The oatmeal comes in a "just add hot water" cup, but a spoon would be nice.I have done this myself, I ask for a normal coffee and an extra cup of hot water, give a small tip, and do the mixing back at my seat.
Don't forget to bring your own bowl and spoon! (I usually carry my own small travel kettle aboard Amtrak, for a proper cup of British Tea, but that is another story...)
Ah, that must be the posh stuff, I bought the oatmeal that comes in a packet. Although one imagines one is eating a healthy breakfast, these instant mixes use a lot of guar gum to thicken them...
No thickener, but plenty of sugar. At least it's real sugar, not corn syrup.Ah, that must be the posh stuff, I bought the oatmeal that comes in a packet. Although one imagines one is eating a healthy breakfast, these instant mixes use a lot of guar gum to thicken them...
I'm confused here; you think coach passengers should get the same meals as sleeper passengers for free? I'd be all for that if the price of a sleeper went down a fair chunk and they still got priority seating in the dining car. No way they could feed everyone on the train in a timely manner; they can barely feed sleeper passengers within a 4 hr window.
I just purchased a coffee mug electric warmer, perfect for coffee, tea, and warming food in a mug. Just for train trips.
I read the item as the prohibition by Amtrak of passengers in coach being able to purchase dining car meals is wrong?
Would you feel okay to use that when at your coach seat?
Many things become possible when you carry 8+ Billion passengers per year, and have a geographically densely distributed departmental kitchens augmented by external vendor contracts all over the place. I don't think it is possible for a sparse service situation that Amtrak faces to provide the sort of myriads of options that Indian Railways is able to provide.
Indeed, I wouldn't imagine in my wildest dreams that Amtrak could provide a decent hot meal for all passengers who required it, even on their truncated LD trains. Nevertheless, given the ability of airlines to provide hot basic tray meals for everyone on their planes, I feel there is a little room for improvement in Amtrak's on board food service. Even getting their staff to stop hogging the tables meant for dining car passengers could improve things a tad.
I know they didn't always have the dining included with sleeper fares, but I don't know if they had a period where it was optional.
Are you thinking of the "Silver Starvation" experiment where they removed the diner from the Silver Star and allegedly sold room space for a lower price than on the Silver Meteor? In that case, there was no dining car at all, and everyone had to get their chow from the cafe car or bring it aboard themselves. I think at some point, they started selling some dinner-type entrees in the cafe car, which is something I think they should have for all the cafe cars, including some of the Northeast Regional runs that are 8-10 hour trips, such as the Virginia - Boston trains, not to mention the longer day trains such as the Vermonter and the Palmetto.
Way back in the Slumbercoach days (early 1980s), I don't believe Slumbercoach accommodations included meals. I once rode Slumbercoach from Boston to Chicago (Lake Shore Limited), coming back from an academic conference, and don't recall having breakfast included in the morning (although the sleeping car attendant did offer complimentary coffee).
I seem to recall on a trip last October that coach passengers could purchase a meal in the dining area but the prices they stated were absurd; I think they wanted like $50 for the steak meal. I remember they announced it over the intercom and I was like, "holy hell that's expensive." So, with 4 of us in sleepers all eating several meals, that would be a big chunk of change. Had our 1st coach meal experience in July on the LSL in the Cafe car, traditional dining is, by far, superior. We get our 1st dose of flex dining this Oct.
Specially considering it does include a considerable dessert and a glass of wine.
I disagree; dessert and wine would cost extra most likely as it would be an alacart type purchase; to be transparent, I do not recall them saying that but that is what I would expect. In addition, you can get a great steak with two sides dessert, peanuts and unlimited fresh rolls at Texas Roadhouse for far less than $50.
While moving across the country? I can get a hot dog at Costco for $1.50 too, but at a ballpark or a theater not so. It's all about where you are.
In the current incarnation of the package sold to Coach passengers the dessert and wine are included AFAICT.
I stand corrected. Based on location and the fact you have very few options perhaps that $50 bucks is not as bad a deal as I stated above. I love thier desserts, not sure why you cant just buy them in the cafe car too). Hopefully I never have to buy it separately....because I will be in a sleeper car....that trip to New York in coach was tough (for a big guy, with a wife and 2 kids under 13 yrs old).
I just priced my local Texas Roadhouse. A strip steak dinner with appetizer, salad and dessert, plus a non alcoholic and alcoholic beverage is about $45. Plus sales tax and tip. I would think a $5 upcharge for being a captive audience and getting the dining car experience isn't too unreasonable.
