Coast Starlight w Teens: Bedroom/Roomettes?

[ZephyrKid]

Hello,

I'm delighted to find this forum. I grew up taking the California Zephyr every summer from Oakland, CA to Burlington, IA to see my grandparents. And now I have children, two girls in their teens, who actually want to take the train!

I need your advice about sleeping accommodations on the Coast Starlight. We'll be traveling either from Seattle or Portland down to Emeryville. There will be three of us, all about 5'8" tall. We currently have a bedroom booked upstairs, but I'm having second thoughts, as my daughters and I laid out 40" wide to see if two of us could huddle together in the lower bunk, and it seems tight! Also, I'm not sure which side the bedroom (D) will be on, whether it will have the best view going south.

Would you recommend we get two roomettes across from one another instead, so as to maximize viewing pleasure and give each of us a bunk (plus a spare for luggage?) It's also cheaper. Two roomettes would be $300, whereas the bedroom is $400 and the family bedroom (another temptation) is $500.

Another question, though, in terms of view, is can we expect to have those lovely Parlor Cars to spend day time in? How do we get seats there, and is one side better than another?

And last but not least, do you recommend we board at Seattle? We'll be visiting family there, but my husband has to return rental car to Portland which is where we flew in originally, and he's flying home from there. So we could ride with him back to Portland and board there instead...just means we have to leave a bit earlier to make the Seattle train and leave him alone for his drive!

Thanks so much! So excited to share the train with my daughters!

 

[Acela150]

First Welcome to Amtrak Unlimited and we will take any questions. I would take the train from Portland as you have access to a Metropolitan Lounge, which offers drinks and snacks all free of charge. I suggest taking to roomettes. It would be pushing it fitting two in the bottom bunk in a bedroom. At least for me. I strongly say do not get the Family Bedroom. The upper bunks are for 4-7 year olds. The Parlor car is open to all sleeping car passengers. When I rode on it in July of 07' it wasn't that packed during the day so seats should be easy to find.

Steve

 

[GG-1]

Hello,
I'm delighted to find this forum. I grew up taking the California Zephyr every summer from Oakland, CA to Burlington, IA to see my grandparents. And now I have children, two girls in their teens, who actually want to take the train!

Aloha and Welcome

I need your advice about sleeping accommodations on the Coast Starlight. We'll be traveling either from Seattle or Portland down to Emeryville. There will be three of us, all about 5'8" tall. We currently have a bedroom booked upstairs, but I'm having second thoughts, as my daughters and I laid out 40" wide to see if two of us could huddle together in the lower bunk, and it seems tight! Also, I'm not sure which side the bedroom (D) will be on, whether it will have the best view going south.
Would you recommend we get two roomettes across from one another instead, so as to maximize viewing pleasure and give each of us a bunk (plus a spare for luggage?) It's also cheaper. Two roomettes would be $300, whereas the bedroom is $400 and the family bedroom (another temptation) is $500.

Absolutely

Another question, though, in terms of view, is can we expect to have those lovely Parlor Cars to spend day time in? How do we get seats there, and is one side better than another?

There should be plenty of opportunity to enjoy the PPC. While I am not a frequent rider of the CS I have ridden it several times and never saw every seat full, but I would say that it is usually busy. Depending on where you are there are interesting views on both side, but by far the best views are on the west side wile going through the Puget Sound and Along the California coast.

And last but not least, do you recommend we board at Seattle? We'll be visiting family there, but my husband has to return rental car to Portland which is where we flew in originally, and he's flying home from there. So we could ride with him back to Portland and board there instead...just means we have to leave a bit earlier to make the Seattle train and leave him alone for his drive!

Well here is a dilemma, I wont recommend splitting a family up, but there are advantages and scenery options between Seattle and Portland

Thanks so much! So excited to share the train with my daughters!

 

[sunchaser]

I would say since there are three of you, two roomettes would be better. Three in a bedroom is going to be a tight squeeze since they are teenagers. You will love the Parlor Car. Don't worry about views, you can hang out in the Parlor Car or Sightseer Car if you want. Have a great trip!

 

[AlanB]

While you loose the private bathroom by giving up the Bedroom, I suspect that you'd be more comfortable in two roomettes. I would not recommend the family room however, as you'll still be in the same boat. Two beds are adult sized, but two are kid sized 4'9". So you'd be giving up the private bathroom and still be no better off in the bed situation.

As for the Parlour car, there is always a chance that something goes wrong and your run doesn't have one. But the odds are in your favor that one will be there. As for getting seats, it's first come, first served. And except for the run down the California Coast and you're not doing that section, sides don't really matter all that much.

Portland does have the special First class lounge, so that could provide some extra incentive to board there. However, then you miss some of the scenery along the coast during the run from Seattle to Portland. So it's kind of a toss up.

 

[RRrich]

Two teen age girls - assuming that they are pals, they will enjoy having a private roomette away from (but not very far from) Mom.

The picture of Mom and kids enjoying the parlor car sure makes me wish I could join you.

ENJOY

 

[the_traveler]

Welcome!

I also vote for having 2 roomettes. And I would call and request 2 across from each other, if not near each other. If you request 2 online, you will receive the next 2 in that fare bucket. They could be (for example) room 6 in one car and room 11 in another car!

Every time I've been in the PPC, I've always found seats. And don't forget that only sleeping car passengers will be in the PPC!

 

[jmbgeg]

Hello,
I'm delighted to find this forum. I grew up taking the California Zephyr every summer from Oakland, CA to Burlington, IA to see my grandparents. And now I have children, two girls in their teens, who actually want to take the train!

I need your advice about sleeping accommodations on the Coast Starlight. We'll be traveling either from Seattle or Portland down to Emeryville. There will be three of us, all about 5'8" tall. We currently have a bedroom booked upstairs, but I'm having second thoughts, as my daughters and I laid out 40" wide to see if two of us could huddle together in the lower bunk, and it seems tight! Also, I'm not sure which side the bedroom (D) will be on, whether it will have the best view going south.

Would you recommend we get two roomettes across from one another instead, so as to maximize viewing pleasure and give each of us a bunk (plus a spare for luggage?) It's also cheaper. Two roomettes would be $300, whereas the bedroom is $400 and the family bedroom (another temptation) is $500.

Another question, though, in terms of view, is can we expect to have those lovely Parlor Cars to spend day time in? How do we get seats there, and is one side better than another?

And last but not least, do you recommend we board at Seattle? We'll be visiting family there, but my husband has to return rental car to Portland which is where we flew in originally, and he's flying home from there. So we could ride with him back to Portland and board there instead...just means we have to leave a bit earlier to make the Seattle train and leave him alone for his drive!

Thanks so much! So excited to share the train with my daughters!

I am a big bedroom fan (vs. roomettes) but I will join the crowd in saying that roomettes would be more comfortable that a single deluxe bedroom. You say the two roomettes total $300 ($150 each); the bedroom is $400 and the family bedroom is $500. The family bedroom is usually less than the deleuxe bedrooms. If the family bedroom price of $500 works for you, for another $50, you could have a deluxe bedroom plus one roomette.

I like the Portland Union Station a lot better than King Street Station in Seattle because of the Metroploitan Lounge in PDX and the restaurant and gift shop. On the other hand, riding a train is an adventure and the extra travel time from SEA to PDX should be considered, though the accomodation prices out of PDX could vbe less than SEA, giving you a few extra dollars if you wanted the one bedroom plus one roomette choice.

 

[Nickrapak]

I'm an 18 year old male, and two roomettes is the best option.

 

[ZephyrKid]

Thank you everyone,

I've rebooked us into roomettes, #13 and #14 downstairs across from each other (forgot to ask whether people prefer up or down, but I figured there was less traffic downstairs, easier access to baggage, vestibule and shower/toilets, and we can spend daytime upstairs).

I thought about the sleeper+roomette possibility, but it turned out that the $300 for two roomettes was the online price, and as was pointed out, I had no control over where they would be. I had to pay more, $384 to get the ones across from each other. So a bedroom + roomette would have been more like $500. Well, the girls are tickled, even though I warned them that the roomettes are about as big as a bathtub!

And I'm looking forward to seeing the Portland train station! We'll keep my husband company on the drive from Seattle (which after all has much of the same scenery as the train ride, right?) and plan to get to Union Station by 1:30 so we can enjoy the lounge.

Many thanks again, and all aboard!