Bedroom vs Family room

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I agree with Maglev. The only thing I would add is that the family room is downstairs, so you don't have to wrangle your in-room bags up the narrow staircase. The windows in the family room are small, but you do have views of both sides of the train. On balance, though, I would go with the bedroom myself.
 
Family room is larger, but lacks an ensuite bathroom. It does have windows on both sides of the train and stair-free access to the platform at stops. There's not much difference in price IMO, since the family rooms can be cheaper but there are fewer of them. This can result in a wide range of pricing.
 
jiml said:
Family room is larger
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I had to check this, since I said the Bedroom seemed more spacious. Bedrooms are 48.75 square feet, and Family Bedrooms are 48.65 square feet--but the latter dimension doesn't include the extra space in a Family room by the door, so the Family room is probably a little bigger.
 
Maglev said:
I had to check this, since I said the Bedroom seemed more spacious. Bedrooms are 48.75 square feet, and Family Bedrooms are 48.65 square feet--but the latter dimension doesn't include the extra space in a Family room by the door, so the Family room is probably a little bigger.
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I didn't know that the Family Bedroom lacks a bathroom. That settles it - much better to have a private bathroom especially with the virus. Thanks.
 
Maglev said:
I had to check this, since I said the Bedroom seemed more spacious. Bedrooms are 48.75 square feet, and Family Bedrooms are 48.65 square feet--but the latter dimension doesn't include the extra space in a Family room by the door, so the Family room is probably a little bigger.
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That's funny. I did the same thing after posting and was getting ready to correct it. I wonder though if the Bedroom includes the bathroom space as part of the calculation. We were always able to travel with 2 kids in a Family room and have lots of space for luggage on the floor, etc. Bedrooms seem much tighter.
 
The Bedroom dimensions are 7.5' x 6.5', so that includes the bathroom. I have traveled in a Family Bedroom alone and with my wife, but we don't have kids. My wife really didn't like having to share a bathroom, especially at night. For two people, the seating situation in a Bedroom is better--the folding chair is not great, but it sure beats that one seat in a Family room facing opposite of the couch, with its vertical back.
 
When my wife comes with me, she demands a bedroom. When it’s just me, I go with whichever is cheaper. I actually prefer the family room, and sometimes it’s much less than a bedroom. Sometimes much more. All depends, I just pick the least expensive. Its probably selfish of me to book a family room, but last time I did, from LA to Chicago, it was hundreds of dollars cheaper. So.....that’s where I’m riding. I CAN do a roomette if solo, and usually do on one night trips on Eastern trains.
 
If you can do without a private bathroom, two roomettes directly across the hall from each other is a very comfortable alternative that's often priced similar to one bedroom.
 
My wife, my service dog, and I have traveled in both . . . and I don't know about my wife, but I prefer the family bedroom, since we can stack our luggage on the upper kid bunk and the dog can take the lower kid bunk. Actually my favorite is the very roomy accessible (handicap) room, which will be sold to the hale and hearty public beginning two weeks before train time. That has an en suite commode and sink. Dog has to sleep on the floor, though. He doesn't mind too much.
 
The only time I was in the family room was from Toledo to DC on the CL. I had taken the train to near Rochester MN, spoken there, then was supposed to fly thru O'Hare to Lansing to speak at MI State. O'Hare was blizzarded, so I took the train, got to MSU a day late (for a two-day engagement, the important events being on the second day), and spoke there. Then I was to fly home to DC but O'Hare was STILL full of snow, so I booked Amtrak (bus to Toledo, arriving c.11PM, then rr to DC). Why the family room? Because it was substantially cheaper than even the roomette! (My momma didn't raise no fool....)
The bus was more or less on time, but every hour when I asked Julie about the CL, it was predicted an hour later. Finally I learned it was still in Union Station. The rr station in Toledo is built (Art Moderne/Deco) so as to be impossible to sleep in, but I tried. At 7AM, just as I was about to call USAir and see what they could do for me from Toledo east, in came the CL! I had a breakfast that couldn't be beat, including a wondrous conversation with "The World's Best Chain Saw Artist: It's Not Just Bears Any More," who was going to change in Pittsburgh for a chainsaw artists contest in western PA. Then I fell asleep. Arrived in DC after dinner but a day earlier than I would have, had I flown. :)
 
Definitely the Bedroom because of the private bathroom and it is quieter than the Family Room which is on the lower level. There you will hear more of the noise of the train rumbling and people boarding and also the the loud metal banging of the locks all night long on the nearby bathrooms.

jiml said:
That's our solution now that we're getting too old to climb ladders on a moving train.
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The Bedroom lower bed is wide enough for two people if you are worried about that and really friendly with your travel partner.
 
cocojacoby said:
Definitely the Bedroom because of the private bathroom and it is quieter than the Family Room which is on the lower level. There you will hear more of the noise of the train rumbling and people boarding and also the the loud metal banging of the locks all night long on the nearby bathrooms.

The Bedroom lower bed is wide enough for two people if you are worried about that and really friendly with your travel partner.
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The only extra noise I have ever noticed downstairs was an occasional swishing sound from the Empire Builder kicking up ice and snow when I was in the Family Bedroom. Although there was snow almost the whole trip, I only noticed the noise about once every five or ten minutes on the first night crossing the Cascades. There was no extra rumbling from the train, nor was there noise from the washrooms, which are a ways down the hall.

For my wife and me, the lower berth is wide enough for "visits," but not wide enough for sleeping. We have a king bed at home, and in our sixteen years of marriage we have slept together in a smaller bed maybe one night at a hotel I can vaguely remember--so I'll admit we're spoiled. The lower berth might be wide enough for two children. The wide lower berth is for me the major selling point of Bedrooms over Roomettes--I curl my legs, and my knees or butt hit the wall in a Roomette.

I've been thinking about the relative room sizes, and I guess the Family room must have a lot more floor space because about a quarter of the space in a Bedroom is taken up by the bathroom.
 
The one time we took the Family room, we really liked it. The windows are smaller, but the deciding factor was being able to see the view from the Chief in both directions. This was a few years ago, so the lack of a bathroom might be a deciding factor today, although on that particular trip, the bathroom situation in our car was a nonissue. Clean and quiet and I still remember our marvelous SCA Paul.
 

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