Two days before we were due to go I had a car accident. My car is a write off...not a great hardship as we already had a new car on order which is due in January and I have since had a generous settlement from the other guys insurance company for it but it did leave some hassle about how to get to the airport so the day before found us sorting things with his insurance company and getting a hire car....also the pain was an issue but a trip to the doctors and some stronger painkillers helped a bit.
Hmm would the children be allowed into America?
We chose this time to fly direct with British Airways, normally the cost is not worth it and normally fly with American Airlines but gold card or not we decided to fly BA as the prices had dropped and we had a lot of miles to use so we traveled on reward travel (although of course you still have to pay hefty tax and fees etc). I have to say the 10 hour flight went quite quickly. I have previously done a 10 hour flight to San Francisco (that was business class this was economy) I was really worried especially being with the bouncy bouncy 2 yr old how it would be. I was rather worried how he would be although he has always traveled well before, this time he has developed sensory issues, all part and parcel of his cerebral palsy/brain injury (he suffered from a severe lack of oxygen at birth.)
It was our first time flying through T5, to be honest I was far from impressed. I have worked in T3 and T2 (RIP) and flown through T3, T4 and T1 in recent years, also Gatwick...I have to say this was my least favourite experience. It feels like (and looks like) a massive warehouse (landside). Airside feels cramped and crowded and does not flow. There were family security channels but they were full of non family flyers and we only ended there by chance not guidance. We had non family flyers behind us getting inpatient with us which gets stressful, there were 3 children, lots of hand baggage, a buggy, laptops and as Jules has baby food that to check as well, we were never going to be quick! It was hard finding milk for the baby as well. I had made a call and sent emails to BAA on their website about reserving items as it says you can but no one emailed back or called me back. I had to walk here and there between boots and the other boots branch and in the end paid inflated Pret prices for 3 cups of milk for his bottles as we were hoping he would sleep. (He did yayyy). When you get to the satellite terminals it is all glass, was very warm and bright sun magnified through the glass made for a very unpleasant wait at the gate and there was no announcement for people needing extra time to board, which we needed with a disabled child. When she was trying to take the buggy she said why didn't you board earlier (in the middle of the general rabble crowd) and I said well we did not hear an announcement she said well it was on the tv screen...err what tv screen, what about blind people who may need extra time? BIG fail on BA's behalf, but how amusing to see a massive Virgin Airline advert in the middle of a BA terminal. There was only one baby change room at each end of the terminal (landside), we waited for about 20 minutes and a cleaner came out, there had been no movement, I think she had been asleep. We had by then given in and changed him on his mat on the floor of the disabled toilet. I have to say though after working in T3 with very loud baggage belts, T5 was very quiet compared with with it.
Jules in the warehouse.
The big bird that got us there safely.
Jules pressing buttons and having fun up front.
I have been travelling all my life what with my father who worked for British Airways and with working for United Airlines myself, I have flown the world on many many airlines over the past 40 yrs. I have to say the food we had on both sectors of this flight was awful. It was even worse than Virgin and that is saying something. I am one of those strange people who adores airline food...ok I loved United's first class 5 course meals far more than economy ones but all the same I love it... I like a lot of food mind you but flying can be so boring and the food is a little excitement yes? I can see where BA are cost cutting to save money, very little drink service compared with American Airlines and coming back breakfast was a muffin with a lifesaver mint stuck to the packet, which for those who do not know what a lifesaver mint is well it is a polo mint american style. After a 9 hour flight, over night, most airlines offer an omelette or some kind of breakfast even if it is a croissant with ham and cheese, something warm would have been nice. In fact I feel the food would put me off flying with BA again especially as they are not cheaper for like for like flights...rather fly a cheaper american carrier that offers nicer food, full size cans of drink on a more frequent basis.....hey we did not have 7 bathroom trips with a 3 year old Jennifer to Chicago on United because they scrimped on a soft drink...and this was when they were subject to chapter 11 bankruptcy action.
One other thing I need to point out is that for whatever reason BA does not have cool air blowers in the ceiling so if you are hot, tough luck. I have had a few long haul flight on BA now and it is awful. I have read they put the temperature up to make everyone go to sleep on a night flight, they certainly made it hotter on this return one, in fact coming home I was so hot, I spent most of the flight sitting on the crew fold down seat by the back door where it was cooler.
Dadda and Jules
Jules checking out the safety card.
Jules was amazingly well behaved, slept and watched the ipad.
Customs at Las Vegas was usual american wait...not as bad as ORD not as good as MSP. Luggage was of course going round and round waiting for us, lucky for us we flew the flag and did not lose our bag! The new international airport is bland and boring, far rather enter Vegas via the internal terminal. Seemed to be a lot of walking both arriving and departing. Luckily our buggy had been stashed in first class for the flight so it was there to grab at the door. Previous flights on BA have seen it go to the luggage claim even though it was gate checked (not great with a tired 3 yr old) and AA the same thing happened (not great with a 6 mth old, car seat, bags and 3 boxes of special needs prescription baby formula that could not be put in the hold due to temperature).
Welcome to LV!
Had a very long wait for the transfer bus to the car rental facility but it was quick once there and we picked up our rather large...in fact very large GM Yukon.
Bored tired Jules waiting for car rental transfer.
Lovely large comfy car.
Our room was amazing. Spa bath, 8ft projector screen tv, 4 other tv's, full kitchen, dishwasher, washer/dryer, large bathroom and shower....fantastic. Maid service was hormonal to say the least bless her and after care from the hotel has been awful. My daughter sent a wedding card to us, it arrived on the 12th (according to tracking), we left on the 15th and asked and was told there was nothing for us and no message as to something at the front desk was left for us and on calling them when we got back they will only send it to us via fed express which from what I can see seems to be approx £80 to be sent back. I have asked them to please put it in the regular mail but they refuse.
We also took the children to Skyzone which is fantastic, it is a place full of trampolines where they can just bounce and bounce from one to the other. My 10 yr old Jennifer and my 16 yr old Jordan both loved it. We also had Sunday brunch at the Cheesecake Factory...again Roger had dreams of the Monte Christo for 2 yrs whilst I just dreamed about cheesecakes and chocolate milkshakes. The customer service there was fantastic, the food was delicious and in passing we mentioned we were about to get married and when he bought out my cheesecake he had decorated it.
I love how you see some strange things in America, these perfumes were found in Walgreen's and amused us no end lol.
We took a while to find the love sign in the Mirage, we were thinking of having some wedding photos taken there but did not get round to it but did find some funky things round by the entrance to the LOVE show.
Roger took Gordon, Jackie, Jordan and Jennifer to Red Rock Canyon...I took the chance to go to Ross and do some shopping. This was the strip one down near Planet Hollywood...unfortunately the lift was broken to get from one floor to the other so my shopping was severely curtailed and they lost profits as there was no offer other than you can leave the stroller here and walk up, still no help when I explained he has cerebral palsy and can't walk and I can't carry him up stairs. We had a lovely stroll along the strip together. Jules loved watching everything and interacted with some of the daytrip sellers trying to sell trips. We also did some tacky shit shopping in the tacky shit shops along there. Everyone enjoyed RRC especially as they caught it at sunset, how perfect.
Apparently the kids ran off in the distance this is 18 x zoom!
My new mother in law, Jackie.
?? really ??
We wanted to take Gordon and Jackie to the Venetian to enjoy it and relax before we went there on our wedding day. Plus we wanted to confirm the table for the meal. We always have to have a gelato in St. Mark's square...it's the law.
We hit the hat shop.
I have been to Vegas 6 times before but never been up the Eiffel Tower there (mainly because I have been up the real one I guess). I have to say though it was a lovely experience, wonderful views and a very knowledgeable lift attendant who gave us lots of facts and figures about various things and costs of hotels and casinos on the strip. The cakes after were a bonus of course! Before we went up the tower we went to the Sugar Factory. It was ok, nothing over the top special, food average....would not bother going again if we went back there though. Very nice restaurant to look at in a good location but I feel you pay for the location rather than the food.
Gordon and Jackie saw the Beatles tribute show in the miracle mile (Saxe theatre) and Jennie and I saw the Nathan Burton show...free ticket voucher for that but of course they had no free tickets for 2 weeks only the ones you have to pay for was it $10 or $12? anyway with box office fees and tax it jumped to nearly $40, interestingly when I went back later that evening for the show I heard the girl on the box office saying they did have free ones for later on in the week just not that day so who knows... Gordon and Jackie seemed to enjoy the Beatles show mainly and we enjoyed the magic show...bit cheesy but he made girls appear and vamoshhhhhh....Jennifer loved it but then she is 10 years old. It was not the worst hour I have spent but rather have seen Donny and Marie...again (but sadly out of town this trip).
...and then it was 12.12.12 our wedding day....We had a lovely day, Canaletto was fantastic, the minister was great and said some lovely words, I cried all the way through. Giving the date and the fact I am a Donny Osmond fan, we walked in to Twelfth of Never and Roger chose the Ramones, "Baby I Love You" to walk out to...it was perfect. We got married at La Bella in the Las Vegas Hotel. The flowers with the package were far nicer than I thought they would be, everyone was friendly. We had a bit of a wait and delay for the photos to come through to us...they said 1-2 days but it took 3-4 weeks and customer service lacked a bit. It was apparently due to technical difficulties. We are still waiting for the CD and DVD in the post but have at least seen the pictures and video online.
This is our wedding video...I cried all through it.
Gordon and Jackie left us on the Thursday and that evening we headed to the speedway track for their 2 miles of lights around the track, it was pretty good and the kids loved it, well Jules fell asleep he was that impressed lol.
For our last night we escaped and left Jordan in charge when the other two went to sleep and slipped down into the miracle mile shops to enjoy a meal on our own (kids had already eaten we did not starve them honest). We did first walk over to the wicked spoon buffet in the cosmopolitan. We went to try that and also to have a look and see what it was all about being new and opening since our last visit. I have to say I was not overly impressed and neither was Roger. It seemed to be very empty, it did not feel like it had a heart or soul. Seems you can put all the money you want into a project, it does not mean it will work. We got to the buffet at about 20.30 and they were not accepting anyone else in...it was closing and they were cashing up the till. This just about finished off our opinion of the cosmo...we then left and saw bubba gumps back above the miracle mile but apparently it was not opening until the next night...shame because we had enjoyed our meal at the one in times sq nyc...so in the end Roger joked about the sports bar in the miracle mile so he could ogle the cheerleader waitresses, so at which point I gave up said yes and we sat there. I people watched everyone walking past and he watched the sport over my head and the legs of the cheerleaders and he enjoyed good large beers. What a good wifey I am eh! We had a starter of dough balls with garlic but I really think it should have been called garlic with dough balls...check out the picture below...vampires certainly did not get us that night!
It was with a heavy heart that we packed to leave....had to purchase another suitcase (what is new there?). Another mess up with Hilton, clearly says we only had an internet charge on our bill yet we were charged all those room upgrades (we thought they had finally sorted it for us) but alas this was apparently another issue due to an upgrade to a new computer system...we had a problem with the maid bursting into our room needing to use our room phone to log she had cleaned it (not to mention her leaving wet towels all over the kitchen floor one day too).
Suitcase full of goodies for Taylor.
We went to Silverton to see the mermaid 'show'. Jules loved seeing the fish and played through the glass with the mermaid but it was hardly a 'show' it was a woman in a fin waving at people.
We had a lovely meal at TGI Friday's for old times sake at the Orleans and headed sadly to the airport :(
This is made of of butterflies and looked amazing.
Very very long walks everywhere in the terminal.
Our plane to take us home.
Safely back at LHR.
The full wedding post is also on this page, please see the list of posts to the left hand side.
No comments:
Post a Comment