This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
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This trip was to be a very special one for us. We were taking our two sons (28 and 24) on a memorable experience. Neither had flown very often and certainly not first class and as one is a lowly paid Chef in Maidenhead, the other just passed his last exams and qualified as an accountant, also in Maidenhead, neither would be able to afford a holiday like this for some time. We wanted to give them a taste of the good life so that they had some experience and could set themselves some future goals.
Both left tearful girlfriends behind (soon forgotten, I might add!)and stayed with us the night before.
The CDC's arrived on time midday (12pm). Unfortunately there was a mix up with the passenger list. Hubby was listed as sitting in both cars and son No 1 not appearing on list at all, even though his name was the lead name for car no.2. After some consultation and mobile ringing to Virgin etc, it was established that someone at Virgin had got it wrong, but 2 cars had been booked and they confirmed we could go ahead. I had rung Virgin the day before to check on the cars and the advisor confirmed all the details correctly to me, so how it went wrong only God knows.
Anyway, the car journey didn't take too long, the M4 was fairly quiet until we were approaching the slip road. There had been a big crash further down the motorway and the police had blocked the motorway just after the slip road, so all cars now being diverted down the
slip road!!
But, our intrepid driver knew a short cut [^], so where all the cars were turning right, we turned left! I must say I had not a clue where we were going, but we somehow ended up on the perimeter road and very soon driving up the ramp. I had son No 2 in the car. His face was a picture when he spotted the Upper Class sign. We pulled up and luggage taken. I'm sure the last time we travelled by CDC, the staff checked our passports whilst we were still in the car. Not that it mattered really, we were soon out of the car and ushered into the lounge area. Car No 2 had pulled in now and we waited for them to join us. Two sons were quite impressed at the service and while we were waiting for the tickets, son No 2 asked if he could go outside for a cigarette. He was politely told No. (We decided not to tell him that he wouldn't be able to smoke for at least 20 hours! [}:)]).
Once through security, son No 2 set off the alarm and had to be checked out thoroughly. His watch was the offending article!
Up in the lift, (I like a little sit down!) then to the front desk to have our names checked and into the Clubhouse.
Well, to say that the sons were gobsmacked is an understatement!
As it was now about 1.45pm, we headed for the dining area and were shown to a booth seating table. We ordered Kir Royales, then later the sons ordered beer/lager. I think between us we ordered most things on the menu! I had the Potato and watercress soup, followed by the Steak and Guiness pie, very nice too. Hubby had fishcakes followed by Vegetable jalfrezi, which although a little dry was tasty. Sons had the Clubhouse burger and chips and a fish dish, can't remember what it was now. All had the Chocholate fondant dessert.
Service was very good, waitress was friendly and kept topping up our drinks.
Fully replete, the boys went off for a wander after the meal. Spotted them on their mobiles. They couldn't wait to tell their girlfriends what a great place the clubhouse was.
As we had a few hours to kill, well 5,[:D]you have to make the most of it!, a game or two of pool, hubby went off to acquire the cues and then they took it in turns to play each other. I was quite happy ensconced in my comfortable seat with a mojito or two. We eventually moved over to the window seating area. Yes, we had our photos taken sitting in those swinging baskets!, Read some magazines whilst the boys went off to do a bit of duty free shopping. About 4.30pm, I ordered afternoon tea. I noticed that the little petit fours have disappeared from the tea service. I could have sworn last year we had some little cake/biscuit things. I could be mistaken.
6pm we had our treatments, hubby and son no 2 had the hydrating facial and son no 1 a haircut. (I changed it to that when I saw him the night before!)He ran out of time to get a haircut before the start of the holiday. The girls on the desk were very good and were happy to change his treatment. I had a pedicure. After tipping all (the boys don't think about these things!)ordered a large brandy and coke followed by another... Hubby had the same and the boys by now had started on the wine. At 7.30, we all had something from the deli bar as not too fussed about eating later on the plane. The smoked salmon went down nicely! followed by a glass of bubbly.
Eventually we were called to depart and after what seemed a long trek arrived at the gate. Priority boarding in place and soon we were on board. Greeted warmly, jackets taken and bubbly offered and accepted. FA came round quite quickly to take supper orders but I declined. I believe the boys and hubby had theirs at the bar!!!
Basket of goodies offered and breakfast orders taken. Seat area was clean no scratch marks etc. I passed on the ninja outfit and settled down to get some shut eye. I only woke up when we experienced some turbulence and everyone had to go back to their seats.
Woken up for breakfast, coffee, OJ and croissant was fine. Queue for WC not too bad. Took pictures of sons in the their beds, as you do and then settled down for a smooth landing.
The sons again were just blown away by the service and hospitality shown plus the seating arrangement. They have only ever known the cramped economy seating and they are both quite tall. I do believe they have been converted. They kept asking me how much it costs to fly in UC!
We were off the plane quite quickly and the trek to the arrivals and baggage reclaim took forever. But when the cases came , they came all together which is a first. After a quick visit to the duty free, much cheaper in Dubai than Heathrow, our Burj Al Arab rep was waiting to take our cases into a separate luggage van and we were escorted to the Phantom Rolls Royce for our journey to the Burj. As I mentioned at the beginning this was to be a special holiday and the Burj was just the start. We were also going to the Abu Dhabi F1 GP. We had tickets for the 4 days and each night there was a live concert in the Ferrari World concert arena. Beyonce, Kings of Leon, Jamiroquai and Aerosmith.
So, apart from the shaky start with the CDC, the clubhouse experience and the flight has left an indelible mark on the boys. And, a big hole in our bank balance [:I]
Classybird
