The Las Vegas Thread and MSE guide

ferf1223

March

pennylane99 wrote: »

Theres a new Cirque show called Believe, with illusionist Criss Angel, opening on 10th October in the Luxor, previews on from Sept 12th to October 9th

They say the show is not for the faint hearted...

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/believe/en/show/intro.asp

I really, really, really, really want to see this.

Can't see it being my in-laws thing so won't be on the agenda for October...my mother-in-law did buy us tickets to see Bette Midler our first night...I'm a bit wary of a show at 7:30 the night we land, but it's the only night she's there during our trip and I am looking forward to it.

tingtong

OK, here's a brief report of our recent Vegas trip:

Flights
BMI MAN-LAS – Nice flights, on time and pretty comfortable. Not going to praise them too much as one of our bags went missing on the way back and has not yet been traced (36 hours at the moment) – any help/advice would be appreciated as it's the first time it's happened
Virgin America LAS-SFO – Very nice, clean plane, we paid for the First Class seats as they were only just over £100 each. Really comfortable and great on-board service

Hotels
MGM Signature – Got an 'upgrade' to a high floor with strip view ($30 tip). We have stayed here previously but probably not again. Seemed to take longer to get onto the strip than last time, not sure why. Also, not really any such thing as a 'good' strip view now, the new PH Towers are being built and all you can see at the moment is construction.
Planet Hollywood – Also got an upgrade here for $20 tip, on 37th floor with great view of Bellagio fountains. Really liked the feel of this hotel and would definitely stay here again.

Buffets
Luxor – Good selection and nice food. No queues and decent service.
MGM – Not as big as I thought it would be. Would probably not go there again (only went out of convenience).
Spice Market (breakfast) – Went a couple of times, was really good as on our previous visits. Also had some vouchers so saved $10 which made it about $21 for two people
Spice Market (dinner) – Never been to a dinner buffet before but enjoyed the food. The prime rib was delicious and the portion I had was huge (didn't need to go back). Very good selection of food.

Restaurants
Casa di Amore – Highly recommended ! Old school Vegas with live singer, free limo pickup and dropoff (we did tip the driver) and great food. Not dirt cheap but not crazy by any means (paid about $90 for two meals with a few beers)
Mon ami Gabi – Managed to get a table inside but the doors to the patio were wide open so got a great view of Bellagio fountains at night. Food was pretty good also and not expensive.
Grand Lux Cafe – My personal favourite, huge choice of meals and very reasonable prices. Tried the one in the Palazzo as we ate in the Venetian last time. Very good food and decent service.
Cheesecake Factory – Just had to go here again ! We actually only shared desert this time but the meals here are also very good. If you like puddings (most women seem to), do not miss !
Toby Keith's @ Harrahs – Big portions and food was pretty good too. Quite loud music so not the place for a relaxing meal but worth a visit.

Entertainment
Bar @ Times Square (NY hotel) – Great bar and packed as usual
Piano Bar @ Harrahs – Another great Dueling Piano bar – bigger than above bar so you can actually get a seat and the drinks are cheaper too. See www.twinkeys.com for information about the pianists/singers.
Freemont street – We only went in the daytime, nowhere near the same experience as night time with all the lights going
TI Show – Didn't see this last time and was quite impressed for a free show. Lasted about 20 mins and it was packed, could hardly move. People were waiting for a decent spot about 50 mins before each show
Gordie Brown – Good impressionist but a pretty dated show and jokes not very funny (unless you are American then you laugh all the way through). Cost about £20 each and would not go again.
Mac King – Good for the afternoon, magic show with a bit of comedy. Got free tickets from a bloke just as we were going to pay (his mate didn't turn up) so exceptional value !
Also, for information the Mirage show is under construction so was not running

Transport
Used taxis to and from airport for convenience, only cost $15 and $20 inc tips so worth it in my opinion
Deuce bus – have now given up on this. Used it regularly on our previous trip but it was just too busy and uncomfortable this time around. I don't think it's much quicker than walking around mid strip, probably only worth using to get to Freemont street. They try to get too many people on each bus so most of the time is spent stopped and the bus stops and traffic lights.
Car rental – WARNING, the Dollar office in San Francisco is a complete shambles, took 2 hours to get a car that I didn't really want (PM for more info)

Other things
ATMs – Used the ATM machines in Walgreens as they were only $2 per withdrawal (Nationwide card). Withdrew $500 at a time to avoid paying too many charges.
JOLT Sim Card – Used this a few times, got $10 free calls with the card (£15 cost) and did not need to top up – good value calls ($0.35 / min from memory)

We also drove from San Francisco to Vegas via Yosemite and Death Valley so if anyone wants any further info it maybe best to PM me and I'll do my best to help.

slowen

September

pennylane99 wrote: »

Theres a new Cirque show called Believe, with illusionist Criss Angel, opening on 10th October in the Luxor, previews on from Sept 12th to October 9th

They say the show is not for the faint hearted...

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/believe/en/show/intro.asp

Am off to Vegas at the end of the month until 14/9/08 so will try and grab a preview ticket for one of the preview shows before I fly back home. Is their any way of finding out how much a ticket would be for a preview show as the site gives no info

sew109

November/December

slowen wrote: »

Am off to Vegas at the end of the month until 14/9/08 so will try and grab a preview ticket for one of the preview shows before I fly back home. Is their any way of finding out how much a ticket would be for a preview show as the site gives no info

The preview tickets have 25% off you will be very lucky to get them I would call up Luxor now.

sew109

November/December

Cheeky favour, I wonder if anyone who has flown Virgin economy LGW - LAS would be kind enough to write a short report that I could put up on my Blog many many thanks in advance

slowen

September

sew109 wrote: »

The preview tickets have 25% off you will be very lucky to get them I would call up Luxor now.

Cheers
Will see if their is any mention on the Luxor site as dont fancy phoning the state

EDIT - just had a gander and no tickets currently avaliable for the first night but tickets still avaliable for the Saturday performance with tickets starting at $48 so will ask my mates before booking as i would defo go but not sure if it's their taste and dont want to spend the money if they dont want to go

Does anyone reckon if the half price ticket shops i.e. in the fashion show mall could stock these as I remember from last year they would only stock certain hotels tickets

duchy

Certainly-the planes are too old -the crew too young and inexperienced-the drunks objectionable and it's a vastly overpriced product
Some people will have different views.
If it's your blog then surely it should be YOUR work tho
If you use my review I'll send you a cheeky invoice

pennylane99

May

slowen wrote: »

Am off to Vegas at the end of the month until 14/9/08 so will try and grab a preview ticket for one of the preview shows before I fly back home. Is their any way of finding out how much a ticket would be for a preview show as the site gives no info

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/believe/en/tickets/tickets.asp


prices for 13th Sept

Category One @$123.75 USD
Category Two @$103.13 USD
Category Three @$81.68 USD
Category Four @$65.18 USD
Category Five @$48.68 USD

sew109

November/December

slowen wrote: »

Cheers
Will see if their is any mention on the Luxor site as dont fancy phoning the state

EDIT - just had a gander and no tickets currently avaliable for the first night but tickets still avaliable for the Saturday performance with tickets starting at $48 so will ask my mates before booking as i would defo go but not sure if it's their taste and dont want to spend the money if they dont want to go

Does anyone reckon if the half price ticket shops i.e. in the fashion show mall could stock these as I remember from last year they would only stock certain hotels tickets

These tickets will not be in the half price booths, grab them whilst you can they will sell out 100%, $48 for any Cirque show is a bargain. Its rare to see cirque shows in the half price booths I have once managed to get Mystere tickets there but witha bout 25% off. The half price booths are selling tickets for shows where they have notsold out so you dont genrerally get the very top or new shows you will never see for example Barry Manilow, Celeine (when she was playing) Cher etc you will see Crazy Girls, Legends in Concert, Follies etc soem will be half price but most with the fee work out 25% - 35% off .

pcg2001

pennylane99 wrote: »

Theres a new Cirque show called Believe, with illusionist Criss Angel, opening on 10th October in the Luxor, previews on from Sept 12th to October 9th

They say the show is not for the faint hearted...

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/believe/en/show/intro.asp

Booking direct with the cirque website seems to give the same discounted prices as this offer on smarter vegas, that has been around for some time: http://www.smartervegas.com/shows/criss_angel_believe/ticketsdiscounts.aspx

There does seem to be a lot of hype around this show, There were outdoors on this everywhere in LV, and the Luxor has lots of this memorabilia lying around (namely a lot of cool bikes used in his tv shows - my oh was fascinated by them!!). After we bumped into the guy and his crew, as we were looking for the bus stop at the Luxor, I researched him a bit on the web and apparently his contract will be for 5 years at the Luxor. So I hope I will be back before then to check out his show.


I am so envious of everyone who is going n the near future to LV. I need to stop dropping by this thread...