Just took a lovely trip from St. Petersburg to Boston via the Silver Meteor. I paid $482 for the complete ticket, though I ended up upgrading to an Acela at NYP for an extra $70.
Unfortunately, Amtrak didn't communicate very effectively that the St. Petersburg thruway bus station switched locations a year ago, and many apps (even when linked through the Amtrak app) still showed the old location.
Because of this, my fiancé and I missed the Amtrak bus and had to find our own way to Orlando. We did arrive a little early however, and decided to explore the station and surrounding area thoroughly.
Orlando is one of my favorite train stations in the country. Its revival architecture is beautiful.
The train arrived on time at Orlando, and boarding was relatively easy. Low platforms don't make life easy (and it was 97 degrees outside), but they made boarding as quick as possible.
I am a big fan of the Viewliner II thus far. Especially for longer journeys with more than one person in the room, it really doesn't make sense to have the toilet in the room.
In the Viewliner I's however, I don't mind having the toilet in room if it’s just a 1-night journey (like BOS-WAS Night Owl, where chances are you really only ever need it for #1).
The new seats are great, and Viewliners are much better than superliners when it comes to the Roomette, because the person in the upper bunk can still look outside. It feels a little less like a coffin.
Though this picture doesn't necesarily show it, I was genuinely surprised how dirty the outside of the VII's were. They were utterly filthy, and it wasn't just this train. I got to see the southbound Silver Meteor pass at Orlando, and it was about the same. To contrast, the sleeper, New River, they use on the NEC for the Night Owl (on the right), is so spotless it often gets mistaken for a VII.
As per usual, and no surprise to any of us, the dining experience was abysmal. Flexible dining on eastern LD trains is worse for vegetarians; they only had the one vegetarian option, and it’s pretty tasteless. There was no fresh fruit anywhere to be found.
At breakfast, the omlette was terrible. The potatoes however, were good (I think others have said at much). I asked the clerk for some cereal, but he refused at first because we had already gotten the omlette. Upon asking if I could pay for the cereal however, he gave in and let me eat it. Even he (who had kind of a temper the entire trip) had to I guess admit the dining for sleeper passengers is terrible.
Much to my dismay, there was no coffee or tea available in the sleepers.
One highlight of the trip was this tight curve somewhere outside Jacksonville (I’m sure Jis can provide more info). Truly a stunning curve; we were in the last sleeper of the train and really got to see its entire curvature.
We arrived in to NYP about 15 minutes late, which was just fine, and in the realm of Amtrak LD trains, I'd consider it still on time.
As per usual, the best service of the entire Amtrak trip was at Moynihan train hall's Metropolitan Lounge. During our layover, we enjoyed excellent La Colombe cappuccinos and drip coffee, along with the best food provided by Amtrak. I know it’s expensive to provide such premium offering, but Acela First Class may be more appealing (and worth the money) if they offered a similar selection.
As I wrote in another thread, the Acela leg of the trip from NYP-BOS was a let down. We were 45 minutes delayed into Boston, which in Acela time is quite a lot.
From what I understand, there is a 100mph cap on all Amtrak trains due to this unbelievable heat wave we are all having. The Acela therefore, ran like a NE Regional the entire way, and I found myself wondering why we payed extra in the first place.
Unfortunately, Amtrak didn't communicate very effectively that the St. Petersburg thruway bus station switched locations a year ago, and many apps (even when linked through the Amtrak app) still showed the old location.
Because of this, my fiancé and I missed the Amtrak bus and had to find our own way to Orlando. We did arrive a little early however, and decided to explore the station and surrounding area thoroughly.
Orlando is one of my favorite train stations in the country. Its revival architecture is beautiful.
The train arrived on time at Orlando, and boarding was relatively easy. Low platforms don't make life easy (and it was 97 degrees outside), but they made boarding as quick as possible.
I am a big fan of the Viewliner II thus far. Especially for longer journeys with more than one person in the room, it really doesn't make sense to have the toilet in the room.
In the Viewliner I's however, I don't mind having the toilet in room if it’s just a 1-night journey (like BOS-WAS Night Owl, where chances are you really only ever need it for #1).
The new seats are great, and Viewliners are much better than superliners when it comes to the Roomette, because the person in the upper bunk can still look outside. It feels a little less like a coffin.
Though this picture doesn't necesarily show it, I was genuinely surprised how dirty the outside of the VII's were. They were utterly filthy, and it wasn't just this train. I got to see the southbound Silver Meteor pass at Orlando, and it was about the same. To contrast, the sleeper, New River, they use on the NEC for the Night Owl (on the right), is so spotless it often gets mistaken for a VII.
As per usual, and no surprise to any of us, the dining experience was abysmal. Flexible dining on eastern LD trains is worse for vegetarians; they only had the one vegetarian option, and it’s pretty tasteless. There was no fresh fruit anywhere to be found.
At breakfast, the omlette was terrible. The potatoes however, were good (I think others have said at much). I asked the clerk for some cereal, but he refused at first because we had already gotten the omlette. Upon asking if I could pay for the cereal however, he gave in and let me eat it. Even he (who had kind of a temper the entire trip) had to I guess admit the dining for sleeper passengers is terrible.
Much to my dismay, there was no coffee or tea available in the sleepers.
One highlight of the trip was this tight curve somewhere outside Jacksonville (I’m sure Jis can provide more info). Truly a stunning curve; we were in the last sleeper of the train and really got to see its entire curvature.
We arrived in to NYP about 15 minutes late, which was just fine, and in the realm of Amtrak LD trains, I'd consider it still on time.
As per usual, the best service of the entire Amtrak trip was at Moynihan train hall's Metropolitan Lounge. During our layover, we enjoyed excellent La Colombe cappuccinos and drip coffee, along with the best food provided by Amtrak. I know it’s expensive to provide such premium offering, but Acela First Class may be more appealing (and worth the money) if they offered a similar selection.
As I wrote in another thread, the Acela leg of the trip from NYP-BOS was a let down. We were 45 minutes delayed into Boston, which in Acela time is quite a lot.
From what I understand, there is a 100mph cap on all Amtrak trains due to this unbelievable heat wave we are all having. The Acela therefore, ran like a NE Regional the entire way, and I found myself wondering why we payed extra in the first place.
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