This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
We meandered thorugh the A zone Virgin check in area and up to the landside Travelex to collect currency. The fast track security at a guess saved us maybe 15 minutes versus the regular line with there being a queue of only 5/6 seemingly regular travellers ahead of us. This resulted in a car to clubhouse time of only around 25 minutes which we were impressed with!
At the CH entrance I left the 2 names for guest access I'd promised via V-Flyer, and headed over to the Cowshed to confirm our appointments (hair for Mrs NS, shave for me). We'd allowed a generous amount of time for the journey to Heathrow so had little over 3 hours to kill before the flight. Naturally a drink at the bar seemed due. I was surprised by the relatively slow service on this occasion, and the fact that the waitress had little grasp of English - she didn't seem to understand 'Cobra Beer' nor 'Gin and Tonic' - was disappointing.
Having checked with the concierge desk this flight was to be a goodnight service, so we decided to make sure we had a proper meal in the CH - I chose the Clubhouse Burger followed by some cookies, and both hit the spot.
Noting MDVipond's thread on a lack of photos appearing on the site recently I thought I'd pop up to the garden to get some sunset pics of the T3 ramp, only to find this area closed - are they having problems with 'rogue' smokers up there? So I'm afraid I was limited in the pics I took. With this being our first CH visit since the smoking ban we decided to relax in the comfortable gallery area overlooking the planes. It seems that American Airlnes 777s always occupy the nearest gate when I go through T3 which is a shame as it would be a great chance for VS to showcase their aircraft - is this outside of an airlines control and purely down to chance?
Next it was time for my shave and I was interested to be told the neck and shoulder massage has been cut from the treatment, to be replaced by a post shave balm. I was concerned by this, immediately thinking the bean counters have been working, only to be surprised by a great shave lasting just short of 30 minutes. I freshened up with a steam shower whilst Mrs NS finished having her hair done. This was an interesting experience as the shower door didn't close totally and the escaping steam kept causing the toilet to flush - presumably as they're sensor controlled!!
Being the night of the England vs France rugby match we thought that a few drinks prior to the match (at least the first half) would be in order. The lounge was filling up, notably by those on the JNB flight which must have been full that night. We found a seat in the Lodge area which was showing the Rugby, soon to realise that the bulk of the screens plus the cinema were showing it!! We ordered drinks and I was told that they'd run out of Cobra (???!!!) which was a slight let down.
The England Try was met by a resounding cheer from most parts of the lounge, but it was only too soon after that our flight was called. I managed to hang on until the second call before we were to make our way to gate 4.
Priority boarding was in practice, fortunately, as the flight appeared to be busy. There was a short hold up in the airbridge of a minute or two but we were soon being welcomed on board. Drinks requests were promptly dealt with by the crew and sleep suits were also being handed out. I politely declined on the sleep suit... [:$]
My intention was to maximise my sleep on this short flight so as soon as we were in the air I had my bed turned down. Bose QC2's and some chilled tunes and I was soon asleep. In hindsight this surprised me and having drifted off so easily can be put down to the cabin tempertaure having been just right on this flight rather than the all too common suana environment.
I woke after about 2 hours to find my V:Port iMap wasn't working. This is one of the few features of any IFE I use and it annoyed me as without asking the crew (or a sleeping girlfriend, which wouldn't be a wise choice) I had no idea of the time to destination. So I wandered back to the bar where another passenger, and a crew member were talking. I had a drink and a chat with them and was soon sleepy again so returned to my cosy bed!
I woke with 30 minutes to go by which time the cabin was brightly lit by the early morning sunshine. Crew straight away asked me have my seat converted back; I just had time to brush my teeth - pushing my luck since the seat belt sign had already been switched on!
Final approach was joined by a sensational view of Dubai. The landing was smooth in the early morning air, and the taxi to the remote stand area used by Virgin was brief, with transfer buses already being in place - Heathrow take note!!
The immigration queues were long - perhaps 20 people deep - a lot of German passengers were in line, but the Fast Track queue was light. We were through within 10 minutes to the duty free shop and grabbed a bottle of Gin and some Champagne. If you haven't visited Dubai, drinks are expensive so grab some duty free's on arrival!
With luggage already coming out when we got to the belt, CDC being ready for us, and very light traffic, we were in our Hotel within 65 minutes of landing!!
Conclusions -
1) CDC and DTCI are priceless
2) The Clubhouse is great but some waiting staff let it down
3) V:Port was unreliable as ever - having accepted this for so long I may now put in a letter to Virgin CS
4) Goodnight service = little inflight catering so eat before flying
5) The UCS continues to be the best J seat in the sky as far as I'm concerned.
