This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Left on the first boarding call, and when I arrived the departure gate was empty and there was only about 10-12 left to actually board! There wasn’t the usual dual air-bridge in operation, but I think the only ones left to board were Upper Class. I was originally in 5A, but on boarding realised that the 19 passengers were in either A seats of 1-7 D/K, so once door closed I moved myself to 12K and had the whole section to myself. Champagne accepted – nice glasses but totally impractical on the little table with the light above – too difficult to get out without spilling. The CSS introduced themselves personally and handed out menus. Several times on the ground and during the initial service, it was announced that this was a night flight and that the majority of people would want to get to sleep on this flight – it became apparent throughout the meal and subsequent service in Upper that the crew felt that this should treated the same as an East Coast US flight and not a proper long-haul flight.
We had the usual pre-take off wait at the gate before we could push-back due to queues and bad weather. Once in the air, drinks orders were taken – the “speciality cocktail” that VS promote as part of the new service is not in the menu and the crew weren’t sure what it was. Unless you knew it was available, you would never ask about it. Lunch orders had been taken on the ground due to the delay. The menu outbound was as follows:
Starters
Cream of pea soup with pea shoots
Japanese appetiser plate (miso-flavoured king prawn, fish cake with cod roe and grilled miso chicken)
Mains
Grilled fillet of beef with cabernet sauvignon sauce, parsley flavoured mash potatoes, glazed carrots and asparagus
Dolcelatte cheese and walnut tortellini
Fillet of teriyaki salmon with rice, carrot and French beans served with miso soup
Dessert
Lemon tart with berry compote
Sticky toffee pudding with fresh cream
Now VS 900 leaves London at 13:45, and I concede that it arrives at 09:30 local time in Tokyo, so technically it goes overnight. However, I would have thought that at least lunch would be lunch – unfortunately the crew were obviously very concerned that on a 12 hour flight that everyone wanted to get to sleep as soon as possible (or they wanted the maximum crew rest possible). As a result the lunch was more of a sleeper service than lunch. My table was laid very shortly after I had had my speciality cocktail, courses appeared before others had been eaten / cleared away. Only the red wine was bought around to be served – when I asked if I could have white, I was simply asked which did I want. At this point, my menu was on the floor and so I had to hunt around to find it to decide. Not offered a taste, just served what I decided I wanted. Almost like getting a glass of wine in Economy rather than an Upper Class wine service! The Japanese appetiser plate was nice, the teriyaki salmon was tasty but the miso soup was cold – now having never been to Japan I wasn’t sure if it should be served cold (usually I have had it hot in the UK and wasn’t sure if this was something done “wrong” in the UK). I didn’t feel like challenging the crew, but on asking people in Japan it was clear that it should be warm / hot. Obviously to speed me completing the course, the crew obviously thought serving it cold would mean I could drink it faster!! Cheese came on the trolley – probably the usual quantity for a full flight – I was the last to be served and half the trolley was still full of cheese....surprisingly I wasn’t asked if I wanted any extra and was just given the usual three pieces!
After the very rush lunch, I finished watching my film and went to the bar for a drink. Whilst watching I asked if I could have a glass of Aberfeldy 12 year old single malt (the menu also has a Dewar’s 12 year old special reserve). The CC member bought the Dewar’s along and explained that this was the same as the Aberfeldy – both are 12 years old and the menu is simply printed with it in two different versions! How bizarre!! When I finally went to the bar – about 3 hours into the flight, the crew had already cleared the bar away completely apart from water and juice (even the wine had gone) – I suppose this was a night flight to them. As a result there was no crew member at the bar in the whole hour or so that I was there – in addition to me there were also two other passengers at the bar. Service was provided when a crew member walked past!
I decided to get some sleep and slept for about 5 hours or so, before waking as breakfast was being served. I had the full English which was ok, changed and got ready for landing. We were about 45 minutes late due to the LHR delays and landed in a very wet Narita Airport. Short taxi to the terminal, off fairly quickly and through immigration, baggage reclaim and customs really quickly – very efficient indeed.
Having waited a while to try the “new upper class experience” - I had expected a nice leisurely lunch, a friendly drink at the bar and then some rest. However, obviously VS or the FSM on this particular flight felt that this should be treated as feed them all as quick as possible and get them to bed so we can rest as much as possible (I think that this the usual as my partner who travelled out before me, also commented that lunch was rushed to get it over and done with as soon as possible!).
Overall impression:
DISAPPOINTED – the new service really didn’t live up to the hype and it almost felt as though being a passenger was an inconvenience to the crew and everything was as rushed as possible to get us all to sleep.
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