Coast Starlight Roomettes: 9/10 vs. 13/14 (& Parlour Car Q)

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Hello,

We are looking forward to our first sleeper car experience (since I was a kid) on the Coast Starlight a week from Sunday, Portland to Emeryville.

Currently we have two roomettes booked out of Portland (one for me, one for my two teenage daughters), in rooms 13/14 in car 31. So if I'm reading a chart I found online correctly, they're on the lower level, rear of the car near a family bedroom. But maybe it's the front of the car?

However, we could adjust our travel plans to hop aboard at Seattle instead, in which case we would get rooms 9/10 in car 30. Those would be at the rear of the upper level unless I'm misreading it.

So my questions to you experienced travelers are:

a) Do you see advantages/disadvantages to either position? Noise, swaying, foot traffic, proximity to bathrooms as a good/bad thing?

b) Do you know which car is the Pacific Parlour Car and where the Dining Car is? Would one of these room locations mean there's more foot traffic as people go to and fro?

Thank you!

=Travelin' Mom
 
Hello,
We are looking forward to our first sleeper car experience (since I was a kid) on the Coast Starlight a week from Sunday, Portland to Emeryville.

Currently we have two roomettes booked out of Portland (one for me, one for my two teenage daughters), in rooms 13/14 in car 31. So if I'm reading a chart I found online correctly, they're on the lower level, rear of the car near a family bedroom. But maybe it's the front of the car?

However, we could adjust our travel plans to hop aboard at Seattle instead, in which case we would get rooms 9/10 in car 30. Those would be at the rear of the upper level unless I'm misreading it.

So my questions to you experienced travelers are:

a) Do you see advantages/disadvantages to either position? Noise, swaying, foot traffic, proximity to bathrooms as a good/bad thing?

b) Do you know which car is the Pacific Parlour Car and where the Dining Car is? Would one of these room locations mean there's more foot traffic as people go to and fro?

Thank you!

=Travelin' Mom
Hi, and welcome!

Can't answer your questions about which roomette to choose (there are, I've heard, pros and cons to upstairs and downstairs), but with regard to the PPC and the dining car:

  • The PPC will be the next car behind you if you're in the 30 car, the second-next behind if you're in 31.
  • The dining car will be two cars back from 30, three cars back from 31


Have a great time!
 
You will never know which direction your car is facing so you won't know if you're on the rear or front end. Rooms 13 and 14 are indeed on the bottom. Here there will be much less foot traffic and is actually very quiet. It's like you have your own little area down there. The upper rooms might have more sway but I really never notice it. Personally I prefer the bottom rooms if I had to choose. Sitting closer to track level, you feel like you're going much faster.

The 31 car is two cars from the Parlour Car. The dining car is the car after that. The 30 car is the one closest to the Parlour and dining cars. So if you are in rooms 9/10, you could only be steps away from the PPC.

If you do decide to depart from Seattle, I would call Amtrak and ask if you can just keep your original rooms of 13/14. Unless you want to be on top in 9/10. I don't think the price difference will be as much plus you'll get an extra meal included going from Seattle. So in other words, you'll get more bang for your buck from Seattle.
 
Rooms 9 & 10 are at the very end of the car. That puts them right next to the door that leads to the other cars. Meaning every time someone walks between your car and the next, you're going to hear track noise. Not saying that it will be deafening, but some people don't like that extra noise.

If you're on the lower level in 13/14, it will be much easier to keep your doors open so that you can chat back and forth across the hall by comparison to 9/10.
 
IMHO the view from the upper level is so superior to the lower lever, for me there is no comparison. I have this idea that the girls will use their roomette as a "Mom free zone" - when they want to interact with you, they will do it in the Pacific Parlor Car so there will be no problem talking between rooms - it won't happen ;)
 
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I prefer the roomettes on the lower level. I've had roomette 14 on several occasions and was very happy with it.

On the lower level, people leave their doors open plus you are near the shower and rest rooms.

I hope you have a nice trip.
 
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