigans are! Has anyone else got their eyes on those? And don't get me started on those lovely red coats... Swoon...
As mentioned earlier, my luggage arrived pretty quickly, and a quick taxi ride away I was home! I'm finally pleased to report that my kitchen is now done (only about 4 months behind schedule), and my hallway, stairs, and sewing room are also ready apart from a bit of decorating
. Poor hubby has been keeping the contractors (my father in law and his mate) entertained and fed, tidying up, and cleaning after all the works (all on top of him demanding job), so I came back to a lovely home Some might say that I've trained him well 
