Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009

ferf1223

The Bellagio Fountains

Stew68 wrote: »

Headed down to Harrahs where I got a ticket to see Mac King, he does two shows in the afternoon and is certainly worth the money, the tickets are $25.00 but you can get deals if there are two of you.

In the evening I headed down to see Carrot Top at the Luxor, now he has some great reviews on Trip Advisor which is why I booked it, I’ve seen lots of comedians in the UK and didn’t think this guy was a patch on the ones I’ve seen before. There were some very funny moments but there were times when I didn’t understand what he was getting at, perhaps you had to be American to get some of the jokes, he certainly gave Kriss Angel a good ribbing. Would be interested to hear what others may have thought about Carrot Top.

You can get deals for Mac King even as a single unless they've changed it - for the price of a 'drink' - I think about $12 or so now...coupons are handed out at Carnaval Court and I think you can even ask at the Total Rewards desk.

As for Carrot Top - we loved him - laughed so much...though I suppose I'm American and my English hubby is pretty up on American pop culture as a result.

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

I actually had plans to see George Wallace a couple of trips ago, but on the day I thought his tickets were quite expensive even at the Half Price ticket booth so we didn't bother. Will have to bear him in mind if we are stuck for a show to see.

Stew68

The Secret Garden

Trip Report Day 3.

Checked out of the Monte Carlo and left my bags with the bell desk. The night before there had been some weather warnings with a chance of a large storm and definitely some high winds, they weren’t joking about the winds, it was really blowy on the strip and even I had to lean into the winds at some points.

Went to the Mirage again and went to the booking office and got a ticket for Terry Fator which cost $91.00 (section 102 row, EE), I then asked if they had any deals for Love (as recommended by Luci, many thanks for that.) and got a ticket which is normally $150.00 for the price of $73.00 (Section 205, row 15). I was well impressed by that so made the booking for that as well.

Walked further up the strip to have a look around Encore, to my eyes it wasn’t as big as Wynn but looked very nice, there is a passage that links the Wynn with the Encore so used that to get to the Wynn and spent a little time wandering around there, by then I was getting hungry so crossed the road to the Fashion Show Mall, I ate at Maggianos which is opposite the Wynn, had a fantastic meal there, the waiters are very knowledgeable about their menus. There was a family on the next table who had decided to eat “Family Style” I thought they had done very well with the amount of food on their table until they had that taken away and then had the main courses delivered!! If you’re visiting here as a group I would certainly recommend it.

I walked this off by going into the Palazzo where once again I got totally lost. I don’t know what it is about this place and the Venetian that get me turned round so much, needless to say I ended back where I started at in trying to get out, eventually I found my way out and headed back to the The Monte Carlo to collect my bags and head over to The Signature. I booked a one bedroomed suite through Luxury Suites International via a link originally posted by Luci (thanks again). I arrived at The Signature in a taxi, you just give your name at the security gate and they’ll tell you which tower you are staying in. Check in was very efficient and went to my suite, floor 4, suite 602, I realized before I opened the door that I’d obviously got a corner suite which I was pleased about. It was when I opened the door that I discovered a problem, the suite hadn’t been cleaned and had obviously been used for a party over the weekend, there was a giant bin bag in the corner of the kitchen which was full of beer cans, there were towels everywhere and peanuts on the floor. I knew you can’t complain to the Signature as the suites booked through Luxury Suites are actually owned by individual owners, however scattered around the suite are help cards with numbers to phone if there are problems with the suite, I rang the number and they told me I had checked in too early!! It was 3.30 pm, they thought it was 2.30 pm. Within 20 minutes there were three members of housekeeping there and I left them alone for an hour to clean up, when I came back the place was nice and clean looking, I put the problems to the back of my mind and looked round the suite, three large windows, two bathrooms, one Jacuzzi tub, kitchen (with washing machine), three tvs (one in the bathroom) and walk in closets. It was definitely the best place I’ve ever stayed in and was really glad I took the plunge on this suite. It was definitely quiet and a nice break away from the madness of the strip. I really can’t thank Luci enough for posting the link to this deal.

I had to leave the suite as I had a ticket to see Love at 9.30, I went to Stack at the Mirage to eat, once again I was seated at the bar in the lounge and the service left a lot to be desired, it was so noisy in that area that it was difficult to hear what the waitresses were saying, the food was nice but it was let down by the service, it was then that I vowed not to agree to be seated at a bar again but always be seated at a proper table. I didn’t know what to expect with Love as I’d never been to a Cirque De Soleil show before, I really enjoyed it, I guess it was a bit surreal and I didn’t really manage to follow the story but some of the stunts were fantastic and I really admired the acrobatics carried out by the cast, of course you can’t go wrong with the backing music either!! I certainly enjoyed this show.

Next days 4 & 5.

pennylane99

The Bellagio Fountains

Remember to check your Players cards online for any comp offers.

I just checked my MGM players account, and have comp room offers for Mandalay Bay and Bellagio

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

Glad I was able to help with the Love tickets and Signature, that's what these forums are all about.

You got the Terry Fator ticket at an excellent price for that section as I think they are now $108 + fees. I forgot to mention that I got 25% off our tickets by asking if I could get a web only discount booking by phone.

If I thought I would get a washing machine I would have booked a one bedroom suite rather than a Junior suite, but I guess that all depends on the owner and there is no guarantee.

I enjoyed Love. It didn't wow me, but I enjoyed it. I'm not sure Cirque shows are my thing which is making me think twice about Le Reve. I know it's not a Cirque show, but it's by Dragone.

Looking forward to the rest of the report.

trets77

The Bellagio Fountains

we should have a sub poll and what is your favorite Bellagio fountain performance .

my top 2 would be Faith Hill's " This kiss"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNXoY7QBWg8

and Ecstacy Of Gold ( From the film The Good , The Bad and The Ugly )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO5XUmcqbxQ
:T

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

pennylane99 wrote: »

Remember to check your Players cards online for any comp offers.

I just checked my MGM players account, and have comp room offers for Mandalay Bay and Bellagio

Thanks for that. I've only checked mine a couple of times before and there was nothing there. However I just checked and there are 3 offers for Mandalay Bay and THE Hotel! I'm really pleased as I only play penny slots.

luci

The Bellagio Fountains

I've never seen Ecstasy of Gold despite being to Vegas 8 times. I agree that it's pretty spectacular and I would love it see it "live".

Time to Say Goodbye is also my favourite.

Fragments_Of_Sanity

I'm looking for a bit of help and advice, any given will be much appreciated.

I'm (supposed to be) going to Las Vegas this October to attend a wedding. As such, the dates of travel aren't flexible. My friend who is getting married was offered a deal from Thomas Cook for the trip (11th - 18th October flying from Manchester to L.V and staying in The Stratosphere) for £680 (inc insurance), which she said would be the cost for me too. I gave her my card details and she paid the deposit (about £70).

Later I find out that the cost for me is considerably more - the travel agent advises due to a single occupancy charge on the room. It's either close to or over £100 more than the original amount I thought I would be paying. Another friend of mine was insistent that American hotels don't have a single occupancy policy and that this seems very strange.

I have been able to source a room from hotels.com for £200 for the dates required and there doesn't seem to be any levvy. The travel agent said that this would be either an unseen charge tacked on without my knowing once I put my card details in or on arrival, or that the room would be poor quality and that I should stay with the Thomas Cook booking because there will be a rep/person who can sort out any potential problems with the trip. She also states the price is a package price, although my friend contradicted this because she said the invoice sent to her is for a virgin flight, and a room booking through the statosphere themselves.

I have never travelled abroad alone (or at all since I was a baby) and because this is a longhaul flight I ideally want to be with the others in case there are any problems. I have looked at flight prices and pairing them up with the hotel cost would allow me to stay within or below my original budget. Since there are connecting flights though, I am nervous about flying alone because if one flight is delayed, and you miss the connecting flight, I would assume you're on your own and I'd be pretty uneasy alone, maybe miss the wedding and depending on the cost, not be able to afford to get out of the situation. Is that basically what happens in such an eventuality if you book independently?

Since I've paid a deposit (don't know if she's taken that for part of the cost of the flight or for the insurance) I assume it's non refundable so I might be better off pushing for her to just cancel the hotel part and let me pay the flight element. I got the impression she was trying to block me from doing this/implying that it couldn't be done. If I lost the cost of the deposit I suppose it'd cancel out the benefit of saving money doing it myself.

As I said I'd really appreciate any advice.

Stew68

The Secret Garden

Trip Report Days 4 & 5

Day 4 I decided to go down to Town Square to do some shopping, a very nice shopping area with a nice variety of shops and restaurants, I was there mostly for books, dvds and gadgets and had a nice time looking round there, I ate at the Yard House where I had the thickest Chicken Enchilada you have ever seen. From there I went down to the Las Vegas Outlet Mall, didn’t buy much down there but did find one of my favourite American food shops, I filled up on 4 boxes of chocolate malt balls, chile sauces and soup making kits. I lounged around my suite for the rest of the afternoon before I went up the Forum Shops to the only place I will visit every time I’m in Vegas (or anywhere else there is one!!), The Cheesecake Factory. Now I know some people don’t care for this place but I just love the variety in the menu and of course the Cheesecake. The portions are large but I still had an appetizer and a main course with a slice of cheesecake to go, okay 2 slices of cheesecake to go. Hey I had a fridge, it needed something in it!! As always the food was good and the service just as good. I headed back to The Signature walking down the strip, I stopped at the Bellagio to watch the fountains (thought I’d mention it as it seems to be the topic of conversation at the moment). The song playing was “God bless the USA” I admit I did find it a bit annoying as everybody was singing along, I suppose I’m not one for the American patriotism sometimes. I must be really unlucky as I looked at the song list and I’ve only seen this one and Hoe Down the two times I’ve been there!! I had an early night as the walking up and down the strip was starting to get to me and my legs.

Day 5 I decided to head up to Paris and head up the Eiffel tower, I hadn’t got to do this last time so was on my list of things to do. I got there about 10.30 and had to wait for about half an hour to get up to the top, I would recommend that people get there for opening time to save on the waiting, there is a limit to the amount of people they allow up there at the same time. It was certainly worth the wait though, it was interesting to see the set up for the Bellagio fountains from above and got some good photos, it was a bit windy up there and it was the coldest I’d felt since I’d arrived.

From there I headed down to the Miracle Mile shops which I wandered around for a while, I’m a bit of a Mexican food fan and I hadn’t had any since I’d arrived so I stopped at the La Salsa Cantina, I have to say it was a major disappointment, the service was very good but the food was very bland, in fact that although I ate that at about 11.30 in the morning it put me off food for pretty much the rest of the day which is really unusual from me!! I popped into Planet Hollywood for a couple of hours (more of which later) before heading back to the suite for a break before going back to The Mirage (again!!) to see Terry Fator. I mentioned this show a couple of pages back but must reiterate how funny and talented he was, he seemed really appreciative of where he had got to with his career. It didn’t matter that I didn’t know the dummies he was producing as I soon got the hang of the characteristics, all his impersonations were of people I recognized and were in fact mostly singers. I mean how difficult is it to do a ventriloquist act in the first place without singing impersonations at the same time. I would really really recommend this show.

After this show I headed back to the Signature, I stopped at the bar in Tower 1 where I had a few beers and ordered what I thought was a bar snack of chicken tenders for $8.00, I’d had smaller meals for a lot more money and they were really nice. Luci, I’d recommend this place to drop into at the end of the day, nice well stocked bar and very friendly bar tender.

Next, Last day and the trip home.