This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
A good few hours were spent doing our normal last day routine – namely Islands of Adventure, with a good lunch at Mythos, then it was time to head off to the airport. Not a lot to be said about the MCO experience, apart from the normal comment about the ever ineffective TSA. Some people were trying to get through the Families / Medical Assistance line (no queue) to make flights that were departing soon – but the “guard” at the entrance to this lane was having none of it. She was constantly heard saying “I know just how to do my job” when people were making their opinions known. Much as I dislike the TSA, I do know that if there is one place you keep your mouth shut in a US airport, it’s in the security line. Over in the main queue, a pax behind us dared to sneak under the tensa-barrier into the next line, which he thought was shorter. Unfortunately for him, a TSA agent saw him do this, so not only was he moved back to our line, but back a further 10 places for punishment.
A pleasant enough hour and a bit followed in the Delta Sky Lounge (after obligatory T10 shopping in duty free). A word of warning for Florida visitors – some places, notably duty free at the airport & Ralph Lauren factory outlets try to charge your credit card in GBP when they realize you’re from the UK. I did a quick calculation and it seems they were offering about $1.39 to the pound today in duty free – not good. Make sure you ask to be charged in dollars (especially if you have a credit card that does not charge for foreign transactions).
We boarded bang on time at 17:25 and were welcomed onboard a very Hot Lips. It was warm onboard – the plane had been baking in the Florida sunshine for a few hours with only the air-con supported by the APU running. The crew were in the galley fanning themselves with safety cards. (All the window blinds on the left hand side of the cabin were closed as well to try and keep the temperature down). Champagne was offered and duly accepted, the pre-flight service did seem to go into self service mode a bit then, as the crew were still cooling themselves in the galley. Still, they had left a couple of extra glasses of champagne on the bar, so we felt obliged to sample them. G-VROS was on the next gate (glad we did not get her for the flight – see recent trip reports / comments on here!) G-VXLG & G-VGAL were also in attendance at MCO. We pushed back within a minute of schedule – there are 457 pax onboard, 15 cabin crew & 2 on the flight deck. 7h 23m estimated flight time to MAN, with a Southerly course over the ocean towards Dublin, then up to the Isle of Man, then make the descent into MAN.
One of the PE crew moved a pax from the front row of PE downstairs to the empty UC seat next to me before take-off. Does not seem to be any relation to the CC member (unlike the upgrades on our outbound flight) but the lady in question is elderly and uses a walking stick – so probably a “comfort” upgrade (she did not get her meal choice either, so things being done by the book).
Before take-off, the Captain came on to give the normal PA & apologize for the onboard temperature – is not too bad in Upper, but can imagine that down the back it is quite hot. He said that once the engines and the main air-con packs started it would cool down. After take-off, he was not wrong, the cabin is now really cool and we’ve just been delivered G&T’s with lime. The FSM on today’s flight is one I’ve flown with a couple of times before & she runs a very tight ship, so hopefully we’re in for a good flight. We’ve both ordered the salad followed by the chicken. The CSS who has just delivered our drink refills & meal tray has commented on my desktop wallpaper (a VS winglet against a blue sky) as the netbook is stashed behind my seat running on the seat power supply. Mentioned v-flyer – she’d not heard of it.
The meal was surprisingly good – we both commented on the amount of chicken in the salad. The chicken main course was OK – as with the outbound food, nothing wrong with it, but nothing to write home about either. The FSM was very present in the UC cabin during the main meal service – no welcome by name or anything, but she was present making sure that people got the service they expected. Interestingly, no breakfast orders have been taken – we’ve just been asked if we want to be woken for breakfast. (Have always had the breakfast order card in the past). A final G&T and water as an after dinner drink… time for some sleep now.
Woke up about 90mins out of MAN so the crew did not need to wake me. Had breakfast, cereal + bacon roll & coffee. An uneventful descent & landing into MAN then followed. Was straight through immigration using one of the facial recognition booths as I have a biometric passport. Our bags were off within a minute or two of the reclaim belt starting up. Wheels-down on the aircraft to car in under 15mins – can’t fault that.
As with the outbound flight, there was nothing to moan about the product / service, but equally there was no “wow factor”. The UC suites (well 9A & 9K)on Hot Lips were in notably good / clean condition. Time to start planning the next trip now….!
That said, we gauge which side is shorter - often the one further away from the "A" Side where the VS check in is - before joining the queue to get through the TSA Security.
