This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
After a reasonable nights sleep & breakfast, wandered down to T2 at about 08:30 and the Virgin check-in desks were all but deserted. The pre-check-in screeners were just chatting & not stopping anyone, so got in the UC line without being asked if I am in economy. Was dealt with at the PE desk after a minimal delay (people checking in at UC desk had lots of bags). Was not asked a single security question – passport just stickered with the security sticker (just like on my last trip out of MAN). Lounge invite issued, but not given a US Customs form.
Security was as empty as check-in – used the Fast Lane, but could have got through just as quick in the normal queue. Body scanners now seem to be on all the security lanes, but were not in use this morning. Once airside it was very quiet, picked up a few items in duty free then headed off to the Escape Lounge, which was also quiet.
Wandered down to gate 212 ahead of the boarding call – where Ladybird was waiting in her new livery. I have to admit, now that I have seen the new VS paint job in the flesh, I do like it. The red metallic paint on the tail and the engines does look good – just need the union jack winglets back to complete the job. Those of you familiar with Manchester airport will know that gate 212 is an airbridge serviced gate, so it was surprising to see a set of steps on door L2. We saw the flight deck crew arrive, have their ID checked by the ground staff at the bottom of the steps then “sign for the aircraft” and board. There was then an announcement that due to a faulty airbridge, all boarding would be via stairs. The boarding call then went out for UC / PE / FC Gold – but the aircraft was not ready for us. We waited a good 10mins+ on the stairs that took you from airbridge level to ground level. To make the wait even more enjoyable, there was a family with two screaming children and the nice aroma of kerosene (I actually quite like the latter, as I associate it with holidays!) After the aforementioned enjoyable wait on the stairs of gate 212, we were allowed to make the short walk to the aircraft stairs and board.
A very light passenger load today – 169 passengers & 17 crew. (So with such a light passenger load, why did they not just delay the boarding call by 15mins so we could walk straight onboard?) The Upper Class cabin is full – but there is obviously lots of space on the rest of the aircraft, bet quite a few people made a dash to move seats once the seatbelt sign went off to bag extra space. There are 3 people in Upper who are on staff travel (looks like off-duty crew member + 2 younger sisters) – they have got the 2 seats with no working IFE (6&7A) – they were moved to the PE / Economy cabin for the safety video. Meal orders have been taken and they have been revisited to make other selections, so everything is being done by the book there. (And compared to people on staff travel on my last flight, these people are playing things by the book too. Off-duty crew member is taking her sisters empty plates / glasses etc back to the galley / converting their seats to beds etc so the crew can deal with paying passengers. Well done to her). A quick look at the service list (listing meal choices / FC status etc) taped up near the galley on the way back from the toilet confirmed these people are indeed on staff travel. Note to Virgin: You are all but filling your Upper Class cabin from Manchester to Orlando with paying customers on midweek days of the lowest of the low season, yet you are making Upper Class from MAN to MCO a 4 day a week product in a few months when the Airbus arrives…?
Lunch has been served – and it was quite good too. The trio of prawns is exactly that, 3 prawns – but very tasty. Had the hotpot as main course and whilst a bit salty, it was very good with plenty of lamb in there. Note to Virgin: keep the UC menus simple, predominately British and get the food right (as I think you have done with the current menu) and you’re onto a winner. No more Mediterranean / themed menus, thanks.
Had the seat converted to a bed after lunch and slept from near Greenland to about the US / Canadian border. The flight path was quite Westerly as we flew down the East coast of the USA a fair bit inland, before a brief spell over the ocean near Jacksonville as we started the descent into Orlando.
Due to being asleep, I don’t know if there was the normal ice-cream offering in the middle of the flight, but have no reason to think there wasn’t. Afternoon tea was served just over an hour out of Orlando – it was the normal fare of sandwiches, scone & cake. The menu gave the impression you got to choose which sandwiches you had (like ex-LHR, so you could have 3 of the same if you wanted) but it was the normal ex-MAN offering of a plate with one of each on.
We had a very smooth early landing at about 2:10 followed by a quick taxi to the gate. The staff on the airfield had clearly been ready for our early arrival, but the airbridge driver took a while to appear, so disembarkation was delayed for a short while. Was through immigration in no time (the officer was not the happiest chap though, a man of few words, he did not even ask the reason for the visit etc, just pointed at the sign, said “number 1” [4 fingers of right hand on scanner] then “number 5” [photograph], stamped the passports and that was it!) Our bags did not have Upper Class tags on, but were off with the UC & PE bags within a few minutes of clearing immigration – so this proves it is the barcode on the bag tag that matters.
It’s a little cool here in Florida at the moment - it was 9 degrees C when we landed mid-afternoon. Clear blue sky and sunshine, but it won’t be far off freezing overnight. Where we are staying, many of the plants are covered in thermal wrap to protect them from the cold. Seems that 48 of the US States got snow yesterday – the only one that didn’t was Florida. We will see some snow tomorrow though, on the roofs in Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure.
To summarise, another good flight. I have to give the ground team at Manchester poor marks though, as they could have got boarding 100% right with such a low passenger count, but they cocked it up big time through lack of communication with the team on the aircraft (same ground services supervisor woman as my last flight in May too). The crew serving Upper Class were good and attentive. The state of the cabin was good too, my suite was notably free of the usual pen marks etc. 3 nights in Orlando beckon, then time to head home.
- Although I do agree it is comforting to know you have the seats you had previously requested.
Shame about the boarding - they can get it right sometimes (as was proved with me last time when I was the only one in Upper - that really was "Rockstar Service" ) but surely its not too much to ask to get it right all the time, especially when its a quiet flight.
