Wrap Up
The oddest thing about Vegas in the time of COVID is that every business is taking precautions, but none are uniform. Below are the steps taken to ensure your safety. If you plan, or wish to plan a trip to Las Vegas, and COVID precautions are a concern (either pro or con), the following list it my attempt to make as comprehensive a list as possible, based on our single, multi-stop trip. Just for fun, I am adding the Zombie Survival rating system. If this were an actual Zombie apocalypse, a Survival rating of 1 means "little chance to avoid being contaminated" and 5 means "almost as safe as staying home".
Southwest Airlines
Boarding is done is groups of 10, instead of the typical 30 on each side of the pylon. They board each group of 10 and dont start boarding the next 10 until the previous group is clear of the gangway. This maintains social distancing.
No alcohol is served, but they serve water and a salty snack. They say this is to minimize crew contact. I think it is to save money. Either way, it sucks, and the crew is still making a trip to deliver the snacks, another trip to deliver the water, and at least 2 trips to collect empties. Basically, they save just one exposure opportunity by not taking orders.
Flights are booked so the middle seat can be left open. This made flying reasonably comfortable. I cannot remember the last time we had a flight to Vegas that didn't leave me or Mrs Zombie in the middle seat, so this is a huge win, and almost makes up for the missing in-flight vodka. Almost.
Attendants made sure that everyone stayed masked up in flight, unless they were eating/drinking. Sometimes the passengers needed to be reminded multiple times. It appears that some people really believe the virus is just a big, worldwide hoax, presumably by big mask manufacturers. Oddly, these people choose to fly despite the "driving is slower" hoax perpetrated by big airlines.
Upon arrival at the gate. Everyone stands and packs the isles. You just sat through hours of extra elbow room in the name of safety, but ignore any concept of social distancing because you need to get off the plane about 15 seconds sooner.
Survival Rating: 3. It could be 4 if you remain in your seat and don't join the herd.
South Point
Security is at every entrance to the Casino, including the hotel elevators making sure you are wearing a mask. If you dont have a mask, an individually wrapped mask will be handed to you.
Temperature is checked by a TIC (thermal imaging camera) when standing in line for hotel registration, but not the casino. We went back to the front desk to ask a question, and had to be temperature checked again. You know, in case I developed a fever in the last 3 minutes.
Table games have reduced capacity for social distancing. Every other slot machine was turned off. One day we played a little 9-6 Jacks or Better video poker (9-6 is the best Jacks or better payout for the player, with a house advantage of just 0.46%). The next day it was "socially distanced", turned off.
Poker room: Drinks are allowed at the table, no food. 5 player max. Cards are cleaned every dealer push. They are cleaned so often that some dealers had issues with cards sticking together as the card's coating appeared to be getting wiped off. It did not seem to alter the appearance though. Don't lick your chips. They have a disinfectant that is supposed to last 90 days, though the guy doing the cleaning sounded skeptical.
Survival Rating: 3. Masks and social distancing are in effect.
Wynn
Temperature is checked with a TIC at every entrance to the property. If you are too warm, you are asked to stand to the side for about 10 seconds, and they check you again with a hand-held temperature gun. It was 107 outside when we were there, and we frequently walked a mile or more in the heat. So we were tagged as "feverish" a couple of times. The 10 second timeout was sufficient time to cool off each encounter.
Each entrance to the property, plus the elevators to the hotel had a guy confirming mask usage. If you did not have a mask, one was provided using a very long set of tweezers. A mask untouched by human hands, and you could be distanced from the guy giving it to you.
In the room, they had 2 masks, a respectable sized bottle of hand sanitizer, and 2 individually wrapped sanitizing towelettes, in case you didn't trust their cleaning procedures. They have an
Amazon Echo in the room so you could control lights, curtains, AC, and music without touching anything. It would have been effective, if I didn't like it so much that I gave Alexa a big hug.
Poker Room Closed. I respect the decision, but if it wasn't for poker, I wouldn't even be in Vegas.
Table Games had plexiglass barriers between players, 8 to a craps table, 3 or 4 for Blackjack or other games pitched on a semicircle.
The pool had limited access to prevent overcrowding. Security patrolled with 6' pool noodles to maintain distances. I requested paper masks for Mrs Zombie and I so we wouldn't get suntan lotion stains on our silk masks. They complied, using a pair of tongs to hand the masks to us. Masks are only recommended at the pool, not mandated, but when walking around I would wear one anyway. Pool security appeared vigilant, so if you are hoping for a hook-up at the pool, you might need to do it from a distance.
In the bars, they give you a placemat for your mask, so it doesn't have to touch the table. Classy move, Wynn. Tables are distanced. I'm glad COVID isn't spread by cleavage, because that would be a shame to be covered up.
If you touched a pen, it was yours for life. Sign for a drink, hotel check-in, or make your mark to pay for food, and you got a pen in a wrapper that they would never touch. We bought a lot of drinks, so we won't have to buy any new pens for quite a while.
Survival rating 5. Drops to 4.5 if you insist on playing any game that involves chips.
Ellis Island
No free masks at the door, no temperature checks. Most slot machines were on, but had signs indicating social distancing in action. It was apparent some signs had been moved. Given the small size of the property, it is difficult to stay 6 feet (2 meters) apart.
Survival rating 2. The only saving grace is that this is a locals type joint, and locals seem more compliant than visitors when it comes to mask rules.
Sahara
No door security. Dealers at tables required mask usage. Poker tables had shields between players, allowing 6 max. I believe the shields to be limited in effectiveness, as poker players tend to hunch forward, beyond the scope of the shield.
Survival Rating 3, but only because there is almost nobody here.
Venetian
I don't recall seeing TIC temperature checks at the front door, but I
think they were there. Poker tables were 5 max, and you had to wear a mask and sanitize your hands before being dealt in, which was the best poker protection beyond masks that I've seen.
Survival Rating 4.5. I'd go to 5 if I could remember door security.
Circus Circus
No mask security, and many people wore them around their chins. Hand sanitiser stations were the only step actually taken by the casino. Other than Mrs Z and I, nobody used them, possibly ever. It was about as clean as a carnival that rolled into town.
Survival Rating 1. I give them props for holding onto a theme.
Paris (Caesars Entertainment property)
No security at the door, but they were patrolling to make sure you had one on, even if you were sat down to have a drink. Temperature checks via TIC at the hotel check-in. No spectators permitted at table games. Over half the eating establishments were closed.
Survival Rating 5, but the price of safety is too high here.
Bellagio (MGM Property)
Masks available at the door. Social distancing in effect. We did not make it to the poker room since we had a flight to catch.
Survival Rating Unknown. We simply did not spend enough time here to develop an informed opinion.
Overall
If I knew pretrip what I know now, I would still have done this trip. I would skip a few stops, but I feel I was safer in Vegas than I am in Tennessee. Not everyone takes the mask seriously, but it was easy enough to for the Zombies to stay safe. Stay out of crowds, even while waiting to cross the street. Avoid anyone not wearing a mask like the plague... because they may have the plague.
We will be happy to try to answer any questions via this thread or PM. Wear a mask and stay safe!
but I get it.
