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Treasure Island Feb 22 - 27, 2010

Discussion in 'Vegas Trip Reports' started by GottaLuvCruising, Feb 28, 2010.

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  1. GottaLuvCruising

    GottaLuvCruising High-Roller

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Orlando FL & Vassalboro ME
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    My Trip Report

    We are back - had a great time. About us: 50-somethings, married 37 years, frequent cruisers, just 3rd trip to Las Vegas. We love the shows, sight-seeing, but aren't gamblers.

    HOTEL: We debated between New York New York and Treasure Island, but opted for the mid-strip location. It was perfect! We had a strip view room on the 26th floor, overlooking the Mirage fountain with terrific views of the strip south and mountains to the west. Room was lovely. Check-in (as forewarned) took longer than it should, but less than others have reported. We also overheard other guests complaining about this aspect. We were supposed to receive vouchers for one comp breakfast, but didn't get them. Front desk agent told us to call reservations when we got to our room (really?) Reservations patched us through to the front desk (no kidding!) Front desk manager told us to go to Guest Services and vouchers would be waiting for us. After exploring the hotel and having dinner, we went to Guest Services, but they were clueless about it and sent us to the Front Desk. About this time, I was losing patience - and it was no longer about two breakfast vouchers, but the principle. I explained it all to the Front Desk (again) and they handed us the &^%$%#@ vouchers. This was our only poor experience for the next five days. Our room was perfectly maintained, we loved the hotel and it's location.

    DINING: We could not do buffets last time (mom was with us), so planned to try different ones on this trip. Just a few comparisons...

    * Treasure Island - nice variety, well presented, somewhat smaller, good coffee
    * Mirage - way too expensive for what's offered, we had terrible service from an indifferent waiter, not impressed with coffee, shrimp was great.
    * Planet Hollywood - really liked this one, great service, good quality, very good coffee
    * Harrah's - good breakfast, awesome fruit, great coffee, terrific service
    * Flamingo - we found this one comfortable with good food, fantastic coffee, great service
    * Rio - we were extremely disappointed in this one. It offered a huge variety of food, but Golden Corral quality. Even at 2 for 1, we would not return.

    We did follow suggestions on here to visit Ellis Island and use the ACG coupons. The place kinda scared both of us and I didn't even want to go in. But my bargain-hunter husband was up to the challenge. We had a great time! We played their penny slots, enjoyed our drinks and had an awesome ribs & chicken dinner.

    Above noted bargain-hunter also loved the $1 beer at Casino Royale. We spent time every day except one at the penny slots by their big door on Las Vegas Blvd (fresh air). The majority of our penny slot budget went into their machines and we really had fun there.

    SHOWS:

    Human Nature - OMG! It was fabulous! We absolutely loved it and must return to Las Vegas to see them again. We bought the DVD and husband is watching it right now (I watched it on the flight home). This was our very best entertainment value and the show we enjoyed the most.

    Donny & Marie - We booked the best seats that didn't include the meet 'n greet. We sat right at the stage, next to the meet 'n greet folks. Both Donny & Marie shook my hand and Donny gave me two "high 5s" during the show. I was completely enthralled with seeing them in person. The show was very good and I enjoyed most of the music. But we simply sat too close to get the overall experience. I guess I'll have to see this one again, too. (God Bless Marie and her family through their tragedy. I'm thankful that we were there last week and got to see them.)

    Terry Fator - we had front row seats center stage. This time the seating was perfect, because it was just one performer, so we did have the "overall" experience. He was awesome, such a great entertainer. My husband really enjoyed this one, too. We were able to do the VIP line for the meet 'n greet and were the first people in line for it.

    Bill Engvall - we had 3rd row seats for this one and again being up close really worked. He was very funny and we enjoyed the show. But in retrospect, I'd have gladly given up these seats to go to Human Nature again.

    GAMBLING - we don't. We took cash so each of us could have fun with the penny slots every day, but not waste a lot of money on it. And we did have fun.

    SIGHT-SEEING - not much this time. We did the Lake Mead cruise that goes by the Hoover Dam and really enjoyed that. The drive to the marina was nice as we got to see desert and mountains. We stopped at Ethel M chocolate factory. We spent most of our time exploring the strip, one evening at Freemont St and a stop at the "Pawn Stars" shop.

    FLIGHTS AND CAR: We flew Southwest, had booked early October and added EBCI at that time. Trip out was fine; they offered bumps, but we were on our way to vacation and declined. Our rental car from Alamo ran $179 total including taxes & fees for five nights. Transportation to the rental car center went smoothly and seems really well organized. We were disappointed in our return flight boarding assignment as it was clear that others around us got better numbers without EBCI or when they purchased it after us. Southwest's boarding process continues to be the #1 reason we book other airlines. We got home a few minutes late last night, but safe and sound.

    I guess that's about it. We had fun and can't wait to go back...especially for Human Nature.
     
  2. JarettK

    JarettK Low-Roller

    Joined:
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    Great report. Many of the shows I want to see are on your list. I never seem to get around to seeing them though.
     
  3. breanna61

    breanna61 Super Moderator

    Joined:
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    Sounds like a blast and some excellent shows. I loved Human Nature as well and will be seeing them for the second time in April. I haven't seen Terry Fator yet but have heard good things so perhaps we'll take in his show as well. Casino Royale is a fun place and kudos to sitting near the door and the "fresh air".......I love spending time at Casino Royale but always feel like I should burn my clothes when I leave there.:eek:
     
  4. tcocona

    tcocona Low-Roller

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    Breanna61

    To make it easy why don't you just leave your clothes there!!
     
  5. nitc

    nitc Tourist

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    Could it be their Business Select passengers? They pay a higher fare when they book, and part of it includes priority boarding. Just wondering if that explains it.
     
  6. Coach Terry

    Coach Terry Low-Roller

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    Thanks!

    Great report!
     
  7. GottaLuvCruising

    GottaLuvCruising High-Roller

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    Not at all. One passenger with EBCI (the only one AFTER us) had a traveling companion without it that got a lower number. Several folks ahead of us stated that they had added it within the last couple months - ours was purchased almost five months prior to the flight. We knew this would be a busy flight with a number of through and connecting passengers. That would explain our boarding position, but not support what other passengers told us.

    My point is that EBCI still needs some work. And I wish SWA would just give us the option to pay for a specific seat.
     
  8. VegasDiva

    VegasDiva VIP Whale

    Joined:
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    Calgary , Alberta , Canada
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    Great TR
    I , too want to see a couple of the shows you did

    Glad you got to see Donny and Marie, very sad about her son indeed

    love the penny slots too
     
  9. Liztoybiz

    Liztoybiz Tourist

    Joined:
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    Kingwood, TX
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    Thanks for such a great trip report. I felt like I was with you and you've given me some good ideas of things to do when we go in 16 days!! Glad it was fun and it sounds like you had a nice mix of activities.



    Good Luck,
    Liz
     
  10. superbeck1

    superbeck1 Tourist

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    great report. Sound like everyone really enjoyed it!
     
  11. VegasRandy

    VegasRandy Low-Roller

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    Great TR, GottaLuv! :beer:

    It's reading all these great reports that is getting me psyched for my May trip!
     
  12. GottaLuvCruising

    GottaLuvCruising High-Roller

    Joined:
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    Folio errors from TI continue...

    I didn't mention in my trip report that we went to the front desk to check out because folio as viewed on the TV had the wrong room rate. As many have noted, Treasure Island has been in the (apparently) challenging process of changing software. The Front Desk Agent explained that our problem was from when they moved reservations over from the old system (or something like that). She couldn't manually adjust the charges, so she deleted the old ones in the old system and posted just summary charges, for the correct amount, in the new system. She hit our card for the total.

    A few days later, I see online that TI had also hit our card for the original, incorrect amount. So I call and they apologize stating that they will reverse the duplicate charge. That happens on March 3rd.

    This morning I log in to pay credit card bill and see two more charges (totalling the original folio) on my credit card. What the heck? So I called, emailed and faxed all of my documentation at 7am this morning. I am still waiting for some confirmation that they have AGAIN reversed the duplicate charges. An apology would be nice. An invitation to return in a comp room would be fabulous!
     
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