Railbuck my wife and I were on the southbound of that train (and on your northbound but we were in Amtrak bedroom for that (our window looked out on the small town fair going on, after an hour of staring at the corndog vendor I really wanted off to get a snack)), I'll put my run down here as perhaps a single "Pullman" thread might be most useful.
We boarded Thursday night in Chicago, as Railbuck mentioned there were four cars including the dome, we had the Adirondack Club instead of the Lake Ponchartrain as our club car. My wife and I's room was actually located in the Adirondack Club which was incredibly nice (we were real close to all the action). We were late boarding out of Chicago, some Iowa Pacific higher up came around and explained that now that they are a regular fixture on the rails they have to comply with regulations that they were temporarily exempted from before, in this instance that meant they had been madly bolting all the chairs to the floor. I think this also contributed to some confusion from the crew as we didn't receive our blue Pullman bag that contained the tip envelope until my wife asked shortly before New Orleans.
Leaving Chicago dinner was in the dome, you could order whatever dinner entree you wanted so long as it was steak. My wife said she was actually quite happy for this, she's not a steak person and would have ordered something different but because of the lack of choices she had the steak and really enjoyed it. We sat with another couple and had good conversation.
After dinner some people went to their rooms, others back to the club car where the folk musicians were getting under way. They were a lot of fun, and a nice addition to the trip. We only stayed for about 45 min. We'd been up since 5 AM eastern (grabbed the Cardinal to Chicago, then spent the day in city (made it back to the Museum of Science and Industry for the first time in over a decade, it lived up to my memories)) and my wife was getting very sleepy and didn't want to seem disrespectful to the musicians. I tucked her in then went back to the dome car.
The dome car was empty except for one of the porter's cleaning up/prepping for the next day. It was great, they turned off one of the light banks allowing for greater visibility (I didn't ask, they offered). We talked while he worked, he kept my scotch glass full, I watched the lightening out the windows, the signal lights changing as we rolled by. I eventually gave up and went to bed knowing I'd want to be able to enjoy the next day. The club car was empty, I may have been the last non-crew member to call it a night, it was wonderful the peace and quiet of just the train going over the tracks.
Next morning, up and to breakfast where we again had good conversation. I had the eggs and hash, my wife chose the omelet (and then regretted not getting the french toast). All was delicious. After breakfast we grabbed our books and headed back to the dome where we read and looked out the windows, again amazing views. I had a Bloody Mary that was delicious. Eventually we wandered back to the club car where the folk musicians were again playing music. We enjoyed conversation with another couple, the wife had lived in France during the last hey day of French cycling so as a lonely cycling fan in the midwest it was amazing hearing her talk about following the race in the 80s. She was also very much an art fan, and in general it was just a great conversation.
Lunch was served, I felt like for health reasons I should get the tomato with chicken or tuna salad, but my inner child who to this day loves grilled cheese won out, it was the correct choice. Again good conversation, this time with a father and son. After lunch a few drinks in the club car and we pulled into New Orleans.
Thoughts on the trip and Pullman:
If you are like us and doing Pullman one way and taking some other mode back (we took Amtrak) I'd recommend taking the Pullman first, we were quite tired by the end of our trip and I suspect would have enjoyed the trip less.
I got a good deal, 390$ not including tip, it's a phenomenal trip for that costing, my wife now expects me to get that rate going forward talk about high hopes. Personally I'd say it's worth the 780$ that the room regularly goes for on some days.
The room: I felt the beds were nicer, sheets softer than Amtrak. However the Amtrak bedroom (not roomette so not exactly apples to apples) is more usable and spacious. That said I think that's mostly irrelevant because we were in our rooms only to sleep or change clothes choosing instead to hang out in the dome or club car.
Pullman Porters: I've never been exactly comfortable with being "served" however they were the exactly right amount of helpful and friendly without being intrusive.
The food and drinks: excellent, I'd have a liked a dark porter/stout option in the beer department, but there's limited space on board. The food was all very delicious.
The music: while we didn't listen closely it was a very nice addition and I enjoyed talking to the musicians.
The travelers: my wife and I are both in our early thirties and with the exception of the son in the father and son duo were the youngest, also almost every group we talked to had someone who was interested in trains (with one exception, the couple with the French wife who just wanted a nice trip that was different and happened upon Pullman). Also the people on the trip were from all over, I had suspected it'd mostly be folks from the midwest. Talked with people from California, Montana, east coast (can't remember which state).
Pullman - I hope the company succeeds everyone I talked to gave off the impression that things are good and they are looking to expand. I know there are limitations, but I think a couple Pullman cars on the back several different Amtrak trains would be a very nice addition.
