This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
And so to the new Clubhouse for the first time. Was fairly busy and took a little while to find somewhere to sit. As usual, was invisible to the wait staff but managed to attract somebodys attention eventually and ordered a champagne which they then forgot to bring[n] It must be me; I dont think Ive ever had good initial service in the LHR Clubhouse. I say initial, because thereafter it was very good. I like the deli counter and enjoyed the rollmop and salad I had from there. As to the new Clubhouse itself, I have mixed feelings. Its certainly stylish, with lots of facilities but I found it rather distracting with too much going on in your line of sight wherever you sat. And, its probably my age, but I found the music too loud and therefore intrusive. Still, after two more champagnes, the world was a much better place as I made my way to Gate 23 and Tubular Belle[:D] There had been a slight delay in boarding but, after a few minutes, and there being no groups with small children, no people requiring extra time to board and the old Warmwater sidestep through the crowd, I was the first to board. As soon as I had reached 9A the IFBT was there to take my coat and offer me champagne. Pushback was delayed for 30 min by the continuing congestion at LHR, so more champagne was served, and even after getting underway, we queued for around 45 min to take off easterly from the southern runway. We then took an unusual route, turning right and flying along the south coast before heading straight over to Newfoundland. Unusually short flying time too, of only 6 hours. I cant remember ever having done BOS that quickly before, westbound.
For my first post take-off drink I had the white Burgundy which was OK if not especially distinguished. Immediately, we were hit by bad turbulence and, for only the second time in my flying history, was unable to stop the wine slopping out of the glass (the first time was in the 80s when a Thai 747 I was on was hit by lightning over the Indian Ocean and everything went everywhere; I still chuckle to myself at the recollection of the look on the face of an Indian gentlemen in an immaculate white outfit who had ended up also wearing his tomato juice).
V-port came on quickly with no adverts or news. Is this the case on all flights now? Or just this plane, since I notice that Nottingham Nick experienced the same on Tubular Belle recently? As is my wont, I just listened to music throughout as I dont watch films (attention span of an ant etc.). The lunch menu was the hake/salmon one much reported on here. I had the salad with chicken (salad was OK but chicken hard and tasteless) followed by the lamb and mint suet pudding. I love steak and kidney pudding and so though I might enjoy this but, although it looked the part, it didnt taste of much at all. Preparation and presentation by the crew couldnt be faulted, its the food itself that is the problem.
Fell asleep after lunch and woke up with only 90 min to go. The usual afternoon tea was served and was enjoyable, as ever. Service throughout was excellent. UC was quiet, only six of us in the front cabin, but the crew made frequent rounds with eye contact so anyone requiring anything was given it immediately[y]
The advance weather for BOS was snow and freezing fog, confirmed visually when it eventually appeared through the low cloud. Visual contact was short-lived, however, as, at what appeared to be only a hundred foot or so from the ground, the captain applied full power and we rocketed skywards[:0] Was slightly alarming, and with conditions looking so poor on the ground, I wondered if the airfield had just been closed or something. However, the captain came on to reassure us that there was no problem with our plane or the airport but that the plane in front had not cleared the runway fast enough. So round we went again to join the queue and landed around 15 min later. Very snowy on the ground and we taxied gingerly to the gate. No queue for immigration but the bags were very slow to appear and then only came in dribs and drabs. Despite my bags priority tag, I had to wait almost an hour[:(!]
Overall an excellent flight with food quality the only negative issue, but I think we all know that now. Looking forward to trying the new menu on the way back on Friday.
Luke
