Review of Norwegian flight Palma De Mallorca → London in Economy

Mallorca is a beautiful island, and my pre-conceptions of the place were totally wrong, as the next few pictures will show.
I am going back next month and will report on that experience. I will not be flying Norwegian!

So… a few images of Mallorca. All these pictures are taken in the first week in October, when in the UK, it was raining daily!

I didn't even realise that the island had a railway and metro system.




Alcudia (Old Town)


Puerto Pollensa




Formentor


Palma Town


Soller


But holidays must come to an end.

Getting around the island is very easy, and I took the comfortable bus from Alcudia to Palma Town (€6) where I had a beer and tapas.

It tasted better than it looks!



Then it was a very busy local bus to a very busy airport.
The size of Palma Airport did not dawn on me on arrival, but it's huge - and for good reason, given the sheer popularity of the island.

There were very long queues for most check in desks, I didn't see one self-service check in anywhere.

I had a wait of about 20 minutes to get served by a friendly check-in agent, and my boarding pass printed (emblazoned with Iberia!)

Security was quicker, although it involved those insufferable queue control barriers so you end up walking miles to get to the place you can see right in front of you!

Also, it didn't help that I was nursing a heavy cold. Yes dear reader, I was that insuffrable coughing spluttering passenger, although I managed to keep it to a minimum (read on to see how!).

Palma has two lounges available to Priority Pass cardholders, and given that my flight was not until 10pm, I decided to try them both.

I tried the Sala VIP Formentor lounge first, as it did have better reviews, and it did have a lovely looking entrance.



It was nicer than I expected, but really quite busy (although you can't really tell from the pictures)




At around 8.30pm (yes, I tend to get to the airport far too early) I headed for the Sala VIP Valldemossa Lounge.

It was quite some distance and in my ill condition I was grateful for the travelators.




I actually preferred it - it looks quite stark but I found that it was much quieter, there was a computer to use (my phone was rapidly losing battery charge) and lots of a Mallorcan liqueur called Tunel, which was very warming.



This is Tunel





Curiously, the Norwegian website, and Gatwick Airport arrivals website, showed that my flight was on time. Palma Airport showed it to be delaued. By quite some margin.

I tweeted DY who confirmed that there was a delay. The flight would leave at around 11pm.

The lounge closed at 10pm so I had a wander around the airport.



This meal deal was too easy too refuse. €10 is really a rip off! (At UK airports, a similar meal deal would be around €4.50, with wider choices. I did have a last Spanish beverage, to try and lift my mood.



However the delay was extended again.

I was now feeling miserable - my cold was really annoying, I was tired and I just wanted to get home.

Then the gate was moved which required a long walk again.

Finally, boarding was announced, not by row so I just stayed back and was one of the last to board. And what do you know?
Faced with this:



After about 5 minutes I was almost ready to board.



I was not in anyway impressed by Norwegian. Dirty seat pockets. I'd rather they removed them than have this.



Legroom however was acceptable.



During the flight, the video screens showed a nature film - which is novel for a low-cost airline.
Although some of the images were violent - predators and their prey mixed between truly breath taking scenes.



The inflight menu fell apart in my hands.



Arrival in Gatwick was at around 1.20am and I had to wait ages for my suitcase. I probably didn't, but I was so moody with my cold, the delay and the journey, I was now looking for things to go wrong.



I then endured a bizarre taxi journey, where the driver talked non stop about his all-inclusive holiday to Egypt.
I got to my flat at 3am, and he called me back to his car. I actually thought 'If you're going to mug me, you had plenty of opportunity before now!'). He reached into the boot, retrieved a tablet, and flicked through photographs of his holiday. This is me and one of the locals. He was a taxi driver too! and so on.

I was so tired I kept quiet as I was worried I would say something I might regret.
Eventually I got to bed and fell sound asleep!

Norwegian? Never again.