Help with Vegas itinerary and has anyone done the gondola ride at Venetian?

[kkmcan]

Dh and I are getting a couple of days away together in Vegas in about a week and a half. I have an itinerary written out of what we want to do. We are going to focus on romance and being together so here's what I have so far.

First day our flight arrives at 11:05 am.
Drive to timeshare (not on strip but we have a huge suite), check in if possible or get luggage held until checkin time.
Head to strip for lunch at Margaritaville (this sounds fun and we love the tropical theme)
???- Not sure what to do now
Back to room to put our luggage away/checkin
Get ready for dinner and night out.
Dinner- Venetian Trattoria Reggiano
Gondola Ride
Head to the Bar at Times Square (New York, New York)

2nd day:
Wake up late, coffee, hanging out together in our bathrobes.
Grab a pastry from any casino snack area
Then ????
Lunch at ????
Couples Massage (1 or 2 pm)
Head back to hotel to hang out in hot tub with glasses of wine
Get ready for dinner
Dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris Hotel
Walk across street to Bellagio Conservatory
Zumanity at 10:30

3rd day:
8:30 Checkout and head to airport.

There are a bunch of times in the schedule where I don't know what we should do. Any ideas? We will have a car and in the evenings we plan on just getting a cab so we can drink and not worry about whose driving.

Also, any reviews on the gondola rides? Is there anyway we can make it more romantic? Can we take glasses of wine on with us or purchase them for the ride? Is night better than day time? Any other tips?

The reason I made this schedule is because we went on a kid-less getaway to Vegas 5 years ago and we had no idea what we wanted to do. We spent most of the time just wandering around getting tired and cranky and it didn't turn out to be the great time we thought it was going to be. We decided we needed a plan with an idea of the kinds of things we wanted to do before we left this time.

Thanks!

 

[cirquelovers]

I'll have to think on it but definitely show up to Zumanity early. Check out the peepholes in the lobby and get your seats early too! The gift shop has a lot of interesting items.

There is a good Irish pub there but it looks like you have dinner set for that night.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

Sounds like a great trip... a few suggestions

For those places you do plan to drive, have a parking plan in mind (ask here for suggestions if necessary). If you plan on driving to Margaritaville and back, what route are you taking and where are you parking? Getting stuck in strip traffic isn't all that romantic

No matter how you dress it up, the Gondola ride is cheesy. As long as you like cheese, that's fine. The way to make it romantic is to pay extra to have one to yourselves (otherwise you'll be sharing). I believe this time of year they are only running the indoor Gondolas, so time of day doesn't matter. If you have "a song" and it's something appropriate for a Gondolier, ask if he/she knows it. Volare gets old.

 

[everylastbreath]

Hi- Never did the Gondala ride, but I can't see it as being very romantic.. you are traveling down a river in the middle of the mall, I don't think I would waste my time or money on that, as pervious poster said "cheesy". Sounds like you have some good plans, but if you want a decent dinner I would skip Margarettaville, good place for drinks but food is so/so, not romantic either, more a of party place.

 

[plutolovr]

If you're looking for a nice "tropical" or Polynesian type meal I would head to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion. I believe it's on Paradise. We had a wonderful meal there, very romantic and you have to try the Hawaiian Martini .

 

[jlima]

Dh and I are getting a couple of days away together in Vegas in about a week and a half. I have an itinerary written out of what we want to do. We are going to focus on romance and being together so here's what I have so far.

First day our flight arrives at 11:05 am.
Drive to timeshare (not on strip but we have a huge suite), check in if possible or get luggage held until checkin time.
Head to strip for lunch at Margaritaville (this sounds fun and we love the tropical theme)
???- Not sure what to do now
Back to room to put our luggage away/checkin
Get ready for dinner and night out.
Dinner- Venetian Trattoria Reggiano
Gondola Ride
Head to the Bar at Times Square (New York, New York)

2nd day:
Wake up late, coffee, hanging out together in our bathrobes.
Grab a pastry from any casino snack area
Then ????
Lunch at ????
Couples Massage (1 or 2 pm)
Head back to hotel to hang out in hot tub with glasses of wine
Get ready for dinner
Dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris Hotel
Walk across street to Bellagio Conservatory
Zumanity at 10:30

3rd day:
8:30 Checkout and head to airport.

There are a bunch of times in the schedule where I don't know what we should do. Any ideas? We will have a car and in the evenings we plan on just getting a cab so we can drink and not worry about whose driving.

Also, any reviews on the gondola rides? Is there anyway we can make it more romantic? Can we take glasses of wine on with us or purchase them for the ride? Is night better than day time? Any other tips?

The reason I made this schedule is because we went on a kid-less getaway to Vegas 5 years ago and we had no idea what we wanted to do. We spent most of the time just wandering around getting tired and cranky and it didn't turn out to be the great time we thought it was going to be. We decided we needed a plan with an idea of the kinds of things we wanted to do before we left this time.

Thanks!

I would do Zumanity and The Bar at Times Square on the same night, rather than go to NYNY twice on one trip.

If you like dueling pianos, they do that at Harrah's in the bar by the sports book.

If you like the tropical theme for a restaurant, try Kahunaville at Treasure Island. Coconut shrimp are AWESOME.

Where are you doing the Couples Massage . . . if you are looking for a romantic lunch and wanted to stay at the same place, maybe go to lunch at The Veranda at The Four Seasons; you will be on property at Mandalay Bay; and there are three spas on property - The Four Seasons Spa, Spa Mandalay and the Bathhouse Spa at THEhotel.

If you want a suggestion for a romantic show, try the Crazy Horse at NYNY.

Have fun planning your trip!

 

[almacdonald]

My suggestion, skip Zumanity. We thought it'd be a nice, slightly naughty take on Cirque do Soleil. It was pretty bad and not romantic at all, unless you find drag-queens romantic. The pre-show is by far the highlight of the night. Go to Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden at the Mirage. THey have a baby leopard, dolphin and 5 tiger cubs right now, very cute! Oh, and there is a dueling piano bar at the Paris hotel which is smaller and more intimate than NYNY AND, they dont' do stuff like "I'm playing the same 4 bars of country music until i get $100!"

 

[kkmcan]

Thanks for all the responses. We've made some changes based on the suggestions here and from people we know. We are skipping Zumanity and seeing KA instead. I've got reservations for our couples massage at harrah's and we are skipping Margaritaville as well. Also, we won't be doing the gondola ride. It does sound really cheesy and not romantic at all. So here' s the revised itinerary.

First day our flight arrives at 11:05 am.
Drive to timeshare (not on strip but we have a huge suite), check in if possible or get luggage held until checkin time.
Head to Harrah's. Have lunch there (not sure of restaurant but our massage is at this location)
Couples massage 2:30
Back to room to put our luggage away/checkin
Relax with some drinks in the room &
get ready for dinner and night out.
Dinner- Not sure about Dinner yet. We are meeting a friend of ours who lives in Vegas for dinner. Either italian place in NYNY or Grand Wok in MGM
Head to the Bar at Times Square (New York, New York)

2nd day:
Wake up late, coffee, hanging out together in our bathrobes.
Grab a pastry from any casino snack area
Head to Mandalay Bay to check out the shark reef
Lunch at Mandalay Bay ??? not sure which restaurant
Coke floats at Coke Store (we did this one before and had so much fun. We bought the Coke float sampler- 8 different kinds of floats to share)
Head to Venetian to look around.
Back to hotel to rest and Get ready for dinner
Dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris Hotel
Ride up the Eiffel Tower
Walk across street to Bellagio Conservatory
KA at MGM late show


3rd day:
8:30 Checkout and head to airport.

Any other ideas or suggestions? Thanks. Kelly

 

[almacdonald]

Ka is a much better choice than Zumanity in my opinion. It's still no Love, but it's a great show ;-) have fun!

 

[jlima]

2nd day:
Wake up late, coffee, hanging out together in our bathrobes.
Grab a pastry from any casino snack area
Head to Mandalay Bay to check out the shark reef
Lunch at Mandalay Bay ??? not sure which restaurant
Coke floats at Coke Store (we did this one before and had so much fun. We bought the Coke float sampler- 8 different kinds of floats to share)
Head to Venetian to look around.
Back to hotel to rest and Get ready for dinner
Dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at Paris Hotel
Ride up the Eiffel Tower
Walk across street to Bellagio Conservatory
KA at MGM late show

What time is your dinner at Mon Ami Gabi; because I would allow at least 1.5 hours for that; half an hour for the Eiffel Tower; at least an hour to walk to Bellagio and ooh and ahh and take pictures in the conservatory; and then you need travel time to MGM Grand and time to pick up your tickets. The late show for Ka is at 9:30 . . . not really that late.

Also, are you going to walk from Mandalay Bay to the Coca Cola store? Because that's about a 20 minute walk, one way. You will walk through the Mandalay Place mall, Luxor, Excalibur, two pedestrian crossings over the Strip and then a short walk on the street. Be sure to allow enough time to do everything you want to do.

 

[kkmcan]

Update: We went and are back and it was a bit of a bummer trip. The timing was all off. We tried to see the fountains at Bellagio and we got there for the last few bars of Star Spangled Banner which was the last song of the night. Headed into the conservatory and it was under renovation. Went to the piano bar at NY NY and it was booked full.

Tried the bar at harrahs. We missed boogienight! Tried to catch the show at TI. Canceled because of winds. Walked next door to see the volcano at Mirage. It had just ended.

The whole trip was freezing! Had a miserable meal at the italian place at the new M resort further down the strip. We just couldn't win this time and I'm not talking gambling.

 

[jlima]

Update: We went and are back and it was a bit of a bummer trip. The timing was all off. We tried to see the fountains at Bellagio and we got there for the last few bars of Star Spangled Banner which was the last song of the night. Headed into the conservatory and it was under renovation. Went to the piano bar at NY NY and it was booked full.

Tried the bar at harrahs. We missed boogienight! Tried to catch the show at TI. Canceled because of winds. Walked next door to see the volcano at Mirage. It had just ended.

The whole trip was freezing! Had a miserable meal at the italian place at the new M resort further down the strip. We just couldn't win this time and I'm not talking gambling.

Wow . . . I hope your next trip is better! How was Ka? The weather here can get really cold and people get surprised because it's the desert.

I've been to the dueling pianos show at Harrahs once; we got there at 8:15 pm during the karaoke and got a table; so when the pianos started at 9 pm we were ready to party. I've been to the pirate show at TI when it was cancelled; about 3 minutes into the show, the music stopped, the actors just stood there and they made an announcement that due to winds, the show needed to stop for safety, etc. etc.

The M resort is the latest thing and the paper said they are hiring more people to accomodate the crowds they are getting. I hope your next trip is better!