Access to sleeper car from coach

[SIEGGY]

My family, to include myself, husband, and 2 children, ages 4 and 1, are taking the Sunset Limited from San Antonio to Orlando in 2 weeks for a Disney trip. We reserved the family sleeper car. We decided to bring my niece (age 23) along to help babysit and enjoy Disney with us and will be purchasing a seat in coach for her. This is our first trip on Amtrak and my niece has not travelled much. I am afraid of abandoning her during the trip.

My questions are:

1) Will she be able to spend time with us in our family car ?

2) Will we be able to eat with her in the dining car( I realize her meals will not be paid for)?

and off the topic,

3) Does anyone know if they are running the cartoons during the day for the kids currently?

4) Can we bring snacks with us for the kids, in case of delays in food service? (nothing like a hungry 1 year old!! )

All help is appreciated with our trip less than 2 weeks away. We are very excited despite the almost inevitable late arrivals.

 

[Amfleet]

1) I can't see why not, but be sure to explain your situation to the conductor and sleeping car attendant so they know. The only problem that will arise is at night when there are only enough beds in the room to accommodate 2 adults and 2 children. However, you and your husband may be able to squeeze in on the lower bed together, which is about 3/4 the width of a double size bed, and your niece on the upper bed.

2) Of course she can eat in the Dining Car with you. When the Lead Service Attendant comes around to make dinner reservations, be sure to let her know you have a family member in coach whom you wish to eat with. Now since there are five of you, and tables in the Dining Car can only hold for at a time, the one year old will probably have to sit on someone’s lap unless he/she can squeeze in between the two of the adults.

3) During the summer months the may run cartoons during the day, but with the latest budget cuts I don't know if that has been eliminated. They will try to have some sort of kids movie on late afternoon or early evening.

4) Great planning, yes definitely bring snacks! The Sunset can sometimes get very delayed (up to 12 hours) so be prepared for anything. On occasions like this the Lounge and Dining Cars can run out of food quickly. Some good Dining Car crews will order KFC or Pizza Hut and have it delivered down the line at one of the stations.

Hope this covers everything. Be sure to let us know how your trip went, but hopefully you won't be plagued with the recent slew of delays.

 

[SIEGGY]

Thank you for all the information. It makes me feel more at ease. I have been reading this forum for a few months in planning for the trip and it has been more helpful than any other resource. I will let you know how it goes upon our return.

 

[AlanB]

Sieggy,

I would concur with what Amfleet said about your niece being able to visit with you. I would probably let the sleeping car attendant know, but I wouldn't bother with the conductor. The reason for this, is the fact that the conductors only work about 8 hours or so, before they go off duty. So you would be likely to see at least 4 or 5 different conductors during your journey.

Perhaps the best answer is for either you or your husband to simply escort your niece up to the room. That way if anyone challenges you then you can show your sleeper ticket stub. It's highly unlikely that anyone would then ask your niece for her ticket stub. They will just assume that she's with you.

However if all else fails and you do get hassled about bringing her into the sleeper (something that I think is highly unlikely), you can still see her for meals in the dinner, plus you can meet up with her in the sightseer lounge. For that matter if coach is not sold out, then you can always go back there and join her for part of the ride.

One other thought here that I'll throw out to you. I suspect that your train will not be sold out, since you are traveling in an off season. Therefore once onboard, you may want to check with your car attendant to see if all of the bedrooms are sold out. My guess is that there will probably be an empty standard bedroom available on the lower level of your sleeper. Your family room is also on the lower level of the car.

If indeed there is a room available, then have your attendant ask the conductor how much it would cost to upgrade your niece's ticket to the standard sleeper. Amtrak normally offers a 20% discount for on-board upgrades and some conductors will discount it even further. So if you or your niece doesn’t mind spending a few more bucks, she might be able to have her own room right nearby. Plus then all of her meals would also be included.

Just as an FYI, if you do decide to try this trick, you don't need to pay in cash. The conductor will still take a credit card at that time. There is no way for me to predict that a room will be available or what it would cost, but I do think that it might be worthwhile to at least investigate it. You might well be surprised.

 

[SIEGGY]

AlanB and Amfleet, thank you for your replies.

I will look into sleeper availability once we are on the train and see if it is an affordable option. We are a little spoiled because I only paid about $800 for the roundtrip for the 4 of us with the sleeper included thru the Veteran's advantage discount(for both my husband and myself) and my littlest one being free. My neice's ticket is without discount so we may have sticker shock for the extra sleeper, even with a 20% discount.

My other fear is having rude attendants and/or conductors, mainly for my niece. My husband and I are well travelled and, though, we have never experienced Amtrak, we have travelled throughout Germany and a little in France on train. The language barrier hampered our travels a few times but we endured and had a great time especially with the sleeper car. We will pass on the Octoberfest party train next time though. :blink:

I am optimistic and very excited about our new adventure. Thanks for your help.

 

[Amfleet]

Rude attendants and conductors have become a rare breed over the years. The only on-board service problems you may run into are car attendants who will baisicly hide the whole journey and do little if anything to help you. A good car attendant will greet as you board, introduce him/herself in your room, make yourt beds, have fresh coffee from 6am-midnight, and help you with your luggage. The only time you see the conductor is when he/she collects the tickets, otherwise there more concentrated on working with the engineers and running the train. Still, I have yet to run into a horrible car attendant yet, plus the Sunset Limited is known for having good crews.

 

[battalion51]

Amtrak normally offers a 20% discount for on-board upgrades and some conductors will discount it even further.

Actually Alan that has been changed to 50% system wide. Tell your Conductor and/or Attendant as soon as you board that you would like to upgrade. If space is available they will give you the lowest rate between SAS and ORL with a 50% discount. Just today on 92 the Conductor cut an upgrade from Coach to Sleeper from Miami to Petersburg, VA for only $96.50 for two people (there is no pride difference between two people and one in accomodation fares). Now that's a deal if there ever was one!

 

[Guest]

That is an excellent price. We will definately check it out once we board. Thanks again for your help.

 

[SIEGGY]

That is an excellent price. We will definately check it out once we board. Thanks again for your help.

Sorry, forgot to log-on on this last message.

Sieggy