Traveling to Vegas with extended family - a few tips on planning your trip

I wanted to tell you all a little story about one of my more recent trips to Vegas and give you a few tips to help you avoid some of the mistakes I made.

In October of 2008, I took a trip with my mom, two cousins, and all three of my maternal aunts to celebrate some milestone birthdays in our little group: my 40th, one aunt's 65th, and another aunt's 80th. Traveling with six other women and spending three days in Vegas weren't two thoughts that I'd ever thought of putting together before, but there they were.

I was happy to be going, but still had some apprehension. I am the planner of the bunch by nature, and I've been to Vegas many times. I arranged all the air travel, a limousine from the airport to the hotel, reserved the hotel rooms, and set up a couple of buffet dinners for all of us. In addition to that, I was playing tour guide for one of my aunts who'd had a limited view of Vegas previously and needed to be "broken in" properly. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous that something would go wrong, but I shouldn't have worried about any of the planning that I did personally.

What I should have worried about is the personality clashes and personal issues.

So, keep these things in mind if you plan a trip with multiple age groups (or both sexes):

Find out before you leave for the airport if anyone needs a wheelchair or a scooter. It just makes moving around from place to place easier, and you can arrange to have someone get it for you and have it waiting. It's hard to try and think about the possible physical limitations of everyone in a group, but that was an obvious thing that we missed. One aunt who needed assistance didn't want it, and another one who didn't need it was insisting she did.

Seat compatible people together on the airplane. While it's likely that you might fly a low-fare carrier like Southwest that doesn't assign seats, you can still make plans ahead of time to have the talkers sit together, and leave the sleepers or readers alone. No one wants people to talk across them when they're trying to read or sleep, and it's good to work out seating arrangements before you get on the aircraft to make sure that no one's feelings are hurt.

Don't assume that everyone will want to eat the same thing. Now, I didn't exactly assume this, but when it came down to trying to get together for a buffet dinner at Bellagio, I chose a night that had mostly seafood selections and only one chicken selection quite by accident. One of my aunts won't eat anything but well-cooked chicken breast, fruit, and salad, and the other pretty much dislikes all manner of fowl, seafood or sushi - she just likes plain old beef. Needless to say, they weren't happy. So, if you're planning some group meals, make sure you get the likes - and dislikes - of everyone before you set it up. Find out if the restaurant or buffet has special nights for things like steak or sushi before you make the reservation.

Don't assume that everyone will want to eat at the same time. Because of the 40-year age gap between the oldest and the youngest on the trip, some people obviously got up a lot sooner than others. Me, being the Vegas lover that I am, was up really early, anyway, but it was hard for early risers to wait for those who like to sleep in. I personally don't understand "sleeping in" while in Vegas on a short trip, but to each her own. We tried to make plans for breakfast each day, but ended up with some people half-starved while others were yawning their way through the meal. And we found out that one of the aunts doesn't eat breakfast at all, so it was a wasted trip to the restaurant for her each morning.

Put compatible people in the same hotel room. Again, this was something I hadn't experienced before. I am used to traveling with my mom, and we both snore (yes, it's true). One of my aunts does, as well, and she was stuck with one of her widowed sisters who apparently couldn't sleep with any noise. At all. Period. She was miserable and spent the last night in the room with me and my mom and was much happier for it.

Take the time to see how everyone's doing once in awhile. If you're the planner or organizer, check with each of the people and make sure they're comfortable in their room, or they are okay with going to a certain casino or attraction, or just see how they're holding up. If you have a really large group of people in your party, chances are you'll be able to find someone to help you work things out and keep everyone happy.

Find out about medical conditions and/or physical limitations anyone may have. Not everyone needs to know the details, but someone else should be aware of these things. We found out one of my aunts was NOT supposed to eat or drink certain things, like citrus and caffeine, but we didn't find out until after the trip. What did she have with every meal? Orange juice and tea. Both of these wreak havoc with certain medications she was taking, which altered her personality and memory. It certainly explained a lot of her behavior we were confused about. In addition, she didn't take her medication correctly sometimes, and that also affected her behavior. If someone had known and could have checked on her, a lot of problems would have been eliminated.

Make sure you have everyone's cell phone number - or know where they'll be. Because of one of the problems with my aunt's health, she did not hear her cell phone when we called to check on her. In addition, she didn't tell anyone exactly where she'd be, and she was by herself in another casino entirely when we thought she was nearby. We were more than a little concerned when she was almost 45 minutes late for a planned limo ride to Wynn in order to meet some of our local family members for dinner, and three of us spent most of that time walking all over the place trying to find her and repeatedly calling her phone. It was not a good feeling.

Try not to overplan any "tourist" stuff for someone who's never been. As the planner, I wanted to show one of my aunts everything I could about my favorite place on earth, but I knew it was impossible. She's a great walker, a good sport, and a lot of fun to be around, but I made sure to ask her specifically what she'd like to do or see on our little adventures, and it was one of the best decisions I made. It turned out as a really good experience for both of us, and she's looking forward to going back again and finishing her Vegas tour, because she didn't get to see everything she wanted to see before we ran out of time.

Don't take on too much responsibility! Since I was the trip planner, I was double-checking reservations and arrangements, and I made sure to check everyone out of their rooms and print their boarding passes, too. I could have certainly used some help when we got ready to go somewhere each day, but I never asked for help. Lesson learned.

After all that, I must say that I'm glad I did it once, but once is definitely enough for me. I was pleasantly surprised to find thank you notes - with gift cards! - in the mail every day for the next week, from nearly every member of my party. It made me feel good (just not ready to book another trip with all of them).

Done the right way, a trip to Vegas with a large group of people - especially family - can be done right. If you're planning such a trip in the future, good luck!