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#833190 by Mrs-F
26 Dec 2012, 01:07
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After last year's nightmare flight on an Airbus A330, we ensured we would be flying back to the UK on a 747, (we sailed across from Southampton).
Checked in online and bagged sequence 1&2 for myself and Mr F ^) .... It took ages to check my son and his friend in and at the end of it, could not print out his friend's boarding pass, which meant he had extra security checks to look forward to. :(! On the plus side, the plane was a refurb, showing a lot of empty seats up until the day before when the seat map was locked.
With the news stations trumpeting that this was to be the "busiest day of the year" at MCO & the fact we would need to collect the remaining boarding pass at the airport on "bunfight Saturday" we made the decision to offload the bags at Downtown Disney. No queue and 10 minutes later we came away with all 4 boarding passes.
On arrival at MCO, we seriously could not see what the fuss was about, I've seen it a lot busier and estimated the queue for check in at about 10 mins, security was a breeze (even for my son's friend, who we expected to get turned inside out) and we were at the gate ready to hear that boarding had been delayed...followed shortly by the arrival of the crew.
Shortly after we were called to board & it was all going swimmingly until my son's friend had his boarding pass scanned....an alarm went off and the heavy door slammed separating him from us. The door was opened and he was allowed to carry on and join us, I did wonder what the point of it all was. ?|
All in all, boarding was quick and easy, made so by the fact there was only a total of 153 onboard & we took off on time. Were able to move into spare seats once the seatbelt sign had gone off. The new seats are comfortable and our row had good leg room. A much better experience than the A330. Mr-F was behind me and I could feel him pushing on my headrest as he navigated the entertainment system, but nowhere near as bad as on the airbus.
The cabin crew were very good, dinner and drinks served quickly. Food completely inedible. Seriously nasty smelling and tasting. I don't know where they got the "beef" from, but it was even worse than last year's woeful offering. The Caesar salad was passable and the desert was rechristened "terrible-su" by the boys after tasting it. Come on Virgin, sort it out...it's getting worse every flight v(

The CC were very much in evidence all night coming round with juice and water at regular intervals and checking belts fastened every time we hit turbulence (which was often).
The flight was very bumpy, especially in the latter stages when all four of us were feeling really queasy. This was not helped when the child across the aisle vomited a couple of times and due to the absence of sick bags in the seat pockets, it went everywhere. :$

Was so glad when we landed as I thought we were all going to be in the same
predicament quite shortly. Mr-F said its the first time he has felt ill on a flight.

Landed 15 mins early and had cleared customs with all luggage less than 30 mins later. Home with a cuppa less than an hour and a half after landing.

We much prefer the 747 to the Airbus A330, even after the refurb it is a much more comfortable option in our opinion.
#833191 by Jacki
26 Dec 2012, 06:58
Thanks for the TR, such a pity about the food. I appreciate it is difficult to please everyone on a flight, but the food appears to be an issue in all cabins and if it spoilt an otherwise good flight then VS need to take notice. I'd love to hear more about the outbound cruise?
#833192 by buns
26 Dec 2012, 08:23
Thanks for the TR y) y)

Great that the light load allowed you to stretch out (although it would seem your choice of seats was eclipsed by the child episode). Interesting comment about Mr F using the IFE behind you

Thanks once again

buns
#833252 by Mrs-F
27 Dec 2012, 20:08
Hi Jacki,
The cruise across was on The Independence of the Seas and visited Lisbon, The Azores & Nassau on its 13 night crossing to Ft Lauderdale. I can highly recommend it..next year's transatlantic is already booked.

Buns, the IFE touch screen seems to have required more than a "touch" at times. It took me 3 or 4 firm pushes whenever I wanted to pause the film I was watching. Mr-F said the same, the lads also found it non responsive at times.

Jane
#833254 by buns
27 Dec 2012, 20:25
Mrs-F wrote:
Buns, the IFE touch screen seems to have required more than a "touch" at times. It took me 3 or 4 firm pushes whenever I wanted to pause the film I was watching. Mr-F said the same, the lads also found it non responsive at times.

Jane


Thanks for that

It will be just my luck sitting in front of someone hell bent on playing games on the IFE v( v(

buns
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