Luxor May 10-13 and 25th Anniversary

Day 1 – Monday May 10th
Left Denver on time at 9:25 AM after a very uneventful trip to the airport. Flight was smooth but very full. We arrived on time (about 11:00 AM) at the D gate (United/TED) so we caught the shuttle to baggage claim and the main terminal. Our bags were already coming off the carousel so we grabbed them and headed to the rental car shuttle. We got to Dollar and the line looked like it was really long. It turned out that most of the people were waiting to catch the shuttle back to the airport. I had tried to sign up for the “Fastlane†program but the Dollar website was having problems. I stood in line for about 10 minutes and then headed out to the lot to get our car. They told me go to row G and pick any car. There were NO CARS in row G. I stopped the lot guy and he said they would upgrade me for free so my daughter picked a loaded Chrysler Pacifica that was near where we were standing. He said sure and signed off on our paperwork. It was a nice car with plenty of room for the 4 of us and all our luggage. We decided to stop at Walgreen’s and stock up on water and soda before heading to our hotel. My son-in-law is always starving, as you will see so we stopped at Fatburger for lunch while we were there. He had a double kingburger and skinny chili cheese fries while the rest of us had regular kingburgers and shared an order for fries.

On to the Luxor, we were to early to check in so we dropped the bags at the bell desk and headed to the casino. My daughter had forgotten her players card we stopped by the players club to get her a replacement card. I stopped by the casino cage to finalize my line of credit. I find it easier to have a line of credit and write them a check at the end of my stay to pay it off if I lose, than to carry a lot of cash to Vegas with me. We headed to our respective areas of play. My daughter and son-in-law usually play a mix of things: Blackjack, $.25 slots, and $.05 slots. My husband plays $1.00 and $.25 slots. I play Blackjack and $1.00 and $.25 Video Poker. We made plans to meet in a couple of hours and check in. I played my $20.00 in $1.00VP until it was time to meet them all. We were all about even or down less then $20.00 so not a bad start. We had 2 Jacuzzi Suites reserved as we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and wanted a special room. We got room 12-081 while the kids had 10-160. We were on opposite corners of the pyramid but both rooms were very nice. The kid’s room was slightly larger which I think is because of the slant of the pyramid (The rooms shrink as you near the top???). They have a Jacuzzi for 2 under the windows and a small sitting room off of the bedroom but were very nice. We settled in, my son-in-law had a snack, and we decided to go play for a while. The kids and I headed off the Blackjack tables while my husband headed for the slots.

We found a $5 table that we could all sit at so we sat down to play. I spoke to the Pit Boss and explained to him that the kids were with me and could we be rated together. He was very nice and said sure so I got rated at $50 a hand rather than my own $25 a hand action. My husband came by occasionally to see what we were doing and how much we were up or down. After about 4 ½ hours of play the 3 of us had lost $500.00 but my husband was up $700 so were still in the black as a group. It was now about 7:30 and the kids wanted to wander up the strip for a bit. We headed over to MGM via the Excalibur walkway; as soon as we got there my son-in-law was starving. My husband loves the bread pudding at the buffet so off we went. We discovered a reoccurring theme in that there was no line. With the exception of Dollar, we did not have any real waits or lines to deal with the entire trip. After eating at the buffet and playing for a little while we realized how tired we all were and headed back. We went to bead about 10:30 PM (our earliest night of the whole trip).

Day 2 – May 11
My husband and I woke up about 6:30 AM the next morning and knew the kids would be a while. Breakfast was Krispy Kreme doughnut from Excalibur (hot and fresh original glazed), orange juice and coffee. We took the left over doughnut to the kids and made plans to meet them downstairs. I went to play $1.00 VP while my husband headed back to the slots. He has this thing about playing for the cars and since he enjoys it so much I don’t complain. The kids met us about 10:00 and we decided to do some shopping. My husband is down $40.00 and I an even on the day. We head over to Belz outlets and spend about 2 ½ hours and not too much money. My son-in-law is hungry again so we have lunch while we are there. We get back to the hotel and make plan to meet about 5:00 because my daughter and I have a spa appointment. The guys decide they are going to the Harley Davidson dealership to get new shirts and drool over the motorcycles. My husband has a 77 Kawasaki KZ 1000 and my son-in-law wants a bike badly.

My daughter and I head off to the spa. We sit in the steam room and in the whirlpool before getting a massage and facial. I really enjoy the showers at the Luxor spa because each one has a different scent. They have all the scented product to match each shower as well so we leave smelling like mango and apple. I wish I could afford to have a massage every day!! We meet the guys and it turns out that in addition to a trip to the Harley Davidson dealership they have been to the Rio, had a snack, and my husband has won $300.00 on the nickel slots. We decide to go pick up our tickets for “O†for the next night. We valet park at Bellagio and witness our first interesting story of the trip. A guy behind us in a Cadillac is just carrying on and yelling at the valet (a young girl) as we all get out of our car. He gets out of his car and sets his Heineken mini keg can on the trunk and yells at her loud enough for everyone to hear. He then proceeds to stagger his way to the door and gets caught up trying to figure out to get through the revolving door. I know that Vegas allows open container and such but this guy had no business behind the wheel of a car. We pick up our show tickets and decide to play a little. We all lose about $20.00 each so we decide to go look through the Forum Shops. We end up at the Cheesecake Factory and my son-in-law is starving so we decide to have dinner there. Tons of people are standing around the entrance so I go up to ask about wait times and she says we can seat you immediately. We have a wonderful dinner and decide to walk over to Aladdin and the Desert Passage shops. We stop to play a little after looking around the Aladdin shops. If I play nickels I like to play the scrabble machines and have I done fairly well over the years with them. I see a bank at Aladdin and decide to give them a try. Well I cash out after about an hour and I am up over $100.00 on a nickel machine so I am happy. We head back to the Luxor and decide to play for a while. We visit the Coffee Shop for a snack, as my son-in-law is hungry again. The kids and I play Blackjack and my husband heads back to the slots. The same pit boss is there and he welcomes me by name (a nice touch). We start playing and after a couple of hours my husband and son-in-law decide they are tired and head to bed. My daughter and I change tables to get away from 2 really drunk jerky guys but there are plenty of tables with seats available. Long story short, we play until about 4:00 AM and are down about $200 for the day/night.

Day 3 – May 12 (Our Anniversary)
My husband and son-in-law are taking a helicopter tour (Papillion Helicopter tours) to the Grand Canyon today so we plan to meet at the Pyramid Coffee Shop at 8:00 AM for breakfast. We have breakfast and the guys organize their snack for the trip. They guys are being picked up at 9:00 am at the north doors so we get down there and wait and wait and wait. Finally at 9:20 we call and are told that due to the high winds this morning the tour has been delayed until 10:45 and they will be picked up around 10:00 AM. We kill the next 30 minutes doing nothing until the van shows up and the guys take off. They really enjoyed the tour and took tons of picture but we would have appreciated a call to let us know about the delay. Us girls head off to the Fashion Show mall. We are looking for new clothes to wear to dinner that night. We both find what we are looking for and get back to the hotel just minutes after the guys get back. My daughter and son-in-law decide to take a nap while I head back to the $1.00 VP and my husband to the $1.00 slots. We both play for about 2 hours before we need to go up and get ready for dinner. We have reservations for 7:30 at Delmonico for our anniversary. We all look very spiffy when we meet at 6:30. We get the car and head over to the Venetian. Dinner is wonderful!! I don’t think I have ever had a better meal or better service. We had a variety of entrees and shared 2 sides; we started with drinks and shared 2 appetizers and 2 bowls of gumbo. Even with wine at dinner the bill including tip was under $300.00 so I was very surprised. We didn’t order dessert but they brought out chocolate sorbet for all of us to celebrate our anniversary. After dinner we wandered over to Bellagio as we had tickets to the 10:30 “O’ show. “O†was enjoyable but not exactly my husband and son-in-laws favorite. We were in the first row of the second section, right beside the sound/light booth. They were really good seats and we got a little bit wet from the clowns in the pre-show bit they did. After the show we headed back to Luxor. As usual they kids and I headed to the blackjack table while my husband hit the slots. By know it is almost 1:00 AM so we have a substantial snack at the Coffee shop before my son-in-law decides to head for bed. My daughter and I play for a while and about 2:00 AM my husband stops by and says he is headed to bed. We continue playing and finally I quit about 4:00 AM. My daughter plays for another hour or so before she head up to bed too. We have plans to meet at 10:00 or so in the morning and take care of checking out.

Day 4 – May 13 – Time to head home

We have a 5:30 PM flight and we need to check out of our hotel. We plan to meet about 10:00 AM and head over to Belaggio after we eat for the Monet exhibit. My husband and I get about 8:30 AM and get packed. We go down to the players club to check out comps and such. We get all our meals that we charged to the room taken care of and get a comp for 4 to the buffet for breakfast before we leave. We still have about 3000 points and better than $100.00 comp dollars but decide to leave them for our next trip (our son turns 21 in February). We visit the casino cage and pay off my line of credit with our winnings. The kids come down and we get checked out of the rooms and check out bags at the bell desk. We have the buffet for breakfast and then get the car. With our bags loaded we head to Bellagio. My son-in-law wants to visit the Monet exhibit. My husband hits the slots while my daughter and find a $5.00 Blackjack table. My son-in-law finds us about an hour later and plays Blackjack with us. My husband shows up and says we need to head to the airport before long so we cash out and head toward home. We get the car returned and get checked in. My son-in-law is hungry as usual so we eat at the Mexican place before standing in the long security lines for the D gates. We have about 20 minutes at the date before our plane starts boarding. Our flight home is kind of bumpy but uneventful. We pick up the car and drive home.

Total for the trip:
Gambling – Between the 4 of us we are down about $500
Comps. - All our coffee shop charges, spa charges, and buffet.

Best – Dinner at Delmonico
Worst – Delay with Helicopter and not being notified about the delay

I can't wait for February. Maybe I can work in a trip in November.

Deb

 

Great report!

Thanks for all the details.

 

Blackjack til 4 every night? Right on. I couldn't do the line-of-credit thing, though, I feel more accountable when I bring X dollars in cash and that's it. Did your son-in-law drop some quarter in the Harley slots, trying to get the bike the easy way? There's an ad for one of the indian casinos here that shows an older lady who's won two.

 

Great trip report! I'm off to Luxor next month and particularly enjoyed your spa details.

 

Great trip report.

You know we thought the same thing ourselves about the pyramid rooms at the Luxor - getting smaller the higher up you go - but it didn't make sense.

 

Very nice report.

Might want to get that son in law to a doctor. He must have a tapeworm! Jeez!