Flying to Florida with US Airways – Part 4 - Orlando / Florida Guide
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As a special birthday treat my husband and I are flying out to Fort Lauderdale with US Airways, via Charlotte, to pick up a Caribbean cruise.
Boarding complete, our aircraft is hurtling down the runway. We are seated right by the engine, and it has a very loud whine, like a spin dryer, as it climbs steadily to a cruising height of 38, 000 ft. We bank steeply and turn ninety degrees and make our way towards the coast – looking out of the window I see the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth far below – we must have flown right over our house! We continue down the coast, over Southampton, past Chesil Beach and out over the Irish Sea to the Emerald Isle. The sun is shining and I sit back and relax with a drink before our meal is served.
The one thing we notice is that although there is a rug, sealed up in a plastic bag, and a pillow, there is no amenity pack – no socks or eyeshades. Pity, as if I had known I would have brought one of the pairs of socks which Virgin give you on each flight. I seem to have quite a collection of bright yellow socks at home!
The drinks trolley arrives and I order a tomato juice and iced water. They are very generous with drinks and give me a whole can of tomato juice. In no time at all they are back with lunch – the usual beef or pasta. It’s not fancy – a small plain salad, braised beef with mashed potato, and vegetables and a little square of sponge for pudding. I have seen better, and I have certainly seen worse, but after all, you don’t fly for the food – unless of course you go First Class! The roll is sealed in a cellophane wrapper, and is almost inedible – quite dry and tasteless, so I leave it on the tray, but having said that, I have only ever found an edible roll on one flight – and that was a charter flight where they brought them to you warmed up. Bet they don’t do that nowadays when all the airlines are cutting out the frills. Good job we brought the chocolate I think!
Lunch over I open my new headphones – I can’t wait to see if they are better than the ones you get on the plane - $5 per headset on this flight! The videos have started but the entertainment system is very good on these aeroplanes – its ‘on demand’ so you don’t have to wait for them to start, you can stop and start them at will and return to them later, much better than on Virgin flights. I scan the listings and decide on a video to watch, and settle down to enjoy the movie. The headphones are brilliant, although they have only one jack plug and the system requires two, so I don’t have stereo sound, but it doesn’t matter. I am soon engrossed, as I don’t usually get time to watch videos at home, and we rarely visit the cinema.
I could get used to this life!
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