Las Vegas thread and MSE guide 2009 part 2

luci

September

I once booked a Legends in Concert for the night we arrived thinking it would make me stay up till a decent time. We were upgraded to a table touching the stage and I just couldn't keep awake.

I think I saw the first act and remember seeing the Temptations, but I fell sound asleep sitting up and struggled to wake to see the finale. I was so close to the stage the artists must have seen me.

I have often slept through shows. Just put me in the dark and I'm out like a light.

We try now not to see a show till at least the 3rd night.

davidmcg2u

September

Day 3 (Fri) – We skipped breakfast and hit the pool at 9am. We had promised ourselves we would chill as much as we possibly could whilst in Vegas this time. Our room had great view of the pools so you could see when people were starting to take up beds at the main Venetian pool. We wandered down collected our massive towels and hunted for beds in the sun. They were all taken so followed the path round to the Palazzo side and found loads of smaller beds available in the sun. We took 2 right outside 1 of the Cabanas but I was paranoid that we’d be thrown out of that area.

Well after 2 hours in the sun we were done. We headed back round to the Venetian side and took 2 beds at the quieter shaded pool. This area seemed to be in the shade until 3.30pm each day and the sun would come round for about 90mins before disappearing for behind the hotels opposite – perfect for us though. We only spent an hour here though before heading back to the room for a shower/change of clothes.

We decided to go to Fashion Show Mall via Jonny Rockets in the Venetian food court upstairs (may be Palazzo). I had a Philly burger and Liz took a Chilli burger – we were so full afterwards - approx. $30 including drinks, fries & onion rings.

On the way to the FSM we nicked into the Wynn ticket office for our Le Reve tickets. We somehow managed to get lost and managed to end up at the Encore. Found our way out and went into the FSM via the food court entrance – seen Haagen Das. W were so dry as it was so hot - I got large ice cream and Liz got a cone we suffered for it rest of day as we were bloated afterwards. We should’ve got a bottle of water.

We skipped dinner and went to Le Reve – what a lovely theatre. The show as stunning and is our favourite show to date. We were hooked from the 1st minute to the last. Our seats were in row G of section D – perfect seats. :T

We wandered back over to the Venetian and it was bliss only having a short walk after the show compared to the walk we had from MGM the previous night. We felt a little peckish and popped into the Grand Lux Cafe carry out and Liz got a southern salad & and I got a tuna sandwich to take away. Both were lovely and we could only eat half so popped them in the fridge and had the rest for brekkie.

dontone

davidmcg2u wrote: »

Day 1 (Wed 16th) – arrived at Glasgow a little earlier to try for exit seats. Got row 8 which is behind main exit seats so had 1 extra legroom seats which was a good but obviously a little colder as so near to the exit door. The plane was a 757 and the configuration was 3-3.

This was our 1st experience of a non UK airline. After my initial nerves, where I almost returned home before boarding the flight, I settled down and felt ok. Overall the service on the plane was good. The main meal was served just after an hour – chicken/mash – quite nice although seemed strange to get it so early into the flight. Free soft drinks & water were always available as were tea & coffee at certain times too. A small pack of prezzles were handed out followed by a nice ciabatta about an hour before we arrived at Philly.

The flight was pleasant enough until last hour as it was a little bumpy going into Philly. A short video was show before our arrival into Philly which showed arrival process etc. which was helpful. Immigration was painless except the issue with Liz’s passport & prints not matching hasn’t been resolved yet – this only cost us an extra 15 mins though. We found Philly airport well organised and easy to navigate.

Philly – LV was bumpy most of the way and neither of us could relax. Seats were spacious had plenty of legroom. Think this was an Airbus 321 and again was a 3-3 config.

.

Lol, reading that bit reminded me of the time me and DH did the "Manchester to Philly to Vegas" flights in 2004.
On the way over the Atlantic the plane hit turbulance and just dropped rather sharply - at least a few hundred feet :eek:- and a man who had just been to the toilet flew down the aisle just as fast as the plane was flying.

You could tell who was British and who were Americans as a few of the Americans started to scream (and a few girls sat across from us started to cry) and the Brits went "F*****G HELL" :rotfl:It was rather scary tbh.

Also the flight from Philly to Vegas was just as bumpy and scary, it's true that you can't relax on those internal flights they are awful. The big plus about that is that the plane flew over the strip which was fantastic. Only thing was we got there before our luggage which didn't make the flight and arrive three hours later.

I never want to do that type of trip again though, it's too long, too much hassle and too bum squeaky at times.

davidmcg2u

September

dontone wrote: »

Lol, reading that bit reminded me of the time me and DH did the "Manchester to Philly to Vegas" flights in 2004.
On the way over the Atlantic the plane hit turbulance and just dropped rather sharply - at least a few hundred feet :eek:- and a man who had just been to the toilet flew down the aisle just as fast as the plane was flying.

You could tell who was British and who were Americans as a few of the Americans started to scream (and a few girls sat across from us started to cry) and the Brits went "F*****G HELL" :rotfl:It was rather scary tbh.

Also the flight from Philly to Vegas was just as bumpy and scary, it's true that you can't relax on those internal flights they are awful. The big plus about that is that the plane flew over the strip which was fantastic. Only thing was we got there before our luggage which didn't make the flight and arrive three hours later.

I never want to do that type of trip again though, it's too long, too much hassle and too bum squeaky at times.

I've scaled down my thought on the flight as there is nothing worse that reading about bumpy flights when your a nervous flyer by my bum squeeked several time I can assure you.

I know what you mean about the UK and US travellers - they've been there done that. Although I must admit when their crew annouce that they're trying to get through a storm it makes you go :eek:

"Excuse me can you define the word storm?" :rotfl:

dontone

davidmcg2u wrote: »

I've scaled down my thought on the flight as there is nothing worse that reading about bumpy flights when your a nervous flyer by my bum squeeked several time I can assure you.

I know what you mean about the UK and US travellers - they've been there done that. Although I must admit when their crew annouce that they're trying to get through a storm it makes you go :eek:

"Excuse me can you define the word storm?" :rotfl:

lol. I forgot to mention that the flight was an American flight with American crew who didn't like anybody getting up - even to use the toilet. The poor fella who went flying down the aisle wasn't even asked if he was ok by the crew, one of them just came on the tannoy and said -
"We informed passengers NOT to leave your seats - this means ALL of you"

How reassuring........NOT!! :eek: :rotfl:

davidmcg2u

September

dontone wrote: »

lol. I forgot to mention that the flight was an American flight with American crew who didn't like anybody getting up - even to use the toilet. The poor fella who went flying down the aisle wasn't even asked if he was ok by the crew, one of them just came on the tannoy and said -
"We informed passengers NOT to leave your seats - this means ALL of you"

How reassuring........NOT!! :eek: :rotfl:

I was shocked by this - even when the pilot said everyone back to their seats folk were in and out of the toilets. If that was a UK flight no one would move and the crew would make sure they didn't.

davidmcg2u

September

Day 4 (Sat) – The Killers are coming home for the day.:j

For those of you who don’t already know this was the reason we came back to Vegas so soon after our March trip – to see my favourite band rock Vegas!!!

I probably woke up early again but I can’t be sure. We hit the pool after we finished of our leftovers from the night before. We spent a couple hours in sun then moved round to shaded area. I wanted something fresh to drink which didn’t contain alcohol and asked waitress for suggestions. She brought me back a Lava Flow – very refreshing and sweet. It was only $6 but be warned drink it very slow – brain freeze!! I must admit I found the prices of drinks around the pool at the Venetian reasonable – certainly cheaper than the MGM.

W went to room to chill for a bit before the gig before heading to the Grand Lux Caf! at 5.05pm. Our waiter told us if we ordered quickly he’d put it through as lunch time menu but would be smaller portions. We had Quesadilla to share, Liz had Enchiladas & I had the Chicken formaggio – smaller portions? OMG we could only eat half of it but it was all lovely – cost around $45 with tax excluding tip.

Got taxi 2 MB due to heat outside – wanted to look half respectable when we met Luci & OH. He seemed to take the long way round but I had a $20 figure in my head & that’s what it cost including tip – traffic at city centre to MGM was probably murder due to construction and the fight.

We had arrange to meet Luci and her OH at the House of Blues inside MB at 7pm but we arrived early so popped into get our tickets. I asked when TK would come on stage and was told 10.15pm as there were 2 supports on before hand.

We met Luci & OH – went into the House of Blues. There were no seats at the bar so Luci & Liz grabbed a table then were told they couldn’t sit there unless they were ordering food. I got the 1st round in and won a watch. 2 x buds and 2 x wine - $9. I questioned it and he said $9 – I said are you sure and he said it again. I gave him $10 and left before he changed his mind. Luci’s OH got next round - $27 – ouch!!

Had a good laugh and compared notes with Luci and OH and then headed round to arena 9.15pm. We had a drink inside and then we went our separate ways.

Our seats were perfect 2nd row right beside the stage – perfect view for Liz. The Killers came on 10.05 & started with Mr Brightside. The place was bouncing at this point as they ran through their setlist. The set list may have been roughly the same the recent shows but running order was totally different and they even did a version of Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You”. I forgot about this until I seen my video clips earlier today/

We had a ball and we bounced the whole night. I won't bore any non-Killers fans out there but for me right now no one can touch these guys :rotfl:

I must admit the US crowd are totally different to the UK crowd. They don’t seem to move much but can be loud but for bands like TK who tour the UK & Europe it must be hard work at times.

The taxi Qs were massive so we headed for a coffee before catching the Deuce down to the Venetian.

davidmcg2u

September

Day 5 (Sun) – we woke up a little later and grabbed a quick snack at the Venetian before heading to pool. All beds in the sun were taken so we took 1 at back as the sun comes rounds anyway. I think we were out for back of 11. We just chilled and before we knew it was 3.30pm – time flies when you’re having fun. The sun came round 4ish so we still got 90mins in the sun before heading back to the room for 6pm.

We had arrange to meet Luci and OH at MAG at 8.15pm and I requested the same table as we had on the Thursday night. Walking along the road was murder that night – it was our hottest evening yet – must’ve been at least 85 when we walked along. We met Luci & OH and got a table in a similar position as requested. The food once again was so good. We had another good night and Luci & OH went gambling and we headed back to our room and I then started to think about staying another couple of days as we were really have a great time.


Day 6 (Mon) – I woke early (6am) and tossed & turned before digging out the laptop so pass the time.

I suggested to Liz we had too much to do but so little time it would be nice to stay longer. We didn’t have a clue if it was possible so I went to our concierge and she gave me contact details for US Airways. I gave them a quick call from our room and they quoted me $200 each to change which put me off. On top of that we'd have to pay for hotel so I was on a little downer at that point but decided to make most of our day and we headed out early.

We had breakfast in the Canyon Ranch Grill at the Palazzo and I got Lox, Stock & Bagel which was amazing and very filling. Imagine a burger with all the lettuce, onions, tomatoes but replace the bun with a bagel and the burger with salmon – mmmmmmmmm. It also had a small dish of fruit too.

Liz’s got Frittata del giorno for breakfast but it consisted of a very nice Italian omelette, veg, chesse and some fruit. We then headed to the pool for a few hours and chilled out.

Now I can’t be 100% on this but I think we headed to the FSM before heading down to the Outlet Malls past Mandalay Bay. I was a little disappointed last time with the Outlets and vowed not to do them again but Liz wanted to try again so we headed down on the Deuce. 2-3 hours later we were back with a pair of converse trainers – oh well say no more. I’m not putting these places down BTW, I’m not a shopper and they’re just not for me.

We headed down to the Spice Market buffet and got there at 8.40pm. I thought it would be reasonably quiet since it was Monday and a little later but there was a fair size Q. We waited,waited and waited. There seemed to be loads of free tables but as the Q slowly moved the staff came out and started asking for parties of 4,5 or more.

If these tables are free they should be split up for the people who get there 1st, not larger parties. What annoyed me even more was the way the girls at the tills were trying to squeeze everyone up and get the money of the others at the back – the Q for the parties of 2 wasn’t moving. That was it for me, as good as it is we left. We headed MAG at 9.10pm and asked for a table – got 1 right away and the food was…….yep you guessed it - superb! Liz even had the steak and that’s saying something as she doesn’t usually eat steak.

Cand

September

davidmcg2u wrote: »

I was shocked by this - even when the pilot said everyone back to their seats folk were in and out of the toilets. If that was a UK flight no one would move and the crew would make sure they didn't.

On our flight back with Virgin the seat belt sign was on and off all the time and at one point there was about 20 people queue for the loo and they just all stopped there till the crew told them to move, then people started getting up again and one of the crew started getting mad and told everyone off over the tannoy!

davidmcg2u

September

Day 7 (Tues) – I woke early again (6am) and my brain went into autopilot. Thinking to myself that $400 to change flights may not be so bad as long as I get a good priced hotel.

So I digs out the laptop and heads straight to the MSE forum for your help. I also spent time on fatwallet looking for deals as I had been up to date with deals since we booked our whole trip via Expedia. I found the $59 rate for MGM in FW and checked to see if it was available – it was – jackpot!!

I then called US Airways again to change the flights and was told the 7am on Friday wasn’t available but 9.10am was but this would only leave us 1hr 50min in Philly so I just gave up as I remember someone saying 2 hours is minimum time they’d leave themselves in airport at a flight change. L

We to pool via Grand Ranch Grill where we had a lovely breakfast on what we thought would be our last day. I sent a text to Luci saying things hadn’t worked out and she told me they only had an hour for their change and as I wouldn’t need to collect my luggage or got through immigration in Philly I would have ample time.

Luci you’re a star!!!

I went to the Venetian check in to ask about the rate for extra 2 nights – no specials available and best they had was $349 per night.

I went back to our room and called US Airways again. Whilst on the phone I had the laptop on and kept checking and double checking the MGM rate. Had all my details typed into payment page and when US rep told me I was sorted I confirmed the room.

If I could dance I would say I danced all the way down to the pool but I didn’t – I probably just bounced down enthusiastically to tell a dehydrating Liz we were staying another 2 nights. We probably just chilled out and had a wee drink at the pool in celebration – I can’t recall to be honest.

Anyway, we went to Cravings at Mirage for dinner – mmmmmmmm – wine $12.50 for White Zinfadel instead of $25 made it better. We headed over to the TI for 11.30pm siren's show – we were a little disappointed with that TBH – it was pretty boring.

We spent our $50 slot credit and recouped $40 of it and got a few Coronas to boot so not so bad - we're not gamblers as you can tell.