My fabulous first time trip to Vegas

We had a great trip to Vegas! It was everything I had hoped for and more, and I can't wait to go back It is hard being back to reality

My husband and I flew from Portland, OR on SW Airlines through a vacation package. Despite the unassigned seats, it was a good flight, and worth flying Southwest for the price. We arrived on time shortly before 3:00 pm on Monday, November 11.

We arrived at Treasure Island quickly and had no problems or delays with the Showtime shuttle. I had called a few weeks before and requested an upgrade to a room with a view and said We'd prefer a corner room on an odd floor. They said a guaranteed room with a view would be $25 upgrade. It was worth it to me, as we hadn't been before, and we wanted to take it all in

At check in, they had us assigned to a room on the 26th floor. I asked about the corner room, and there wasn't one available. She said to call back the next day and she would try to get us moved. She also wished us a happy anniversary and said we could get a complimentary bottle of champagne from room service when we liked. Our room was beautiful and it did have a great view despite not being a corner room. We were quite happy with it.

We ventured out on the strip just to sight see. That evening we ate at The Garden Cafe at Harrahs. We were surprised--really good food! My husband had an all you can eat Prime Rib for $9.99 (Plus $1.00 for the salad) I had a bite and it was really good! I had spaghetti and meatballs and it was also really good.

Monday evening we just wandered around looking at the Hotels and Casinos. We had to laugh, we actually got lost in the Venetian among the conference rooms. We were so tourists! Gambled a little at Casino Royale, but nothing major. We had got very little sleep the past two nights and were tired, so we headed back to TI early. Caught the erupting Volcano, the Bellagio fountains

The "Sirens" show was just about to start and it was jammed with people in front of the hotel. I was glad they had the roped off "VIP" viewing area for the hotel guests. We watched Sirens, and it cracked us up because it was like watching a bad 80's video, but we had fun anyway because it was free. Had a drink in the Casino, then spent the rest of the evening enjoying our room.

Tuesday we headed toward Circus Circus and The STRAT . We stopped for a buffet at Westward Ho (Yuck!) and did a little gambling at slots of fun. I promptly lost $20 at the $3 blackjack table, so then we moved on to roullette. We had a lot of fun playing and between the two of us, came out about $20 ahead, counting my blackjack loss. We went to Circus Circus and rode the roller coaster a few times, the log ride, and a bunch of other rides. There were no lines since it was during the week, so we had gotten the pass.

We were tired so decided to catch the strat the next day and head back to our room. I know there are people who say the room doesn't matter because you don't spend any time in it, but I really liked having a nice place to relax and take a breather in I had a little bit of a gambling itch so I wandered around TI for a few minutes on my own and saw an empty Casino War table. It was $10 a hand, and I figured what the heck, I'm on vacation. I knew you really weren't supposed to play that game because the odds are so bad. I played one hand and won. I played a 2nd hand and won. I took my $20 and woke up my husband to tell him I'd won $20! We were offered to move to a corner room, but didn't move as our room was beautiful and we didn't want to hassle with it.

After our intermission, we headed out toward our evening desintation of "Tournament of Kings" at the Excalibur. It took several hours to get there as we were stopping and doing stuff along the way.

We stopped and did the tourist thing at a bunch of the hotels. Went into the Bellagio and saw the Conservatory, (beautiful fall theme!) Stopped at New York, New York- we really liked the decor there. Very cool! My husband climbed the rock wall at Game Works and we went to the M & M shop. We really wished we had more time! We finally made it to the Excalibur and were early, so did a little betting on the dogs and had a few drinks (didn't win squat!) We played a hand of Casino War and Won. Then we went to the roulette table and lost. Then we went back to the Casino war table and won. We went back and forth between the two tables (don't ask me why, just vacation silliness.) and ended up breaking even.

Tournament of Kings was entertaining. We liked it, my husband thought it was a little cheesy but was impressed by skills of the riders. I was hoping they wouldn't accidentally hurt themselves! After the show we started heading back, it was a bit cold and we had done a ton of walking, so we decided to try out the bus. taking the bus was easy and cheap, and I'd recommend it for when you are getting worn out!

The next day (Wednesday) we had big plans. There were two things I really wanted to get done 1) get to the Strat and go to the top of the tower and ride the rides there and 2) Big Elvis at Barbary Coast. So, the plan was to do a little gambling at Slots of fun, then head to the strat, then see Big Elvis in the afternoon. Well, our plans totally changed that day due to the weather. It started pouring down rain just as we were getting to Slots of Fun. We played .50 Roullette for awhile then went to check the weather. Still raining hard! Since it was in the morning (I'm not sure what time-between 9-10 I think), there weren't a lot of people there. We found two openings at the $1 blackjack table, and settled in. We had a blast talking to the people at the table and had several cocktails (such a novelty, drinking in the morning! Only in Vegas!) We ended up staying at the table until after 4:00 pm, we were having so much fun. I ended up losing $30, my husband came out $50 ahead.

I must say, we really liked gambling in the morning. The atmosphere isn't nearly so serious, (it was actually really silly!) and you can get spots at the low $$ minimum tables. For those of us not looking to make or lose a fortune, I really recommend it. There were people waiting to get on that table for hours, but no one was moving. I didn't realize how fortunate we were at the time to get a spot. My husband is a full blown blackjack convert. He didn't want to play and ended up loving it.

We had tickets for Blue Man Group at 6:30 and we were getting really hungry, so we finally quit playing. We had the TI Buffet for dinner, which was excellent, took a little break and then off to the show. Since the weather was cruddy, we took the bus. Loved that bus!

We had front row center tickets to Blue Man. We really liked the music and the show. We didn't get anything on us, and didn't even need the ponchos that were provided. I guess that is an issue in other Venues like Chicago, but not at the Luxor, or at least not at the show we were at. My husband is not so much into audience participation, and wished there was a little less of that. I think he was nervous he was going to get pulled up on the stage. The music was great though and it is really very visually cool. We were both glad we went.
Also, the Luxor is very cool to see in itself. We liked it a lot.

We hit some places on the way back like Paris, Aladdin, and watched the fountain show at Bellagio close up. We got back to our room about midnight.

We had to fly out around noon the next day, so the next morning we slept in and had the breakfast buffet at TI (excellent)and went to the airport early.

We were not ready to go back home to reality, and were amazed at how many things we had done, and how many things we didn't get to do that we had wanted to! I know this was long, but I also know I left a ton of detail out. There is just so much that we saw and did! We would love to go back again. I'm sure it's different everytime.

 

Glad you had a good first time! The dollar tables are proving to be a great way to get sauced up for cheap! drink fast, and you'll beat the house (well, in a weird way). Next time you go, maybe check out Fremont Street as well, and have a 99 cent shrimp cocktail!

I can tell you'll be back in Vegas soon

 

Thanks for the great report! We are going the day after Christmas and also staying at TI and I can't wait. Just reading your report has made me so excited to go. I've been to Las Vegas many times but have never stayed at TI. I've always stayed at a timeshare, Luxor, or Imperial Palace. We're taking mom-in-law so we decided to try something new. I heard that the rooms had been recently renovated. They looked really nice on their website and in the brochures. I try to check out various message boards several times a day so I can get ANY information on TI. You sound as though you had a wonderful time. Begin planning your next trip back so you have something to look forward to. Thanks again.

 

Great report!

Sounds like you took alot in on your first trip and yet had fun with all of it. That is great.
I agree that the Blue Man group and the Luxor are both cool. Also, the Garden Bar at Harrahs does have good food at a great price.

Sounds like you won the War! but you played it smart by hitting and running...

Those kinds of trips just make you itch to come back sooner rather than later.

 

Thanks for writing such a nice trip report, EH! I never get tired of reading them!