Although I would consider riding again, our first experience was nothing short of a nightmare. We had the worst luck. First, it was my son (10 yrs old) and I traveling. It was a short trip, Tampa to Miami and back. I got an automated call the morning of our departure to call Amtrak. I had already checked the train's status and it was running about three hours and forty minutes late. I called and spoke with someone who told me we were to be at the station no later than noon and we were going to be bussed to Winter Haven so the train can make up some time by not stopping in Tampa. She said this happens quite often. OK, no worries. Things happen. This was going to be an adventure for us and I never expect everything to go perfectly.
We arrived at the station at 11:45a, checked in and waited for the busses. They needed three busses to take us all to Winter Haven, a little over an hour away. We got on the bus (FULL) and noticed there was no AC. The bus driver said "it's coming". Hmmm. Before we left, one of the Amtrak employees boarded to count passengers and said "Wow, it's hotter in here than outside". This was very true. It was 90 degrees in steamy Tampa at the time. The bus had no windows that opened. The only AC was coming from the front of the bus, directed at the driver. The rest of the bus was BROILING. We were all fanning ourselves and I was very surprised some of the older folks actually made it OK through the trip. Meanwhile, a number of people were yelling, cursing (hello, there are children on the bus). It was nothing short of awful. When we finally got to Winter Haven, no one said a word to us. Hey, a bottle of cold water and an apology would have gone a long way. Nothing.
When we boarded we were told to go immediately to the dining car because they were going to close down soon. We had a nice lunch. We must have had 3 bottles of water each before the food even came! Wow, were we dehydrated and hungry. I felt awful for my son. This was not the trip he had imagined. We're pretty easy going though.
We had a "B" bedroom. For the life of me, I can't imagine taking a shower in that tiny little space. Everything was in working order. I could have used a little more ac but it wasn't terrible. We went to the lounge car to play a card game and got shoo'd out because he was closing down. We didn't want anything. Just wanted to sit at the big table, but nope, not allowed. Ok. \
Got to Miami. Waited for our checked bag and noted that there is no ATM machine there. How odd. I had to ask the cab driver to wait at the hotel while I found one at the end of our ride. No big deal. That was getting there...
I thought the trip back was going to be a piece of cake. I was wrong. Well, unless you mean molten lava cake. We were in the "B" bedroom again. The ac stopped working after the first hour. We had gone to lunch and returned to a VERY VERY warm room. The entire hallway area of the bedrooms was really hot. I couldn't find anyone to help us. I had to walk through two cars and knock on the door to a room where I saw someone writing a log. He had an Amtrak uniform so I told him. He said he would check it out. Evidently he found our attendant as he finally came by to see how we were and we were sweating and fanning ourselves by then. He said there is a switch that keeps going out and he would fix it (oh by the way, the air unit in the bedroom over the lower bed did not work either - at any time). He did fix it and about 40 min later, it happened again. Oh we were SO uncomfortable on the trip back. It just seemed like business as usual for them though.
Like I said before, I would definitely try it again. I can't judge it by just one trip. I don't think the cost was worth it for all that happened to us on this trip though. I can certainly see how it COULD be. The focus is obviously not on customer service.
I won't compare it to flying as its apples and oranges - but I definitely could have forgone a meal and been uncomfortable for ONE hour instead of over FIVE hours - no matter the cost.
Thanks for reading! I'm not giving up. Praying our next trip will be better - and it will be in the WINTER from now on. I can handle the cold. LOL
We arrived at the station at 11:45a, checked in and waited for the busses. They needed three busses to take us all to Winter Haven, a little over an hour away. We got on the bus (FULL) and noticed there was no AC. The bus driver said "it's coming". Hmmm. Before we left, one of the Amtrak employees boarded to count passengers and said "Wow, it's hotter in here than outside". This was very true. It was 90 degrees in steamy Tampa at the time. The bus had no windows that opened. The only AC was coming from the front of the bus, directed at the driver. The rest of the bus was BROILING. We were all fanning ourselves and I was very surprised some of the older folks actually made it OK through the trip. Meanwhile, a number of people were yelling, cursing (hello, there are children on the bus). It was nothing short of awful. When we finally got to Winter Haven, no one said a word to us. Hey, a bottle of cold water and an apology would have gone a long way. Nothing.
When we boarded we were told to go immediately to the dining car because they were going to close down soon. We had a nice lunch. We must have had 3 bottles of water each before the food even came! Wow, were we dehydrated and hungry. I felt awful for my son. This was not the trip he had imagined. We're pretty easy going though.
We had a "B" bedroom. For the life of me, I can't imagine taking a shower in that tiny little space. Everything was in working order. I could have used a little more ac but it wasn't terrible. We went to the lounge car to play a card game and got shoo'd out because he was closing down. We didn't want anything. Just wanted to sit at the big table, but nope, not allowed. Ok. \
Got to Miami. Waited for our checked bag and noted that there is no ATM machine there. How odd. I had to ask the cab driver to wait at the hotel while I found one at the end of our ride. No big deal. That was getting there...
I thought the trip back was going to be a piece of cake. I was wrong. Well, unless you mean molten lava cake. We were in the "B" bedroom again. The ac stopped working after the first hour. We had gone to lunch and returned to a VERY VERY warm room. The entire hallway area of the bedrooms was really hot. I couldn't find anyone to help us. I had to walk through two cars and knock on the door to a room where I saw someone writing a log. He had an Amtrak uniform so I told him. He said he would check it out. Evidently he found our attendant as he finally came by to see how we were and we were sweating and fanning ourselves by then. He said there is a switch that keeps going out and he would fix it (oh by the way, the air unit in the bedroom over the lower bed did not work either - at any time). He did fix it and about 40 min later, it happened again. Oh we were SO uncomfortable on the trip back. It just seemed like business as usual for them though.
Like I said before, I would definitely try it again. I can't judge it by just one trip. I don't think the cost was worth it for all that happened to us on this trip though. I can certainly see how it COULD be. The focus is obviously not on customer service.
I won't compare it to flying as its apples and oranges - but I definitely could have forgone a meal and been uncomfortable for ONE hour instead of over FIVE hours - no matter the cost.
Thanks for reading! I'm not giving up. Praying our next trip will be better - and it will be in the WINTER from now on. I can handle the cold. LOL