Vegas Trip Diary January 2019

We started 2019 with a trip to Vegas! We left on January 1, 2019, and spent five nights at The Cal in Downtown Las Vegas. Temperatures were so, so cold — in the 30’s for most days. Here’s what we did . . .

The Bellagio really out-did themselves with their Christmas display this year. In addition to the soaring Christmas tree and frolicking polar bears, it included majestic horses pulling a carriage you could walk through and a beautiful snow queen. The pictures don't do it justice.

The renovations to The Cal are complete. All rooms, casino and amenity areas are fully renovated. The exception is Market Street Cafe.

If you care, Vacations Hawaii even updated their Aloha coupon books. It used to be green and had a more floral design.

They added two additional banquet rooms to the second floor where slots machines, a bar and the orignal sports book used to be. The area seemed a bit cramped to me, but it had a nice contemporary design. Above are two of the ballrooms.

See the couple to the right side of the picture? The third ballroom is to the right.

They switched the directions of the escalators. The man pictured going down used to be the "up" escalator.  I heard the escalators have been out of order for a while, but they were working fine when we where there.

New York New York skyline from the NYNY-MGM bridge.

Statue of Liberty wears a Las Vegas Knights jersey.

Dancing Bliss lit up at night. Love The Park. Nice place to hang out.

Water feature at The Park. The light changes colors; it was really pretty.

We walked though the new Park MGM (formerly Monte Carlo). The casino was nothing to write home about (don't get me wrong, it was very nice); however, the newly added Eataly is pretty cool. It's billed as an Italian Marketplace with authentic Italian eateries and products. I didn't take any pictures, and we only did a quick walk through, but I'll definitely spend more time here during our next visit.

At Cosmopolitan.

Again, at Cosmopolitan.

On the Strip, early in the morning.

I found a Mariah Carey slot machine at Bally. I'm not sure why they didn't have this at other casinos, especially at Caesar's where she performs. Note slot machine creators: looping an artist's music is a great way to distract players from focusing on how much they are playing/losing. LOL. Needless to say, I didn't do well, but was signing along to Mariah's songs.

Linq Promenade. I really love what they did with this area. They recently added a zip line.

I'm so glad there is an In-N-Out at Linq Promenade. More convenient than driving to the W. Tropicana Avenue location.

It was mostly sunny (albeit cold) during our trip with the exception of this day.

Praying Mantis at Container Park in Downtown Las Vegas.

Back of mama Mantis.

Peeking through the letters of the Container Park sign. Hubby is a bit afraid of heights.

Best tree house ever! If you have kids, a visit to Container Park is a must. It's a great place for young ones to burn off some energy.

Breakfast from Egg Slut, at Cosmopolitan. We ate a Fairfax Sandwich and a Sausage, Egg and Cheese Sandwich. It was delicious! It's best to go early or be prepared to wait in line.

Sprinkles cupcakes! Chocolate (left) and peanut butter.

Both cupcakes were really moist. The peanut butter one had bits of chocolate chips in it. 

First time at Luke's Lobsters. We got the trio, which consisted of one lobster roll, one crab roll and one shrimp roll. I really enjoyed the lobster and shrimp rolls. Surprisingly, I thought the crab was just okay. The clam chowder was really, really good.

Interrupting the food shots with a picture of me standing in front of a giant heart, right outside of Luke's Lobsters.

Back to food. I tried tocino for the first time at The Cal. It's a breakfast dish that's commonly found in the Philippines, among other places. Basically, it's marinated pork belly that is then fried or boiled. We saw another table order it one morning, and we asked the waitress what it was. It looked a bit like char siu, which I like. I ordered it the next morning and it was really good! 

It's always a pleasure to stay and play in Downtown Las Vegas, especially at these two properties.

That's all for now! Until the next trip, Live and Breathe Aloha!

Vacations Hawaii First Class Service Review

On this trip, the Hubz and I splurged for first class tickets (read my review on premium class here). Keep in mind though, that this is Vacations Hawaii and Omni Air International, so although first class costs much less than other airlines, you are flying Omni. 

Like premium class, you get a dedicated check-in lane. Being that there is only one flight going out on Omni and everyone arrives at different times, this is not a big deal going to Vegas. The regular line was pretty empty too. 

Coming back, however, is another story. The bus drops everyone off around the same time, so it was nice to have a shorter line when returning home. 

The Gold Lane on the Honolulu side is a great perk to have, allowing you to go through TSA a lot faster. 

There is a separate line returning as well, but there are many more TSA lanes in Vegas, and the lines move at a much faster pace than in Honolulu. 

You board the plane after those needing assistance, which may take a few minutes when you're flying Vacations Hawaii. 

Look at all the legroom! I was, however, expecting a bigger seat. There was definitely more arm room since you and your seat mate have your own arm rests (vs. sharing one), but I couldn't sit cross legged comfortably on the seat. 

Although I like window seats, I selected seats in the middle row. A friend recommended this to avoid bothering your seat mate if you need to go to the bathroom. This was definitely good advice since I did get up a couple of times and would have had to wake up the Hubz, who was sleeping. Or, I could have done what one man did. He was sitting in the window seat and crossed over to the aisle (and back) by standing on the armrests of the seats. I kid you not! 😳

We got served drinks shortly after boarding. Orange juice for me and champagne for him. All drinks (including alcohol) are free.

Movies on this flight included Creed, The Intern, and The Martian. All good movies. The earphones are free ($5 in coach). I brought my own, but I used their converter thingie, so I could hear sound in both sides of my earphones. 

Snack service. More orange juice for me (I was on the tail end of a cold) and wine for him.

Meals are included in the price of the package for all passengers. For lunch, I chose noodles with teri beef. Read my premium class review for what we ate there. 

The Hubz had stuffed cabbage. The food was ok. But we were both still very full from okazuya lunch we had just two hours before. 

Sundae dessert! We also had hot towel service a couple of times during the flight, which was nice. 

The Hubz and I both had the same meal on the flight back. Sweet sour chicken.

My thoughts? The food was nothing to write home about (but it was presented very nicely) and the seats weren't the fanciest, but we had great, attentive service with a very friendly crew. It was nice to have quick and easy access to the bathroom and to be the first to board and de-plane. If budget permits, I'd do it again. I really don't like flying, and first class definitely made the flight more bearable. 

I read that Omni would be upgrading their planes to include new seats and technology, including USB chargers. I'll need to take another trip to Vegas via Vacations Hawaii to check out the improvements! 

Note about Vacations Hawaii: I am always impressed about the service they provide to our seniors. They are always attentive and accommodating. There was one women near us who was frail, and the flight attendants were constantly checking to make sure she was comfortable and helping her to the bathroom.  I never have to worry when my parents and my mother-in-law book their Vegas trip via Vacations Hawaii. They really go out of their way to service our seniors. 

We opted to stay at The Orleans this trip. It's priced a little higher than the Downtown hotels, and there were a total of 12 out of the entire flight who got off at this stop.

The shower/tub had a little window. Our view was of the Strip: 

I enjoyed staying at the Orleans. It's a convenient 5-minute drive to the Strip on Tropicana (In-n-Out Burger is on the way) and rooms are larger than usual with a separate sitting area. The bathroom was a standard sized bathroom, but seemed roomier because of the layout. The casino can be a bit smokey at times, but there are a lot of tables and machines. They also accept Vacations Hawaii coupons at select hotel restaurants. Eateries open 24 hours include Baskin-Robbins, Subway, Sbarro and Fuddruckers. Entertainment include a pool, movie theaters, a bowling alley, and a kids zone. I was a little worried because the property was off-Strip, without being close to anything else (like Downtown), but it was really great and I'd recommend The Orleans to others, especially if kids are vacationing with you. 

Thanks for reading! It may be a while until my next trip to Vegas, but I hope not!