I am planning on going on a cruise leaving out of Fort Lauderdale. Amtrak routes me through Chicago to DC then to Fort Lauderdale. I’m very concerned about making my connections. I was thinking perhaps of going to Chicago then NYP on the Lake Shore Limited, spending the night in NY then heading to Florida. Does that sound like a good idea, or do you have any other suggestions?
New Mexico to Fort Lauderdale…
- Thread starter ZiaReba
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VentureForth
Engineer
You have nearly 4 hours in Chicago. I wouldn't worry about it. Take the Capitol to WAS. Little less than 2 hours layover which should be fine, but if you're uncomfortable, book the Meteor instead that arrives in FLL only 30 minutes later but gives you over 6 hours in DC.
Of course, if you have the time, and you're OK with the cost, the layover in NYC would be nice. It makes for a lot of train riding, and there is nothing wrong with that. A room on the Silver Star is $100 cheaper than the faster Meteor and you get about 4 more hours on the train (it cuts over to Tampa from Orlando and back). For that $100, though, you get 4 more hours in the Big Apple and a shorter train ride.
To the team out there: Is dining on the Star the same as the Meteor now?
Of course, if you have the time, and you're OK with the cost, the layover in NYC would be nice. It makes for a lot of train riding, and there is nothing wrong with that. A room on the Silver Star is $100 cheaper than the faster Meteor and you get about 4 more hours on the train (it cuts over to Tampa from Orlando and back). For that $100, though, you get 4 more hours in the Big Apple and a shorter train ride.
To the team out there: Is dining on the Star the same as the Meteor now?
Since the Lake is "last out" of Chicago, it is probably safer than the Cap Limited going East. That being said, you are adding quite a bit of cost using the Lake and paying for a hotel. Even the Silver will likely cost a bit more from NYP as opposed to WAS
I live in Florida and always take the Capitol Limited from Chicago to WAS. I have only missed the connection once (although twice, I built in an extra day in Chicago). The connection from the Capitol Limited to the Silver Star is doable (I am doing next week and am hoping it works), but the safer connection is the Silver Meteor from the Capitol Limited.
Taking the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago, then overnighting in NYC is on my bucket list, but so far, I have not been able to justify the extra cost.
How close to your departure do you plan to arrive in FTL? I would not cut it too close - just in case.
Taking the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago, then overnighting in NYC is on my bucket list, but so far, I have not been able to justify the extra cost.
How close to your departure do you plan to arrive in FTL? I would not cut it too close - just in case.
If your cruise is like most others, it will set sail at 5pm - before the scheduled arrival time of either train in Fort Lauderdale. This mandates spending at least one night there before the cruise.
But getting to the cruise port can often be an an enjoyable part of the vacation and there may be additional ways to get there depending on where you live in NM and when your ship sails. This is because there are two trains through NM and two of the possible trains operate only three times a week.
Here's a link to the Amtrak Route Map for your planning purposes: https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...lic/documents/Maps/Amtrak-System-Map-1018.pdf
But getting to the cruise port can often be an an enjoyable part of the vacation and there may be additional ways to get there depending on where you live in NM and when your ship sails. This is because there are two trains through NM and two of the possible trains operate only three times a week.
Here's a link to the Amtrak Route Map for your planning purposes: https://www.amtrak.com/content/dam/...lic/documents/Maps/Amtrak-System-Map-1018.pdf
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Maybe on the day or days you checked, but that statement is very misleading. Misleading because the five different fares (buckets) for each sleeper are exactly the same on the Star and Meteor.
There are no doubt days when Roomettes could be as much as $371 different and Bedrooms could be as much as $689 different (either train the highest) and other days when they're the same.
I plan to get to florida a couple of days early.
joelkfla
Engineer
I think VentureForth might be basing that statement on past times before dining was restored to the Star.
The one time I cruised from Fort Lauderdale, I spent the previous night at the Embassy Suites, which is fairly close to the port. Since I pack light, I walked to the port the next day. That cruise was a round trip to Ft. Lauderdale, so I booked a night at the Embassy Suites on the other end (which I did not need to do and did not the next time). I have either cabbed or ubered from FTL Amtrak station to the hotel/port. My last cruise was from LA through the Panama Canal to Fort Lauderdale. I had a reservation on the Silver Star, since it arrives in FTL later, but since we arrived early and I got off the ship and through customs very quickly, I was able to change my reservation to the Silver Meteor in the cab on my way to the station. I had time to spare. I got home earlier and had the advantage of a dining car (which the Silver Star did not have at the time).
I would highly recommend either building in at least two days in Fort Lauderdale (one for the cruise connection and one in case an Amtrak connection is missed somewhere) or being willing to pay for a last-minute airline ticket should a connection be missed and there's no same-day replacement available. While the likelihood of any particular trip missing a connection is rather low, it's still more likely than an airline connection of a similar length, and Amtrak often doesn't have much in the way of same-day backup options should a connection be missed.
As long as you have a large cushion for delays at your endpoint, I wouldn't worry too much about missing connections. Generally speaking Amtrak will pay for a hotel room in the city where your connection was missed, along with transportation to/from the station. They'll also sometimes give a small meal voucher or some cash to buy food. The biggest concern would be if sleepers are sold out on the next day's train - you may be stuck in coach for a day or two if that's the case.
As long as you have a large cushion for delays at your endpoint, I wouldn't worry too much about missing connections. Generally speaking Amtrak will pay for a hotel room in the city where your connection was missed, along with transportation to/from the station. They'll also sometimes give a small meal voucher or some cash to buy food. The biggest concern would be if sleepers are sold out on the next day's train - you may be stuck in coach for a day or two if that's the case.
That is my biggest concern - I’m an old lady and I really need a room!
Even so, the statement "A room on the Silver Star is $100 cheaper than the faster Meteor. . ." is still very misleading. Here are the fares for the Silvers for the Fall of 2019 when the Star had no diner:
Bucket for bucket for both sleepers, the fare differences range from $75 to $640.
Guess again.
VentureForth
Engineer
Okay, okay, okay... For the dates I checked. Wasn't misleading (implying intentional). It was a wrong generalization. I didn't know when the OP was travelling, so I looked at next Monday.
So my comments still stand. You can reduce risk at Chicago by changing to the Lateshore and adding a night in NYC. But the connection to the Capitol Ltd from the SWC is generally successful. I think I've heard that they'll hold the Capitol if the connection time is close from any inbound LD train.
To PennyK's point, they will offer a room if you miss your connection. These are called "Guaranteed connections", so one itinerary, one guarantee. Only time this doesn't happen is if you manually book two segments that you can't book directly. But, I thought only Sleeper passengers were provided accommodations. Hope I'm wrong here. With a couple days to spare in Fort Lauderdale, I think you're safe booking through DC & the Meteor.
So my comments still stand. You can reduce risk at Chicago by changing to the Lateshore and adding a night in NYC. But the connection to the Capitol Ltd from the SWC is generally successful. I think I've heard that they'll hold the Capitol if the connection time is close from any inbound LD train.
To PennyK's point, they will offer a room if you miss your connection. These are called "Guaranteed connections", so one itinerary, one guarantee. Only time this doesn't happen is if you manually book two segments that you can't book directly. But, I thought only Sleeper passengers were provided accommodations. Hope I'm wrong here. With a couple days to spare in Fort Lauderdale, I think you're safe booking through DC & the Meteor.
The tricky part is that they can only offer rooms on the next day's train if rooms are available on said train. If the next day's train train is sold out they can't rebook in a room that's not available, and I haven't heard of Amtrak regularly adding sleeper cars onto trains to add rooms for passengers with missed connections (though maybe it's a more common occurrence than I'm aware of.) Sold-out sleepers are not uncommon - in fact, looking right now there's only one roomette (the accessible roomette) and no bedroom on tonight's CL (departing 10/4) and only two bedrooms available tomorrow (10/5) on the CL, no roomettes.
Looking at ASMAD, the connection was missed approximately 10% of the time (I used a year to account for any variability in time-of-year differences.) There was a particularly bad spat this summer where in June and July the connection was missed quite a bit more frequently. That, paired with limited sleeper availability, would make me recommend overnighting in Chicago versus trying to make a same-day connection with either eastbound train if having a sleeper compartment is essential for the trip. Going back to 2019 it looks like the connection from the CL to the Meteor was only missed once out of the 491 times I had them search for - which is infrequent enough that I wouldn't worry too much about that connection.
There's a lot of factors at play, but my recommendation would be one of two things:
- If you want to play it super safe, book an overnight in Chicago and two nights in Florida. The two nights in Florida would give a day of leeway should you hit one of those extremely rare times that the connection is missed in DC, and there's two trains available that would hopefully have space available if needed. That said, unless there's a burning desire to have a night in DC (or NY) I'd book Chicago - Florida as a through ticket since the connection to the Meteor is so rarely missed.
- If wanting to book a same-day connection, be comfortable going in coach or taking a last-minute flight from Chicago to Florida if rooms aren't available on the next day's train. Amtrak will certainly do what it can to get you to your destination, but if all the rooms are sold out the next day a downgrade to coach is still a possibility. Also have at least two nights in Florida "just in case."
Depending on where ZiaReba lives in NM, another option might be getting to FTL via New Orleans on the Sunset Limited instead of via Chicago on the Southwest Chief. Of course, that option entails an overnight stay in New Orleans and for checked baggage service, El Paso looks to be the closest choice.
joelkfla
Engineer
Wow! That's crazy.
Depends on how you look at it. One way is that each of those four meals you got on the Meteor would have cost anywhere from $19 to $160 apiece - assuming that was the only difference between trips on those two trains.
But then there are those who label any cost or cost difference of more than a few dollars as obscene, outrageous, ludicrous, scandalous, preposterous, bodacious . . . . . .
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happycamper
Train Attendant
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2017
- Messages
- 75
Ive taken the train to the cruise 3 times now. The cruises were from Seattle and LA. Ive had them call twice within a week before sailing and tell me something was wrong with the track (both times Coastal Starlight) and did I want to reschedule. I told them both times I could not as I had a cruise. They then rerouted me for free on other trains to make the connections to get where I was going. Out of Houston thank God I have options of 2 different trains out... But this then had me scrambling to book last minute hotels in different cities. Which worked out fine. BUT my point would be have contingency plans. The SW Chief runs everyday now I think but the Sunset Limied does not and hasnt for a long time. So you have more options if you are closer to SW Chief but if it has any delays then your option may be to have to backtrack to LAX and take the Sunset Limited or the Coastal to catch the California Zephyr. Just know ahead and so far I haven't booked an expensive cruise - always under $900 total just in case. The trip insurance doesn't cover missed connections between trains and cruises as of 2 years ago before pandemic. Only planes and cars for missed connections. So you could be out the money for the cruise. With 3 extra overnights in hotels that gives you 3 days to play with if needed. But just see if changing to backtrack if needed and going the sunsetlimited or coastal starlight is a last minute option - or a bus. I have been rerouted last minute twice, had a 12 hour delay out of Chicago, a 6 hour delay in New Orleans, a 4 hour delay on the empire builder and the bus from Bakersfield to get us to LAX on the reroute broke down in Burbank all on only 4 long distance roundtrip train trips.... Made every cruise!!! 
God's Grace!
God's Grace!
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