V-Flyer

5 wonderful nights at the Jumeriah Beach Hotel and it was time to head home just as Ramadan kicked in! As a side note I would highly recommend JBH. We opted for a balcony room which was a decent size, remote controlled lighting and curtains and a very nice bathroom. Staff were great and the food was superb. We booked when they offered free HB upgrades so we always ate at one of the 15 restaurants. Even if you’re not staying at the hotel I would highly recommend 360 and La Parrilla. La Parrilla is a steak restaurant with a decent rooftop bar on the 25th floor and it was arguably the best steak I have ever eaten. You also have free access to Wild Wadi (waterpark next door) so we spent the majority of the day in a rubber ring going around the lazy river. If you’re not familiar with the Dubai water parks you can access the water slides from the lazy river so for a lot of the rides you don’t need to walk up some rickety old staircase. We spent one day at the Atlantis water park and that was equally as fun! I ended up buying a GoPro (they are cheaper in the UK) in the Mall of the Emirates and popped to the grocery store the same time. I picked up 9 cans of Sprite for 9 Dirhams as opposed to 25 for one in the hotel. A bottle of beer in the hotel was 45dhs (or 3 for 100dhs in the pool bar. I made up my own offer and called it 9 for 300dhs) and about 80dhs for a G&T.

That was one long side note. Apologies.

I woke up with an unexpected hangover on the Thursday morning so we didn’t end up leaving the hotel until 9:30 which got us to the airport at 10:00. A bit close for an on-time 11:10 flight but I ended up booking Marhaba which I highly recommend. You fast track through security. At check-in I enquired about any available upgrades and there was a cash upgrade from Y to J for just over £500 each. On the Uber (very very very very very very cheap) to the airport I remembered my 9 for 300dhs deal at the bar the previous afternoon, bizarrely had only remembered the evenings intake, and I really should have seen the hangover coming… That said, the thought of a bed was far too appealing so we went for it. We didn’t have time for the lounge so settled for a quick trip to Duty Free before boarding.

We were addressed by name on board the A330 (G-VUFO) and we had the added pleasure of our cabin crew being monitored by someone who normally works on the ground. I must say the crew were fantastic on this flight and I genuinely hope they would have been the same if they were being monitored or not. Wishful thinking maybe.

I spent the first two hours pottering around on the laptop editing GoPro videos. I quickly realised once you’ve seen one video of you on a water slide you don’t need a further 64. Up next was lunch and I opted for the salmon, beef and a glass of….. water. Food service was good and the food was okay. When you had the best steak for dinner the night before it’s a tad unfair for me to compare the airline version the following day. In the first 2 hours of the flight there must have been around 7 drink runs. Is that normal? Disappointingly I was just trying to rehydrate myself so it was a water or Coca Cola every time they came around. The OH had champagne and that would be her only as they quickly ran out. Food put me back on track and I started to feel a hell of a lot of a better. Now, this is where the flight got fun.

For the next 5 hours of the flight we opted to sit by the bar. We had a lovely chat with our FSM and we spoke to the lady who was marking her. I explained my ongoing frustration with VS (and airlines in general) and there doesn’t seem to be a consistent product; crew make or break a flight so it was interesting to get her side of the story. The only thing she could say is “we have over 4,000 crew members so it’s difficult…y’know?” Cool.

Before we knew it we had about 4 crewmembers by the bar and we spent the relatively short afternoon flight exchanging stories and generally having a fun time. I would have hated a seat in close proximity if the hangover prevailed. I didn’t bother with the sandwiches but the OH had a salmon sandwich and said it was enjoyable. The crew also sorted her out with a few ice creams which eased the no champagne pain. SFO seems to be a popular choice amongst the crewmembers with Lagos definitely in last place.

I was on Tiger and this eventually changed when the crew decided to try various cocktail mixtures. After two of those mixed with Tiger mixed with the night before it was fair to say I was on another planet. Luckily we stopped the drinks as we were now only 20 minutes from LHR. The flight went so quickly. After landing we were out of the airport with no issues in about 15 minutes. I have no recollection of the Heathrow Express but I have been informed it was fine and like any other journey aboard the HEX. I’m about 1.5miles from PAD so it only costs £10 in an Uber or AddLee – that’s £2 more than our 20 mile trip to the airport in Dubai!

Very enjoyable flight, wonderful crew and two very happy passengers! Roll on next time…

Thanks for the TR. Sounds like it was a great fun flight even with you suffering the after effects from the previous night. Great price on the upgrades too.