“I don’t believe it”, he said. Home just 8 days, and already a PM on Flyertalk asking where the Trip Report is!
OK … not very special or interesting this time, but here we go …
It was August 2018 when we booked the trip, though BA Holidays = we ‘need’ an annual fix of the Caribbean, and this year it was St. Lucia’s turn again to provide it. One week All Inclusive at East Winds, St Lucia, with ‘Private Transfer’, and of course Club seats. JER-LGW-UVF with all that bolted on came to £6,300 for the two of us … eek! The ‘Private Transfer’, as opposed to a multi-destination mini-bus, was £213: I must stop shredding pound notes like this, but for a road trip of about 1h30m the extra comfort seemed worthwhile: we’ve been in that area before, and bouncing around in a mini-bus full of strangers, and diverting here and there on the way, isn’t my idea of fun.!
My 2015 Trip Report is here if you’re interested >>>
TR: Our first BA First, and our first visit to St Lucia
26 Jun 19
BA2767, JER-LGW, 0705-0810, A319, CE 1D/F.
Oh, the Jersey Red-eye. How I love getting up at 0430, with a taxi at 0530, although at least at this time of year it’s not pitch dark - or freezing! Airport at 0545 just as they unlock the doors, as usual, and then painless bag-drop and Security, buy some Duty Free cigarettes and settle in the Lounge just after 0600. Time for a quick coffee and a pastry before called for boarding at 0635 to Gate 10 … all a bit of a rush at such an early hour, but in a good cause.
Boarding was efficiently managed, and our thanks to the gentleman who let my lady go first out of the Gate 10 holding room. We were thus first on board, and carefully sat in the unfamiliar 1D/F. Yes, someone had amazingly reserved seats before us (at least 10 months in advance) thus denying us access to our usual 1A/C. Oh, the horror!!
Up and away on time, and the standard BA Hot Breakfast arrived promptly; most welcome, after such an early start to the day!
Arrival at Gatwick was unremarkable until we approached our stand … and stopped on the taxiway. Ummm … The Captain came on the speakers to explain there was a spillage on the stand which needed clearing, and we were waiting for a new stand to be allocated. However, all was soon good again, and we were on the new stand at 0805 - thus 5 minutes early. Two buses were poised to take us to Arrivals, until they discovered the doors on Bus #1 wouldn’t open! Fortunately we early ‘disembarkers’ were directed to Bus #2 which, when filled, made its stately way through the dark depths of LGW(S), leaving another bus-load of pax awaiting rescue.
Huzzah, Arrivals … we just have time for a quick cigarette out at kerb-side before re-entering Departures and Premium Gatwick security. My back-pack was pulled for Secondary Inspection, where it was revealed that my disposable lighter [containing a couple of ml of fuel] should have been put in a bag! The nice Agent did that for me, and returned the offending item. Oh, well, I’ll bag it in future. That hurdle crossed, it was up to the FLounge (still only one lift in operation) where we grabbed a 1/2 glass of the duty fizz … and then at 0849 [very precise] Gate 21 was declared. Off we went, in a brisk and business-class manner.
BA2159, LGW-UVF, 1000-1345, B772, CW 10A/B
Entry to Gate 21 is via the Agents’ desks at the entrance, for BP and Passport checks, with one lane dedicated to ‘Priority’ pax … for which we of course qualified! With no other signage anywhere, our familiarity with the set-up enabled us to know to walk to the far end of the room and sit near the doors to the Airbridge, from where we watched the place slowly filling up with a 777’s worth of other pax.
And, somewhere around 0900, a distorted announcement contained the words ‘boarding’ and ‘Group’, which we interpreted as the ‘Go’ message and thus we headed down the airbridge as Seq 001/002
What, no wheelchairs, infants or special needs? How unusual!
The very nice CSD (SCCM, whatever) was looking after our side of the CW cabin, and we were soon PDB’d using the old-style glassware. Small measures are certainly the ‘New Order’ these days!
And eventually it’s time for “Fine Dining at 36,000 feet” …
Menu - we had both pre-ordered the marinated butter chicken.
Smoked Salmon and Brown Prawns (shrimps, surely?) and seriously delicious.
The new (?) miniature salad bowl. I guess that makes some sense, as BA must waste an awful lot of ‘Seasonal Salad’.
The Chicken. Rather tasty, if slightly untidily plated.
And to finish, a nice cheese plate/slate …
After which, I watched something on the visible IFE and then grabbed a bit of sleep which I needed after the early start to the day!. I think I had the Afternoon Tea … probably. My brain tends to shut down when flying long-haul, TBH!!
An engine and some clouds, just for effect and to prove we were airborne somewhere!
AFAIK we arrived on time at Hewanorra International Airport (UVF), and steps were duly positioned at doors 1L (for the pax in F) and 2L (for the rest of us!). Our seats put us right at the front of the pack for 2L, and we were quickly away on the 300 yard outdoor walk to Arrivals. Immigration was almost empty, with maybe 6 people ahead of us, and after processing by a very cheerful and smiley Immigration Officer we headed to Reclaim … where we waited for about 10 minutes. To our pleasant surprise, our bags were then amongst the first on the belt after a large collection of Crew bags.
Once outside, it was the familiar (and congested) collection of desks for the various ground transport agents. Annoyingly I forgot to take a photo, but believe me it’s a bit of a muddle, but much better than it was in 2015! Anyway, BA Holidays had arranged our ground transfer with “St Lucia Reps” as they had before - although the Reps was acquired by SunTours Caribbean in 2018. Handing over our transfer vouchers, and given a receipt for the return journey, we stepped across the road to the car park for a quick cigarette, and shortly after that we were waved back to to the kerb to link up with our driver, Bernard, and his modestly-sized SUV. Hmmm, not like the Lexus limo we had last time!
And so on the road, leaving the airport by the dirt track past a scrapyard or something, and on to well-paved (but winding!) roads for the 1h30m run to Castries and beyond (almost from the south end of the island to the top end, and no idea how 'Maps' manages it in 52 minutes!!) until finally, at 1600, we were at East Winds.
Home - East Winds
