This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Returning 12 hours later, the airport was a completely different environment. Trollies attacking from every quarter, parents attempting to control their offspring (driving said trollies) and just mass confusion with what seemed every available space occupied. We quickly made our way to the Travelex Desk and picked up the pre-ordered dosh before turning round in disbelief to see the queue for security control. Although, we had Fastrack stickers from the night before, Fastrack was anything but [n][n], after 5 minutes of it not moving, Mrs Buns & I decided to opt for the upper level security control. This was a wise move and within 10 minutes we were at the Clubhouse Reception and greeted with You again!! and the disappointing news that our flight was delayed by an hour (more Clubhouse time to my mind).
We quickly renewed acquaintances and set about the Classic for me and the Full Monty for Mrs B washed down with the very appealing Mumm champagne. The Clubhouse was pretty full to start with and it was not until the Vegas flight was called that the numbers there showed a marked decrease. Mrs Buns had a Hot Hands treatment and I followed suit and combined with having our shoes shined by the marvellous Jack. It was a welcome start to our short break. An added bonus was Mrs Buns seeing two celebs one a famous footballer and that other a well known TV celeb.
The VS15 is the last flight out of LGW and, rather than make an announcement over the PA, the staff came round and told us all individually that the flight had been called. Making our way through a (by now) less crowded departure lounge; we took the moving walkway to the satellite where our flight awaited. One of the plus factors to come out of Continental moving to the North Terminal is that VS are making use of the gates Continental previously used on the main tier (but alas not for us). Priority boarding was not an issue as there were so few people about by this time and we were both greeted by names as we boarded the aircraft and directed to our seats, 8 & 9A on board Virginia Plain.
Shoe bags and headphones, together with menus were already in position and we placed our bags in the locker above 9A leaving the one above me for the rows 7 and 8 scrum. We were asked if we had travelled before and I replied Can I have a sleep suit please? and the request was promptly attended to. 12 of the 14 upper seats were taken, the lower premium cabin was empty and I was told there were 32 taken upstairs. The economy cabin was relatively empty which prompted the Please keep your own seats for take off.
We pushed back at 13.45 and fairly swift progress was made to the runway and we were soon airborne. The aircraft being Virginia Plain the odyssey IFE system was available and this was switched on almost immediately. However, it was preceded by an announcement that some of the channels would not be available on the flight. I have to admit (being of mature years) that the selection of films did not appeal to me personally and therefore I have not rated this aspect highly on this flight.
Drinks orders were taken soon after and thereafter the meal service commenced with great efficiency with hot towels being handed out. As reported previously, the new UC menu is an improvement; Mrs Buns and I both opted for the prawn cocktail starter, Mrs Buns then following with the lamb and myself opting for the salmon. Neither of us had any complaints and I also has the ice cream and strawberries to finish. After such a fine repast (and the IFE not offering me much, I had forty winks (or it could have been a little more as I missed on the ice cream run).
I was however awake for afternoon tea which was served by the FSM; no criticism of either sandwiches or scones and afterwards took the opportunity to have a chat with the crew about V-Flyer. Some have heard of the site and to others it was a complete revelation. The crew was lively but in no way did this impact on the professionalism of the service on offer.
As with all flights across the Atlantic, the latter part started to become a chore and I was all too grateful for the landing process to begin and I quickly changed back into normal kit for arrival into a very warm Orlando at Gate 83. As we were over an hour late, there was nobody in the Immigration Hall when we arrived and were summoned across to be seen quickly and went to the separate carousel for PE and UC bags. After Customs, went through the usual routine of dropping off the bags then walking through the cordoned off area of the terminal before getting to Baggage Reclaim, where fortunately the bags came through relatively quickly. The journey through the airport took no more than 40 minutes but we were some of the first of the plane.
All in all, a pleasurable flight, a good crew, passable menu but not too good on the IFE
buns
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