Trip Report Something happened on the way to Florida

Howdy one and Y'all
I know it's early for a pre-trip but what the heck i have been counting this down since last year.
This time we have decided to forgo our normal May time slot and venture over the pond in October.
The who ?
Me and Mrs Ferret (Matt and Donna)
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Why October ?
Well we wanted to meet up with some friends of ours that are there at that time and we have always wanted to go at halloween time but work has always been an issue.
Well this Christmas i surprised Mrs Ferret with the paperwork on christmas day having already okayed the time off with her boss and sorted out the holiday.
Where ?
We are going back to Port Orleans Riverside as we liked the resort last time and the boat to Downtown Disney Springs is an absolute godsend to us.
Here is the rough breakdown of our planned trip so far,
October 15th . Depart our rock for Gatwick
October 16th . Depart Gatwick for the sunshine state, Get hire car,Check in and proceed to Downtown.
October 17th . Universal Studios daytime . MNSSHP nighttime (no dining reservations)
October 18th . Animal Kingdom.
October 19th . MGM studios ( MSDAHAV :D:D:D)
October 20th .Magic Kingdom (Liberty tree tavern lunch)
October 21st .Animal Kingdom (Boma dinner)
October 22nd . Shopping ( Boma Breakfast)
October 23rd . Universal Studios (dinner at Skipper canteen)
October 24th .EPCOT (Teppan Edo )
October 25th .Magic Kingdom ( Crystal palace breakfast)
October 26th .(Raglan road dinner)
October 27th .MGM (Chef Mickeys breakfast)
October 28th .Magic Kingdom ? ( O'hana dinner)
October 29th .Animal Kingdom/EPCOT (Boma breakfast)
October 30th . Depart Florida :cry:
October 31st . Arrive at Gatwick and transfer to rockhopper airlines to get home :grumpy:

All the above is subject to change except the flights.
 
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King Racoon 77

King Racoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
Original Poster
Florida here we come … Please ..



Morning broke windy and squally showers in Bermuda .
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We had been told the night before that the expected time for our flight would be around 1pm that afternoon so we cleared the room early and grabbed a coffee and snack from a small cafe in the hotel.

We checked out and found that the hotel had already dealt with most of the cost of last nights meal and would just deal direct with Virgin. We found out later that others had not had such a good experience with other hotels that they had been taken to. Some had had to pay for the room upfront and then claim a refund from Virgin themselves.

We took an early cab to the airport and were the first ones to arrive there by a long shot. Thankfully the airport had free wi-fi so we took the opportunity to update people on our situation.

As the morning wore on more and more passengers arrived and the airport became distinctly crowded. There was very little information forthcoming and as Virgin did not have a base in Bermuda it was left to their partner airline staff ( Delta) to sort things out in the airport.


There was a large group that were quite entertaining with music being played through a speaker that helped stave off the boredom.

It was eventually announced that a free buffet was being organized for everyone. The only cafe in the airport was tiny (probably about seating for 10) and had become kind of overrun.

The vans arrived with the catered buffet and an announcement was put out at about 2pm that they were ready to serve. Could any passengers with disabilitys and familys with children please line up first . Gee a flight to Orlando couldn’t have that many familys on board …

As the queue started to develop check in staff from Virgin in the US arrived and started to liase with the ground staff in the airport as to how to check in and board the flight.

About 3pm ish it was announced that the check in process would be starting and they would start with Upper and premium Economy.

With the queue for food still 3 wide and aboot 200 people deep we decided not to wait and headed around to the check in desks.

Once that had been done ( the poor staff were having to use all paper lists ) we headed through into the departure lounge. Can’t be long now…
 
King Racoon 77

King Racoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
Original Poster
Can we go to Florida Pretty Please.



We were through into depatures. Our holiday must be starting soon ?

We availed ourselves of the free coffee and bisquits laid on in departures and had a browse through the small gift shop ( got to have proof of being here) and settled on a fridge magnet as nothing says international traveler than a fridge full of magnets from destinations visited.

fridge magnets.jpg

We settled into our seats eager to be on our way and started to wait.

And wait

And wait



Still no information was being relayed to the restless crowd. In Delta’s defense they were not being given any information to pass on.

Eventually a few of the cabin crew came off the plane to give us an update.
 
King Racoon 77

King Racoon 77

Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
Premium Member
Original Poster
Shirley we can go to Florida now ?



I would just like to take this opportunity to praise all the ground staff and cabin crew that had to deal with the delays and diversions. Both the Delta ground crew and Virgin cabin crew dealt with everything dealt to them with the utmost professionalism and grace. Virgin management not so .

So back to the plot,

The members of cabin crew took the time to explain the delay to us and why it had taken so long. There were a number of circumstances that had delayed the flight.

1, The check in facilities in Bermuda were unable to handle the Virgin flight information and a check in crew had to be flown across fro the US.

B, The oxygen on board had been used up on the ill traveler and due to flight regulations they could not fly without it. Replacement had to bee flown from NY …

3, Crew were out of hours to fly and had to wait until later than anticipated to resume the flight.



All of this was understandable and would have been much better received if it had been communicated at an earlier time. Again not the fault of the people in the front line.



Boarding would be commencing shortly and they thanked us for our patience.
 

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