VS028 MCO-LGW 28 FEB 11 (Premium Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

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The sad day finally dawned for us to repair to damp and dreary London after what turned out to be the holiday of a lifetime in Orlando - we managed to cram in just about every experience, including a quite perfect day at Discovery Cove to swim with dolphins (a lifetime ambition for me). As I said in my outbound TR, having had such a brilliant flight to MCO in spite of normally being an anxious flyer, I had had a whole holiday without a moment's anxiety about flying home, and this was a huge breakthrough. I managed to do online check-in the night before using the Virgin iPhone app (while waiting for the Blue Man show to start at Universal!), though no seats were available to pre-select. The email confirmation that followed showed we'd been allocated seats 32 D, E, F and G, from which I inferred that we were on a LHR config plane. We were very pleased as we knew this was a chance to experience the purple seats, and the oft-touted wonders of VPort!

We did bag drop at Downtown Disney at 9am the morning of the flight, and it was no problem at all - there was no queue, and the VS staff were all very friendly. We obtained boarding passes, then my husband took the children off to Typhoon Lagoon while I traipsed all over Downtown Disney, picking up last-minute souvenirs and gifts, and trying out Disney Quest. My husband picked me up outside Planet Hollywood at 2.30pm and we headed for MCO and dropped the hire car back to Alamo. We sat around the main terminal for a bit, got some magazines and a coffee, and joined the huge srum at Security around 4pm. It took about half an hour to emerge and take the shuttle over to Gate 81, where we found Tubular Belle waiting. Interestingly, Ruby Tuesday was stood at the next gate for the MAN passengers, and we could see the new livery against the old - the difference was very marked under the Florida sun, and the new livery is very striking. Boarding started a bit late at 5.30pm for a scheduled 6.05pm departure, and the gate staff weren't the best at sorting out priority boarding categories. But once on, we liked the purple seats and we had a bulkhead row with lots of legroom, so that was great. I sat down with the VPort magazine and was so pleased to see the new Harry Potter film and The King's Speech in the list of films, as I'd seen neither and really wanted to! My children were similarly taken with the children's selection of films and programmes, and we looked forward to IFE start time (you can guess what's coming, can't you?).

We finally took off with a full plane at about 7pm, and were advised of a flight time of 7.5 hours. It was the usual takeoff with engine power drop and falling sensation shortly after takeoff, so I started feeling uneasy. The IFE was switched on, and we sat through endless Virgin ads before trying to select films, only to get more Virgin ads. The FSM made an apologetic announcement 30 minutes later to say that the IFE hadn't worked at all on the outbound flight but they'd thought engineers had repaired it at MCO, and having spoken to groundstaff, the only suggestion was to turn it off for an hour, then try it again. The IFE went off, and seatbelt signs went back on for the beginning of some turbulence. The Cabin crew started serving the meals, and at this point the mild bumpiness turned into a full-on turbulence extravaganza. After a while the cabin crew were also told to strap in, and the meal service ceased while we bounced wildly up the Eastern seaboard of the USA. I'm not a terribly experienced flyer but I found it terrifying: a few people were screaming at various points, and anyone who had acquired a wineglass seemed to have it broken. The FSM eventually made an announcement to say he'd spoken to the Captain and he expected to be through the worst of it in 15 minutes.....it was the longest 15 minutes of my life, and I vowed never to set foot on a plane again if we survived it! Eventually the crew were allowed up (we weren't) and a slightly burnt meal arrived which I couldn't eat at all due to adrenalin overload. The children weren't too keen on their US-style macaroni cheese (with shiny orange cheese) but my husband enjoyed the chicken. We both threw the after dinner brandy straight down our throats when it appeared. The IFE was restarted and again it did nothing, although the SkyMap was working, so I glued myself to that for the next 5 hours. The turbulence lasted right up until halfway over the Atlantic, and we overheard the cabin crew saying, "You have GOT to be kidding!" on about the seventh reinstigation of the seatbelt signs of the night. The flight passed by very, very slowly with no IFE (bar my 6-year-old son's absolutely endless questions), and none of us managed to sleep properly due to the bouncy conditions. It was a deeply miserable experience.

Eventually the turbulence calmed as we neared the coast of Ireland, and dawn was sighted, which brought the disturbing offerings of the breakfast run......muffin TOPS? What happened to the rest of the muffin? My husband had a go at the ham and cheese roll and said it tasted more like cardboard than cardboard does, so the rest of us gave it a miss. We had been due to land at 6.50am but spent ages circling Gatwick, then finally made a smooth landing at about 7.20am. The Captain made an announcement and said he was sorry for the very turbulent flight, but in spite of changing altitudes etc there had been no way around it. 

We were completely wiped and starving, so after being warmly welcomed back into the UK by UK Borders (just kidding! They were really miserable) we took the shuttle over to the North Terminal for breakfast. And despite my vows in the middle of the worst turbulence, I started sketching out a plan for our next trip to Orlando with my husband and children over tea and toast there and then! But please, experienced V Flyers, assure me that severe turbulence is rare! 

Thanks for posting the TR.

Sounds like it wasn't the best experience! VS clearly need to invest more money in the technical side of their servicing on turnaround. My brother works for a contractor who work on behalf of a number of major airlines (not VS) and enter the flight at the same point as the cleaners to ensure the IFE in every seat is working (to be honest, they spend a lot more time in First and Business before Y), but it's good.

Its such a shame that you had an opportunity to experience vport but it didn't happen! Atleast you got the new seats, which I found really good!

I've had a few really bumpy flights home, ofter quicker because of that tail wind.

Atleast you had a fab holiday which is what really makes it all worth the hard work you went through in overcoming your fears! I did the dolphin swim at DC in Sept and will never forget!!

Luke

glad you had a great holiday, such a shame about the Vport. we also had turbulence coming over last week just as we hit the eastenr seaboard,which also neccesitated the crew being strapped in. we went form 120mph headwinds to 90mph tails so I guess it is farily typical right now. anyway well done for getting plans underway to come back and not letting it put you off

Extended bad turbulence such as you describe is rare.
One good thing - you are unlikely to have it as bad again - so even if you get a few bumps on the next flight it will seem so smooth in comparison!

If you want to see why it was bumpy check this out. If you set it for 7 days you should be able to see conditions that you came through on the 28th.

Shame about the IFE - but there have been few reports of V-Port giving trouble lately - at least you should have got some miles to make up for it (If not write in)

Dolphin swim is a marvellous experience. I have enjoyed it a few times at DRC on Grassy Key. The most surprising thing is that the dolphins actually remember individual people if you swim with them again. They have different behaviours when you repeat - sometimes naughty - they definitely seem to have a sense of humour!

[honey lamb]

Last week there were severe wind storms on the east coast to the extent that flights in and out of Reagan National Airport in Washington DC were cancelled. You obviously caught the edge of those. Pilots will do their best to fly around or above storms but sometimes it is just not possible. What a pity V-Port was not available as you might have been so engrossed in a film that you might not have been as aware of the turbulence.

At least you now know what a good flight can be like and it looks like that memory is holding good if you can talk of another trip to Orlando

Double bad luck but don't let it put you off. I've not had the like in numerous trans-atlantic flights and in the end you did arrive safely.

[buns]

Thanks for such a good TR

I awlays say that going to Orlando is a trip of a lifetime - you spend the rest of your life wanting to go back
The fact that the turbulence has not stopped you thinking about going back is a very postive sign, it is quite common on the return flight from the USA

FWIW I have now become used to the turbulence starting just when I am given the on board food and find it all a bit of fun in not trying to have it all over me rather than in my mouth

Thanks once again

buns

Thanks for sharing your TR.

Having such extended turbulance is unusual, the flight crew will always do everything they can to find smoother air, it sounds like you got fairly unlucky there.

I've had almost totally smooth flights, and some very bumpy ones, it's just the throw of the dice I'm afraid, but having such major turbulance for so long is not common.

Also, you got further bad luck with the IFE - look on the bright side, the next flight is almost sure to be an improvemenet!

So glad you're planning your next trip - we got the Orlando bug about 4 years ago now, and I'm doing our 8th and 9th visit this year!!!!!!

Discovery Cove is a lot of fun, and the dolphin swim, I agree, is a very special experience - like all things, that is variable too. We've done this 3 times, and the middle occasion was actually a disappointment, the last one the best!

Now then, back to planning your next holiday!!

Thanks for a great TR
Such a shame your flight was so bumby, although im fine with it my wife HATES it and her fear can make or break a flight so well done to you for hanging on!

welcome back.

cheers

alex

Great TR!

You are VERY unlucky the turbulence as so bad, I haven't had really bad turbulence for a long time.

Such a shame about the IFE. The engineers do get on at the same time as the cleaners. It could be that they're not used to the V-Port system as the LHR config a/c dont normally go to MCO. I believe we use BAs engineers in MCO as they always have BA jackets on.

Really pleased you're planning your next adventure. What did you think of Harry Potter World?

Thanks for all the replies, sounds like we were just very unfortunate. My husband thinks if we go later in the year next time (April or so) we should have less chance of nasty storms and bad turbulence, so that's a plan!

Virginboy747, we thought HP World was amazing (the butter beer was particularly fab, in both its regular and frozen incarnations), but utterly heaving at all times. Seeing the 'snow'-topped roofs of the village of Hogsmeade in 82 degree weather was something to behold.....my gullible children thought this just went to show how magical it was! In terms of rides, we only did Flight of the Hippogriff there as the little 'uns are too small for the others, but that was good fun. Have you been?