I guess we're grown ups now? Nah, maybe next week! October 2016 Part 1 - Day 1 Planes of Premium

[PrincessCastle]

Index

04/10/16

Alarm went off at 5am. I got up and checked the documents just to make sure the flight was today... you know...normal!

It said on a little bit that I hadn’t read before that we had to check in at least 3 hours before the flight time. First thing I did was get all cross cause this must be a new thing but then I remembered I had done online check in last time so we didn’t need to be there that early so then panic sets in and I turf Ross out of bed, get dressed and we are downstairs by 5:30.

We had ordered a taxi for 6:30 the night before so I asked them to send one now which they were fine with and one arrived pretty quickly. We paid the driver £6 and headed inside to Thomas Cook check in. There was a bit of a queue but thankfully we could sail down the priority line and got seen straight away! I was very pleased to see we still had the seats I had reserved on dibbers row.

We went down the priority queue at security even though it wasn’t necessary as there was not much of a wait in the normal line but it still feels good going in the VIP line right?

With no cavity searches needed this time we had a look around duty free but I didn’t need any perfume and really couldn’t afford any of the makeup so we just bought some headphones and a set of plug adaptors since we didn’t have any! These came to £13.

I had realised the night before that I’d forgotten to pack my kindle so we went to Smiths so I could grab some books, I got Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, some more puzzlers and a tube of Pringles , cant remember how much this came to!
By 6:30 we were sat in the departure lounge. I updated my notes and Ross watched his friend stream on Twitch.

At 7 we were starving so headed to the large cafe on the ground floor (the name escapes me) and got a table by the window. Ross got an omelette and I had a full English and we shared a pot of tea, this came to £20.

We had a wander round some of the shops and we walked past a machine for holiday insurance and it suddenly dawned on me that we didn’t have any! Oops! So I used the airport few wifi and did a little compare the meerkat and got some with Post Office, not that we needed it the entire holiday but you never know do you!

At 8:20 our gate was called (number 27) so we headed down, it was super busy but I did notice that there was a butt load of kids waiting, like a school trip or something! Thought it was very bizarre but thankfully when the flight to Hamburg at the next gate started boarding they all got up and left, thank the lord!

They called up families with young children and premium class customer first, and low and behold, everybody seemed to listen! Usually nobody gives a stuff what seat they are in they just want to get on the plane first, maybe they think they will get there quicker than everybody else if they are first on...who knows!

We found our way to our seats, 7A and C and we had a blanket, pillow and amenity kit waiting for us. Legroom was plentiful, the table folded out of the armrest rather than the back of the seat and the screens looked all shiny and new.
Champagne was handed out before we took off, I usually find champers too dry but this was actually quite nice.

Loadsa leg room!

We synchronised play buttons and watched Deadpool together, you know, finger at the ready...3, 2, 1 press play!

I had a mosey over the drink menu, Ross ordered a berry Bulmers and I had the sparkling rose and they gave us two each. I thought that since the champers was nice the rose should be good too...I was very very wrong, it was rank! It took me the entire flight to drink one bottle. A normal person would have told the cabin crew and asked for something else instead but I’m far too polite for that so I kept sipping and every time Ross got a bulmers I stole his ice and tried to water it down a bit!

After Deadpool I watched Jungle Book and Ross watched Blended until lunch was served at 12ish. Ross chose the beef curry, I didn’t fancy that and I’m sure the chicken option came with parma ham or something which I really don’t like either so I asked what the vegi option was, gnocchi! Looooove gnocchi and this didn’t disappoint, Ross said his beef was nice but nothing special! Desert was banoffe pie mousse which was also lush and some cheese and crackers.

I must have had a snooze after lunch cause I missed the end of the Jungle Book, oh well, it was only OK!
I looked out of the window and saw perfectly laid snow! I told Ross and he tried to tell me it was clouds but it definitely wasn’t. We looked on the flight map and saw we were over Greenland, it was beautiful!

Next film was Wolverine. Neither of us have ever seen and of these films or the X-Men ones so I didn’t really get it but it passed the time!
The film choice was a bit lame so Ross watched Deadpool again and I decided to give Gravity a go... it was garbage! A few hours of my life I will never get back! Well technically I will, I will get an extra 8 hours back once we land in Vegas but you catch my drift!

We both had a berry bulmers which was super yummy! Ross watched Captain America and I read a bit of Gone Girl until they served afternoon tea at 10:15am local time. It was an egg sarnie, cheese sarnie and a scone with cream and jam.

Whilst we were eating the captain told us we could see the Hover Dam outside our window what was cool to see.

The Hover Dam is in that picture somewhere!

We landed in Vegas at 11:25am local time. Made me feel tired just thinking about the fact that we had to do the next 8 hours all over again! They played Elvis’ Viva Las Vegas on the speakers and told us ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’. So I’ll end this report right there. Thanks for reading folks!

Continued... maybe

[PrincessCastle]

Jokes! We were swift off the plane and into an empty immigration hall! We waited all of five minutes to be seen, but in that time the queue built up behind us and it made me pleased we were in premium and got off first!

The lady we got was lovely! It was so nice not being made to feel like a criminal! Ross had to give his fingerprints a couple of times before it worked...grafters hands!

I messaged the parents back home to tell them we were still alive whilst waiting for the bags then headed out to find some form of transportation. We asked a dude where to go for a taxi and he showed us to a booth providing shuttle buses and we forked out $22. I have no doubt we were robbed but to be honest I just wanted to get to the hotel so I really didn’t care!

The driver came 5 minutes later, loaded our bags on and told us to leave our morals in the bin by the road cause we are in Vegas now! There was a drop off at the Monte Carlo first and then to the Vdara, taking in the sights along the way. We spotted a Dennys and kept it in mind for later.
The hotel was lovely! Except the random canoe sculpture outside... that was bizarre but the rest of it was nice!

Both pics stolen from google cause I didn't take any myself for some reason!

At the check in desk they congratulated us on our wedding and told us they had sorted us out a room with a lovely view.
I asked if we could pay the resort fee in cash which they were fine with but they said we had to pay a $400 security deposit as well! I didn’t want to pay the full amount in cash so I asked to pay that on a card. The guy said that if I could pay the $400 in cash they would refund the amount minus the resort fee when we checked out which seemed fair to me. Money sorted we got given our room cards and headed to the lift.

There were over 50 floors in the hotel! We were on the 22nd floor in room 22008. The room was ginormous! We had a huge bed, a couch, a desk, a dining table and chairs, huge chest of drawers and cupboards with a tv on top. A big closet with safe, beautiful bathroom with another cupboard and we also had a huge bed side table with two drawers each. The amount or storage was ridiculous, it was fab!
There was also a kitchen area with loads of drawers and cupboards, fridge, microwave and hob. No crockery, cutlery or equipment though, it guess you have to request them if you need them.

The best thing was the view! We had to work out how to pull up the blinds first, there was some switches on the wall for that. But once we figured it out we saw we had an amazing view of the Bellagio fountains.

We spent a while unpacking and sorting out then tried to work out where the nearest shop was for toiletries and snacks. I googled Walgreens but it looked really far so we sucked it up and just went to the Aria across the road and just prepared ourselves for the prices!

Aria 'fall' decorations

We just got a few bits and bobs and Ross got a huge bag of hot Doritos. Back in the hotel dropping the bags off, Ross opened his Doritos and thought they tasted a bit weird. He looked at the packed and saw that they were actually cheesy nacho flavour and they must have different colour bags in America. He was raging and all I could do was laugh at his fail! He spent the next three weeks looking for the right flavour but never did find them!

It was time to go find the strip! We saw the sign for the Bellagio and followed that. That hotel is beautiful! But stupidly busy, don’t think I’d really like to stay in one of the well known casino hotels, they were packed with people all the time!

We saw the chocolate fountain, had a look in the conservatory and the glass ceiling... and the ridiculous queue for check in!
Out of the door into the blazing heat and the first thing we see is the Eifel Tower and the balloon eeeek, Vegas! We headed across the road into the miracle mile shops to look for food.

We couldn’t remember where the Dennys was that we saw so we just wandered through the shops and ended up coming out the other side so it was decided that we were going to find Dennys, it can’t be far! It wasn’t but we ended up walking the wrong way first for a while until we decided to turn around and go back, I was getting hot and hangy but it was great taking in some sights.
we eventually found Dennys after what must have been about 3 weeks of walking we went inside and got a table right away. Holy mother of air con in was cold in there. One thing I leant about vegas, they looooooove making all of their insides the polar opposite of outside and it ticked me off! I used to use my napkins as diddy blankets!

Back to today. Ross ordered chicken strips to start (not wings so cannot count towards his total!) and a cheese burger with fries and I learnt from my last Dennys encounter and ordered from the starter menu, cheese fries! Sorry not photos, I totally forgot! We each had a coke to drink. While we were eating a couple on the table opposite ordered chicken strips AND nachos to start and then their main AND some sides... jeeeeez Louise! Perhaps they aren’t Americans and don’t realise how huge the plates are...or maybe they are Americans and can handle it! Food was good, not as good as we remembered it in Orlando though. Total came to $38 including tip.

On our way back up the strip we found a Walgreens... not that far away then, stupid google maps! We grabbed some shampoo, conditioner and shower gel then headed back to the hotel to use them and be all clean again! We had been up for a loooong time now and all I wanted to do was sleep but to get onto Vegas time we needed to stay up, boooo.

So, casino time! We went to the Bellagio as it was nearest. I started looking for the machines were I could change notes into quarters and use the slots, it soon came very apparent that I was living in the past and they don’t have those anymore, nor do they have the big slot machines where you pull the handle. They have big electronic machines that flash and make lots of noise, I think I prefer the 2p machines in Hunstanton! We spent $65 and came away with a cash out voucher worth 30c. I really didn’t have fun, I thought the place was dark and dingy and really really sad, the only god thing about it was the guy playing the piano, he was great and we named him ‘The Silver Fox’. Once I was sick of flushing our dollars down the toilet I suggested we leave.

We went to Caesars and had a wander round the outside area. The area these hotels take up is huge, you see pictures of them but you don’t really see how massive they are until you’re there and it takes a good 5 mins just to walk past a hotel!

We found Serendipity 3 which we knew about from watching Tanked on Animal Planet when the guys from ATM did a giant gumball machine tank for them. We had a wander round the outside but the tank wasn’t there anymore which was a shame!

We crossed over the road over to the side street between Flamingo and the Linq as Ross was hungry again and needed feeding!

The first place we came across was Brooklyn Bowl. We got a bud light and a mojito and Ross got some of their ‘famous’ chicken wings (6 of those). Our server was a trainee and he was garbage! We did a bit of people watching whilst we waited an age for 6 chicken wings and saw an old guy fall over the curb outside. A load of strangers came to his rescue and helped him up while his wife stood and watched from about 8 feet away eating her ice cream! She’s a lovely lady obviously! Ross ate his chicken which he labelled ‘awful’ and we waited and waited for the bill.

Sorry, dont know why its the wrong way round and I dont know how to change it!

We finally decided that we must have to go to the counter to pay so off we went!
‘Can we pay the bill please?’
‘Oh did your server not bring it to your table?’
‘Ermmmm no!’
‘Oh well take a seat and we will bring it over to you’
‘No thank you we’ve waited long enough can we just pay please’
We paid $20 including a very small tip. Don’t go there folks!

Continued...

[PrincessCastle]

It was now 8:30pm and we had been up for over 30 hours and I really couldn’t last much longer! Ross finally agreed to letting me sleep so we slowly wandered back to the hotel.

Before bed we decided to watch the fountains from the room. I sat on the huge window ledge and Ross sat on the couch and watched. They were amazing and I couldn’t wait to see them down the front with the music!

After the show we fell into bed and went straight to sleep!

I have to say that by the end of the day I really wasn't loving Vegas. I hated the casinos, the strip was full on drunks and homeless people and comparing the food to Orlando I wasn't impressed and neither was Ross. I put it down to being tired and grumpy and didn't want to make my mind up too early so I'd start a fresh tomorrow and hope it changed my mind!

Wing count -12

[pandanne]

What a shame - having never been to Vegas I can't comment, but by the sounds of it I wouldn't like it either. Looking forward to the next instalment.

By the way congratulations to you both on your wedding.

[abiknox]

Great start! Good work on getting the insurance sorted, that would have been a nightmare if you had gotten ill, eeek!

Your hotel room looks great & what a view! Shame the place you had wings from was no good, ill leave that one off my must do list!

Look forward to reading more

[PrincessCastle]

Originally Posted by pandanne

What a shame - having never been to Vegas I can't comment, but by the sounds of it I wouldn't like it either. Looking forward to the next instalment.

By the way congratulations to you both on your wedding.

See more...

It did grow on me in the end I just didn't love it like I thought I would. Ross thought it was the best place ever though so I've agreed to go back at some point in the future, not for a week though. I though a few days in Vegas then onto Disneyland

Thank you, it was the best day of our lives!

Thanks for reading

[PrincessCastle]

Originally Posted by abiknox

Great start! Good work on getting the insurance sorted, that would have been a nightmare if you had gotten ill, eeek!

Your hotel room looks great & what a view! Shame the place you had wings from was no good, ill leave that one off my must do list!

Look forward to reading more

See more...

I know, so unorganised! It's always better to be safe than sorry though.

That hotel room was incredible, it was huge and we loved it!

Thanks for reading

[Jake71]

A long day and tiring day.

[EJSakaAnna]

What a lonnnng travel day! I think this is the first report I've read covering Vegas! I've never been but it's never really appealed to me, think I'll go one day though just so I've been, but not for too long.
The hotel room looks great, how amazing to watch the fountains from your room x

[PrincessCastle]

Originally Posted by Jake71

A long day and tiring day.

See more...

It certainly was!

Originally Posted by EJSakaAnna

What a lonnnng travel day! I think this is the first report I've read covering Vegas! I've never been but it's never really appealed to me, think I'll go one day though just so I've been, but not for too long.
The hotel room looks great, how amazing to watch the fountains from your room x

See more...

I'll try and get it finished so you get the full picture! Vegas is amazing, you'll love it! I wasn't keen the first day or so but I loved it in the end and I miss it! You should deffo go! x