JapesUK

NCL is a fantastic airport. Kerb to lounge in 10 minutes, staff are all pleasant and chatty and happy in both the airport generally and the lounge. Airport is mostly light and airy and rarely totally crammed. I’ve said before, very lucky that NCL is my regional.

JapesUK

The stottie was packed with very tasty beef and was a fine beef stottie , but there was little sign of the ‘dip’. A drizzle of gravy had been applied but it was a desultory amount so a little poetic licence on the name for this one! It made for a fine breakfast, yes, breakfast, that the first thing I have had to eat today besides the olives.

The fourth and final hostelry in departures is the quaystone bar and grill and I think this picture speaks for itself




There are a few more food and drink options, you can see the ubiquitous Burger King in the right hand corner, and back towards duty free there is a Starbucks and an Upper Crust. Is it just me, or does anyone else associate Upper Crust solely with train stations?

Flighty has been predicting great and greater delays this evening which comes as no great surprise. If the evening LHR-NCL flights are generally late then one expects the returns to be similarly overdue.


The views from the bar are nowhere near as good as Aster and Thyme



And I had to google this one

JapesUK

Time to kick back in the lounge. The Luxe side of the lounge is surprisingly busy so no pictures of the main space, just a few decorative ones






It’s also been a long time since I’ve seen the lounge laid out for anything except breakfast so here are this evenings offerings






And, of course, time for the standard trio

JapesUK

The departure delay time has been slowly creeping up but at last the plane is off the ground at Heathrow so we are pretty much assured a 9pm-ish departure.

I tried a couple of these mini quiche and mini cottage pies which were very good



Accompanied by a pint of draft moretti



After which I took this subtle hint and relocated to the main seating area



And on the way to get a taste of the pasta I espied the bottled Stella which I do not remember from past visits





What does it say when the NCL aspire has far better beer offering than BA first!

One of the staff is now walking around letting everyone know that the food is about to be cleared, that’s a nice touch.

I believe the lounge closes at 20:30 which should be just about the perfect go to gate time.

JapesUK

After a very tasty Stella or two it was approaching 8:30 and the lounge was about to close as our ride for this evening approached the gate



The usual short stroll to gate A3 where the staff were already checking boarding passes and it was into the group 0-3 pen to watch the arriving passengers disembark.

Now sat waiting and there’s a surprising number of ground staff sat in the pen and they’re in exceedingly high spirits! Last passengers off and they’ve all lept into action to follow the passengers down the arrivals passage. No idea why there were five of them waiting, assume it makes sense to someone.

1P

For a decent meal, above the usual touristy stuff, try Tannura Osteria.

JapesUK

Thanks very much for the tip but on this one I’m all sorted with a night time food tour.

JapesUK

Given that this was a last minute booking, row 1 was unavailable I’m not at all triggered by the 3 year old in row 1



Never been on G-EUPO before and as I mentioned in the last report, I did download my flight history to compare to the BA fleet and I’m past the half way point on short haul planes that I’ve been on board so I’d expect more duplicates as we go along.



All buckled up and boarding complete at 20:58, next stop: LHR and the Sheraton hotel.

JapesUK

We were eventually off the ground by 22:10 and the crew were pretty quickly into action.

A good crew this evening, pleasant, proactive, addressing people by name, and they got the job done with a minimum of fuss, serving the seven rows in the business cabin well in time to offer multiple top-ups.

There were no menus this evening however the choices were chicken tikka or Goats cheese. Choosing the chicken tikka I converted it into a very tasty roll, which is becoming a bit of a theme recently. A baileys and a coffee completed the meal.





Around twenty minutes from Heathrow it became quite bumpy, not bad enough for the captain to put on seat belts but I could hear a couple of cups and glasses hit the floor behind me as they were rattled off of trays.

The rest of the flight passed uneventfully and we were on the ground at 22:10. A short taxi to domestic arrivals and now waiting to deplane

Next stop: Sheraton hotel and 5 hours sleep!

JapesUK

Having parked up on a remote stand there was one small element of the arrivals process missing, no steps! It took an age for the steps to finally arrive and for us to be bussed over to the terminal. Normally this would be quite annoying on a late night flight but as it happens, whilst standing and waiting, I shoulder surfed Mr 2C and saw that he was examining the ba97 calendar and commented that it looked familiar

This was my introduction to the inestimable Mr BA97 and his partner. Without the step delay we would never have met.

Finally land side and at the very popular bus stop and now waiting for the 350 bus to take me one stop towards the Sheraton.

JapesUK

The 350 bus turned up on time and it is a 5 minute ride to the first stop, Dukes bridge. From there you walk in the direction of travel for another five minutes to the Sheraton.




An interesting check in experience, the receptionist was surly to the point of rudeness. The biggest surprise was that the bar and restaurant were already closed at 23:15 on a Friday night.

Hotel is… functional.






And the room is more than adequate for a short overnight stay




And now, with four and a half hours until the alarm. Its time to try to get to sleep. Back soon.

PoincianaKings

LOL- LHR must be pleased, after what ten years of you ranking them the armpit, to have moved up the SFO777 league table!

JapesUK I've been really enjoying all your TRs of late. Keep it up please!

JapesUK

Good Morning from the Colnbrook Bypass bus stop!



Having been brutalised by the alarm clock at 4am I’ve managed to be sorted and out of the hotel in 25 minutes at the price of missing out on my first cuppa of the day. Woe betide anyone that crosses me between now and my first mug of coffee!!

The 350 bus is due any moment for the 5 minute hop back to T5

JapesUK

The bus was on time and it was less than a five minute return to T5 and from there to the first wing. Checkin surprised me in how busy it was and South security was packed.







First wing security didn’t open until 5am when these huge doors swing back to form the wall




The first lounge was almost empty as you would expect and it was too good an opportunity to pass by and I quickly scooted around to get a picture of the main areas











And then, coffee!



Yes, just coffee! But not ‘just’ coffee, it’s the first coffee of the day, the holy grail of coffee, the coffee that opens preceding for the day. Until this and I are one the day doesn’t officially start

SKT-DK

Ah Palermo - I have not been for 20+ years, so will be interesting to read your experience. Following along for sure!

I have many fond memories from NCL - it is indeed a nice little airport, and they have made an effort to renovate over the years. It was of course at its best from a BA pax perspective when they still had their own lounge - nothing fancy, but the staff were all amazing!

MAN, on the other hand, is as you rightly say: a dump!