Wednesday 19 January
Caught the tram to Edinburgh airport at 5.45am and checked in for our 08.35am flight. Got through security in 2 minutes as it was so quiet and made our way to the British Airways lounge which we have access to because we are treating ourselves and travelling business class or Club World as BA call it. We both had some breakfast as we didn't think we would get anything on the flight down to London.
Boarded our flight to London Heathrow which was on time. We were served fruit, yoghurt and a cheese and tomato or cheese and ham croissant so we had a second breakfast!
When we arrived in Heathrow we went to the BA lounge to wait the 6 plus hours for our next flight. We ordered soup and sandwiches for lunch then we eventually boarded our next flight.
As we are travelling Club World we got to board first so got settled into our individual pods and familiarised ourselves with all the amenities.
We were served a glass of sparkling wine or orange juice before take off then once airborne I ordered a Baileys. We had the choice of chicken, pork or cottage pie for dinner with lemon and apple crumble then cheese and crackers and wine.
There were lots of films and TV programmes to watch and then we had a sleep before the next meal which I skipped as I was still full from the last meal! We landed after 10 and a half hours and caught a taxi to our hotel (Excalibur). Unpacked and played a little on the slots and doubled our $20 stake 😆
Thursday 20 January
Had breakfast then had a wander up the Strip and sat in the area called The Park between New York New York and Park MGM for a little while soaking up the sun. Caught the CX bus to the bus station and bought our 15 day tickets. Walked along to Fremont Street to see if we could wave to our son back home on the web cam. He eventually saw us and took a screenshot.
Caught the CX bus back to Tropicana and transferred onto the 201 to Walmart and the Dollar Tree store where we stocked up. Caught the bus back then we both had a pasta dish from Pizza Hut in the food court then had a nap as the jet lag kicked in. Gambled in the casino at night still playing on our original $20!
Friday 21 January
Had breakfast then went for a wander round Mandalay Bay and then on to Luxor where we both redeemed a $25 free play reward from the online myvegas game. Profit - $37. Dinner was a pizza each from Pizza Hut in the Excalibur food court then we redeemed a $100, $50 and $25 free play from the online myvegas game and played some of it before resting in our room for a while. Played the rest of the free play at night and managed to win $162 altogether which was a great result.
Saturday 22 January
Had breakfast then caught the Deuce up to the Palazzo.
We wandered round the casino and the shops before walking through to the Venetian.
Next stop was Casino Royale where we found some slots that we liked so played for a while. Did the same at Harrahs then the Linq, then Flamingo.
From there we walked all the way down to the food court next to the MGM Grand and had a Chinese meal. Returned to our room for a rest before playing slots at night.
Sunday 23 January
Had breakfast then redeemed a $25 free play myvegas reward at Mandalay Bay - $22 profit and a $25 free play myvegas reward at Excalibur - $21 profit. We then visited New York New York and played some slots before walking up to Park MGM to play more slots. Caught the tram to the Bellagio where we took photos of the conservatory which is celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Tiger.
We then walked up to Mirage where we were hoping to redeem a myvegas reward for a 2 for 1 meal at Snacks but I failed to remember that it was only valid Monday to Thursday. Caught the Deuce bus back down to NYNY and ate at the original Fulton Fish Frye.
Made a quick visit to ABC stores over the road to buy water and some ice-cream for dessert. Played slots in Mandalay Bay and Luxor at night.
Monday 24 January
Had breakfast then caught the Deuce and the 202 bus to the Rio and walked up to the Las Vegas Advisor office and bought 2 Members Rewards Books. Caught the 104 then the 206 to Walmart. Caught the 206 to Downtown and redeemed $10 free play each from the LVA books in Binions. We also redeemed vouchers from playing the Binions app for food in Binions cafe where we had our dinner - we both had onion soup first then Jim had rib eye steak and I had fish and chips.
Redeemed $10 free play each from the LVA books at the Plaza then caught the CX back to our hotel. Played slots at night but not very many bonuses 😒
Tuesday 25 January
Caught the CX to Fremont Street and had breakfast in Binions cafe courtesy of the Binions app.
Had a look round the new casino on Fremont Street called Circa - very nice.
Wednesday 26 January
Had breakfast and chatted to a couple of guys from Ireland then caught the Deuce to Ballys and walked down to Ellis Island where we both played $10 and then received $10 free play from the LVA book. Walked back up to the Strip and walked through Ballys and Paris then through the Miracle Mile shops in Planet Hollywood where we bumped into the same guys from Ireland who were having lunch at Blondies. Walked through Caesars Palace and the Forum Shops
Caught the Deuce back to our hotel and played slots at night.
Thursday 27 January
Caught the CX to Fremont Street and had breakfast in Magnolia's in the Four Queens courtesy of the Four Queens app.
Walked over to the Downtown Grand for a look round and discovered that our friendly cocktail waitress, Claudia, was working and she remembered us from the last time we were there in September 2019! We chatted for a while then caught the CX back to our hotel. Had dinner at Pizza Hut in the food court in our hotel (meaty marinara pasta with bread sticks) and played slots in the Luxor at night.
Friday 28 January
Had breakfast and then we both played $10 and received $10 in Oyo casino courtesy of the LVA book. Had a walk through Park MGM to Aria
then through Crystals shopping mall
Saturday 29 January
Caught the CX to Fremont Street and had breakfast in Binions Cafe courtesy of the Binions app. Visited the California, Main Street Station and the Golden Gate then caught Deuce back to our hotel. Rested then we both had a pizza from the food court for dinner. Played slots in Mandalay Bay and the Luxor at night.
Sunday 30 January
Had breakfast then walked along to the Welcome sign where we waved to our son on the Earth cam.
Caught the 104 bus to the Gold Coast and then walked along to the Orleans. Caught the 201 then the CX to the Four Queens where we had dinner in Magnolias courtesy of the Four Queens app. Caught the Deuce back to Excalibur and played slots at night.
Monday 31 January
Had breakfast then went back to our hotel and looked for the pool and fitness centre.
We knew the pool was probably closed but discovered that it was open at weekends and during the week we would have had access to the pool at Mandalay Bay - bit late to have discovered that info but that was our own fault. Asked at registration about a late check out on Wednesday and settled on 6pm for $50 plus tax as our flight home is at 8.50pm. Next we tackled our Verifly app filling in all our flight details and vaccine information. Tried to fill in the Passenger Locator Form but we were a few hours early for that. Caught the CX to Fremont Street for dinner at Binions courtesy of the Binions app - open faced hot turkey sandwich served with cranberry sauce, stuffing and mashed potato for me and pork chops for Jim then returned to our hotel.
Played slots in Mandalay Bay and the Luxor.
Tuesday 1 February
Had breakfast then filled in our Passenger Locator Forms with great difficulty. Not sure how someone who is not IT savvy would have coped. Uploaded everything to the Verifly app successfully. Caught the Deuce to the Strat for a look round to see what had changed since we were last there
and then to the Sahara which had changed beyond all recognition. Caught the Deuce to the Wynn,
Encore and Resorts World then back to our hotel where we had dinner in the food court. Checked in for our 8.50pm flight tomorrow night and played slots at night.
Wednesday 2 February
Had breakfast then caught the Deuce up to Treasure Island (we were going to catch the 119 to Koval then walk to the new Virgin hotel but the bus didn't show up and to be honest we were quite glad as walking from Koval to Paradise in the cold wind today wouldn't have been very pleasant). Had a final walk through Palazzo and the Venetian before catching the Deuce back to our hotel for showers and a quick bite to eat at Breakfast & Burgers up at the food court in Excalibur. Checked out at 5.45pm and caught a taxi to the airport. Check in was a breeze as there was a separate line for Club World (business class). Got to our departure gate and found that the lounge was closed but there was a notice on it to say that the lounge at D gates was open so we caught the tram to there and it was opposite gate D33. We spent time there relaxing with a cup of cappuccino until it was time for us to board.
Our flight home was about half an hour late departing and we settled in to our Club World seats and perused the menu for our evening meal. We both had short prime rib
Here are a few photos of our room in Excalibur. Bear in mind that our hotel is at the lower end of the market. We were happy with our room as it was in a quiet part of the hotel and it was an upgrade on what we originally paid for (upgraded tower and a king bed instead of 2 queen beds). The bed was comfortable, there was plenty of storage space, a safe for our valuables and the shower was spacious and powerful. After 30 trips to Las Vegas we didn't really need a Strip view out of our window we just needed to see blue sky every morning!
