Double Decker Bus
of Las Vegas (2 hours $318.60) – A+
I was a little apprehensive about my booking after reading
@thesepinkdays ‘ bad review which was posted a day or two before our wedding
(especially as I knew we had Mike as our driver). As it turns out I needn’t
have worried.
When I first enquired a year ago I was conversing with Mike
by email – he replied in good time and was very helpful in advising on what we
were likely to be able to squeeze into our two hour timeslot based on our
pick-up and drop-off locations. After booking, I was in contact with his wife
Judy for all other enquiries and she always replied within 24 hours and was also
very helpful. Two days prior to our wedding we called Mike as advised to meet
him to drop off the drinks for the bus. He wasn’t able to meet us at the time
we were going to be free (which was fine with us as we did leave it until the
last minute to arrange), so he gave us the directions for the lot where he
stores the buses and when we got there I called him and he gave us the
combination for the padlock to let ourselves in and put the drinks on one of
the buses. This all went smoothly and we were in and out in minutes. On the
day, Mike turned up 10 minutes early whilst we were still sorting out our
photos at the chapel, so our best man greeted him and our photographer took
this opportunity to discuss photo stops during our strip tour. We were slightly
disappointed that he didn’t bring the red bus that we had put our drinks on,
instead it was a white one with a Famous Footwear ad splashed all over it.
However, once getting on the bus I was quite pleased as it was in much better
condition than the red bus we had been on a couple of days prior – a lot less
dusty and a lot cleaner! (NB: whilst the red bus was dirty and dusty downstairs
– the upstairs deck was clean and dust-free). Mike had brought along Judy and
their son to help out on the bus and they were very friendly and helpful to us
and all of our guests. They addressed our party at the beginning of the trip to
congratulate us and explain everything and then a couple of other times to
explain possible safety issues with the Bellagio and Wynn entrance/valet areas.
They made the rules on not standing up very clear from the start, I know from
previous reviews that people had been ‘got away with’ moving about on the bus
at stop lights etc in the past but they are now very strict on this – it makes
me wonder whether they have received some sort of fine or complaint to change
this? Either way, we didn’t mind – safety first after all (!), our guests were
very compliant and not being able to get up or move about didn’t hinder our
enjoyment of the trip. We went to the sign first (very small queue, woohoo!)
and then to the Bellagio, where we decided to spend quite a bit of time taking
photos rather than having a quick stop in order to fit in an extra stop further
down the strip – I am glad we did this as it meant we had a little longer on
the bus taking in the sights and weren’t making our guests get on and off all
the time (some of our guests chose to stay on the bus whilst we were parked up at
the Bellagio to save going up and down the stairs again). We had to venture off
the strip right at the end of the tour in order to make it to The Wynn within
our two hour slot, which was a bit of a shame but I’d rather that than run over
and have to pay extra! We arrived at The Wynn perfectly on schedule but Joey
wanted to get a couple of shots of us two on the bus before it left and they
had no problem with this. Just as a side note, my FI HUSBAND (!)
purchased a GoPro camera for the trip and we clamped this to the front of the
bus pointing at us and our guests and filmed most of the trip – the footage is
fab!
Earth Limos (30
seater limo, 1 hour, $172) A-
Communication with these guys was a no-go by email
(struggled to get timely, if any, responses) so I phoned them to book after
getting a quote online and got it all sorted easily, they pulled up my quote
whilst I was on the phone so I didn’t have to explain the details of the
booking as they had it all in front of them on the computer screen. We booked
their 30 seater limo (see pic) to take us back to The Mirage from The Wynn, but
as they have a one hour minimum booking time we decided to go via Circus Circus
for some photos with all the lights. The booking includes bottles of water but
they also offer ‘Champagne’ at $8 a bottle so we had three of those too. The
vehicle arrived on time, and our driver Eddy was very friendly and courteous,
happily waiting whilst our guests took photos with the vehicle before we piled
in. My only problem with this vendor is that I don’t think they should
advertise the vehicle as 30-seater. We had a lot of difficulty squeezing our
party of 28 in there, the majority of whom are not overweight or super tall. I
discussed this with the driver as we got to The Mirage and he said that’s what
the vehicle manufacturers say the car can hold, to which I responded that it doesn’t
really matter what the manufacturers say – if your clients aren’t going to be
able to fit 30 average sized people in there they won’t be happy! I think they
should advertise it as 25 at the most – we managed to seat 27 of our party but
it was a big squeeze, and the best man had to sit on the cool box that the
drinks were in! I don’t know what we would have done if there had been two more
people with us. Regardless, we had great service from this company and a lot of
fun on the journey and I would use them again.
The Buffet @ Wynn (semi-private room, VIP package $53.99 per
person) – A+
We didn’t want a full on wedding reception or
sit-down meal in Vegas and the semi-private room at The Wynn Buffet worked out
to be the perfect thing. I booked through their restaurant events manager
Idania, who was very helpful and quick to respond to emails. When we needed to
add 7 extra guests to our original booking a month out from our wedding it was
no problem, and when we then needed to add another guest a week later she ran
the payment quickly with no fuss. The VIP package includes queue jump, use of
the semi-private room, and one alcoholic drink per person. The list of drinks
that Idania provided (Champagne, mimosa, sangria or bloody mary) differed to
what we were offered on the day (Champagne, red wine, white wine, beer) but
this worked out for the best as the latter list suited our guests’ tastes
better. I’m pretty sure a couple of guests ordered a second drink but I wasn’t
presented with a bill before we left so unless they paid for them with cash we
might have had a couple of freebies! The food was enjoyed by all, which was no surprise
based on the reviews I’ve seen of this buffet. I had been wondering if the room
needed some decoration to make it seem a bit more ‘weddingy’ (I was thinking
maybe a few balloons or rose petals) but in the moment I barely noticed, and
our bouquets placed our table added to the atmosphere. I should note that the
room was made up of two long tables of 10 and two smaller tables of 4, the room
cannot accommodate tables that seat more than 10 people.
UK based bride, getting married in Vegas on 14th April 2014!