This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Saturday We gambled in New York, New York. As this is our 3rd visit, we had our traditional meal at Gonzalez Y Gonzalez. We tried to stay up as long as possible.[|)]
Sunday We ate at the Village Buffet in Paris and then went to the Superbowl Tailgate Party (Who Dat?[y]) at the Burger Joint in the Flamingo where the special guest was ex-Eagles QB Randall Cunningham.[oo]
Mrs DA got her birthday present from Tiffanys. We gambled in Caesars Palace, the Flamingo, Bills, Ballys and Paris.
Monday We checked in to the Bellagio and was amazed with the room[oo].
Ate at the Grand Lux Caf, watched the very good Jersey Boys and gambled all at Palazzo. We also gambled in the Venetian and Bellagio.
Tuesday Mrs DAs birthday, we ate at the Bellagio Buffet, went to the Wynn and the Fashion Mall. In the evening we ate at Mon Ami Gabi (6 years previously, we had our wedding dinner there), Mrs DA received a birthday profiterole dessert complete with candle[y]. Finally we gambled at Paris and Bellagio.
Wednesday Checked out of the Bellagio and picked up the hire car. Went to The Galleria at Sunset for shopping for Mrs DA and to buy softball/baseball equipment for me for next season[:w]. We also went to the Premium Outlets and Meadows Mall.
Thursday Drove to the M Resort, south of Las Vegas. I was entering one of the daily Poker tournaments while Mrs DA went to the spa. I went out 19th out of 42 players which I thought wasnt too bad for my first non online tournament while Mrs DA never got round to the Spa as she got her biggest win of the holiday. We went shopping at the Town Square, where is a store with a huge choice of guitars and accessories. In the evening we went to Monte Carlo and watched the UNLV basketball team play whilst trying out the micro brewed beers.
Friday Went to Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, NYNY and MGM Grand. We had dinner in Margaritaville. Went to the Fireside Lounge for a drink and then down to the Mirage to watch Love. This was our first Cirque de Soleil show and we were blown away by it. The acrobatics and choreography in time with the Beatles music was fantastic.[y]
All too soon our holiday was nearing to the end. On Saturday we finished our packing including our newly acquired suitcase and left the luggage at the front desk of the hotel. Mrs DA was suffering from sinusitis and was struggling. We wandered over to the Miracle Mile to have a spot of brunch at the Oyster Bay. I went for the egg, cheese and bacon bagel with a side order of sausages while Mrs DA went for the pancakes with maple syrup. Afterwards, we had a stroll round the Miracle Mile and went back to the hotel to wait for the shuttle pickup.
The shuttle arrived 1.15pm and there was just 4 other pax on the bus. The journey to McCarran took about 15 mins and very soon we were standing outside Terminal 2. We checked in the day before and I had already known we were on another LHR plane as the seat assignments were 31K & H. Completely forgot to ask about the exit row seats which proved to be mistake later. We dropped the bags off and went through security and our first experience with body scanners.
As previous posters have mentioned, there is fairly little to do once youre airside so we parked ourselves at the gate and took it in turns to look at the small duty free shop and newsagents. Whilst we were waiting, Lady Penelope taxied in and the new arrivals to the wonders of Las Vegas were offloaded. I played NFL2009 on the DS during the wait and eventually boarding took place.
We settled in to our seats and accepted the sparkling wine and started to take in our surroundings. We were getting comfortable when a 6ft 4 man who was built like a wrestler and his partner sat in front of us. We were a little concern when the mans seat who was in front of Mrs DA moved back a little under his weight.[:0]
We pushed back around 4.20 and after a longish taxi we took off 4.35. As soon as the seatbelts signs went the couple both reclined their seats back. The mans seat crashed to Mrs DAs knees causing her to yelp in pain.[:0] We looked at each in shock and the man in front vaguely sensed there was something wrong and he looked at me and said OK. He said it as more as a statement and not as a question and he should asking Mrs DA and not me. Before I reply, he turned round and started to watch his IFE.[:(!] It was clear he was not going to be considerate and I now wished I remembered to ask about the exit row seats during the bag drop.[B)] There was some spare seats in the middle rows next to the galley (are those the bulk head seats?), Mrs DA moved across after asking the CC. The CC was very sympathetic and made sure Mrs DA was very comfortable.
Once she was settled, I started to watch Astro Boy after asking the mans partner to move her seat up so I could see the screen which she did reluctantly and with some huffing. The dinner service was served and I had the Caesar salad, lamb curry, strawberry cheesecake washed down with red wine and followed with cheese and biscuits. I declined the offer of a Baileys or brandy and finished watching the film. As a fan of anime and manga, this version of Astro Boy was good but still cant beat the original series. I got myself ready to have a snooze, even scrambling out with difficulty out of my seat because of the reclined seat in front. When I returned to my seat, I made the point of asking the passenger behind if it was OK to recline my seat back and he was OK with it.
I dont normally sleep that well on planes but after 5 hours[|)] I was getting nudged by Mrs DA informing that they were about to start the breakfast run. I had the cheese and egg roll/bagel which I was thought was nice with the granola bar and black coffee. An announcement was made that we had 10 mins before the seatbelt signs are switched on. Everyone got themselves ready and the couple finally moved their seats upright after being told. Mrs DA rejoined me in her original seat and the seatbelt signs came on with 30 mins to ETA. There was a lot of cloud cover so unable to see the ground but it felt like we were not circling. On final approach, we eventually saw the ground a minute or two before landing. We landed 10.20 and taxied for a while to gate 32 and disembarked 5 mins later.
After a walk to immigration, we in a queue due a gentleman, who had a very battered passport with pages falling out, was being scrutinised. Once he produced some documentation he was on his way, few minutes later we followed him to luggage reclaim. Two of our cases were collected off the belt quickly the third case appeared a long time after. This was because it hadnt been labelled up PE unlike the others.[n]
We went through customs and I started to try and contact the Manor Meet and Greet people. After the 14th attempt, I managed to get through, they said the car will be on it way and to meet at the pick-up point. Unfortunately, it didnt appear until 40 mins later, the traffic was horrendous but even so, to pay for this service and for them to take so long was not best advertisement to use them again[n] compared to the excellent meet and greet service I had from Purple Parking when I flew from LHR last year.
Overall, we had a very good holiday, Las Vegas was just as good as ever and yet again it had evolved since the last time we visited and I will definitely do another Poker tournament (or two, or three). We thought PE was a great experience, even with the reclining seat incident. However, we were also very spoilt with the Upper Class experience on the way out. Either way when we go on our next long haul trip, which is looking like Orlando with the Apprentice, I doubt we will be flying economy long haul again.[:w]
Photos should be appearing in the Photo Gallery. If I have time, I'll put in the TR.
Edited: Now with pictures!
