Two quick Crescent questions?

[abcnews]

Hello all,

We are planning a trip south to New Orleans in April on the Crescent. We have 7 people going so far - my entire family, but we may add an 8th person. I used a combination of AGR points and vouchers - so we have an AGR bedroom award for 3 people, and two Roomettes were purchased at low bucket for the other 4 people. There are not any more bedrooms available, but plenty of Roomettes. If we add the 8th person I most likely would take out another 20,000 points for a Roomette (for two) and change one of the current Roomettes (which was purchased at low bucket), to be just one passenger. This would lower the one way fare for that Roomette to around $279, verses $417 for two adults/Roomette. My question is this... I have not printed the ticket or even paid for it yet, so can I call and take one passenger off the current reservation and get the (new) lower fare with just one passenger instead of two? Or do we loose the low bucket - and have to start all over with a new reservation? The bucket has risen since I made the reservation on Tuesday.

Also - we board in Culpepper, VA at 7:55 PM (southbound), do we stand a chance to get seated for dinner? Keep in mind, there will be at least 7 in our party - maybe even 8 people. Will they frown on the idea of our group trying to be seated for dinner at 8:15 or so? We are certainly OK with splitting up - just not sure that they will indeed offer us the chance to eat that late?

And one more question, we return via "City of New Orleans" and the" Cardinal". What are your guesses to the probability of having a Sightseer Lounge on the City of New Orleans (northbound) in mid April? Like 90% or more like 75%? Or is it 50/50?

 

[GaSteve]

For your first question, keep in mind that the roomette charge is an accommodation charge and to that is added the fare for each occupant, so the total is the figure for the roomette and one or two passengers. So, I don't think it would be a problem removing one of the two passengers; the accommodation charge should remain the same. I imagine the bucket that you would pay for the additional roomette would be the bucket in effect at the time of booking.

As for dinner, I would defer to someone further up the line who may have had experience, but I'm guess that wouldn't be a problem either since dinner likely would be served until 9 or so (except for coming into NOL when it will be abbreviated).

 

[abcnews]

For your first question, keep in mind that the roomette charge is an accommodation charge and to that is added the fare for each occupant, so the total is the figure for the roomette and one or two passengers. So, I don't think it would be a problem removing one of the two passengers; the accommodation charge should remain the same. I imagine the bucket that you would pay for the additional roomette would be the bucket in effect at the time of booking.

As for dinner, I would defer to someone further up the line who may have had experience, but I'm guess that wouldn't be a problem either since dinner likely would be served until 9 or so (except for coming into NOL when it will be abbreviated).

Thanks! And yes, we may be OK with the late dinner, and it really is not a big deal. We will eat well that day prior to boarding. Just nice to get in a Heritage diner, especially after dark on a single level train.

 

[GaSteve]

For your first question, keep in mind that the roomette charge is an accommodation charge and to that is added the fare for each occupant, so the total is the figure for the roomette and one or two passengers. So, I don't think it would be a problem removing one of the two passengers; the accommodation charge should remain the same. I imagine the bucket that you would pay for the additional roomette would be the bucket in effect at the time of booking.

As for dinner, I would defer to someone further up the line who may have had experience, but I'm guess that wouldn't be a problem either since dinner likely would be served until 9 or so (except for coming into NOL when it will be abbreviated).

Thanks! And yes, we may be OK with the late dinner, and it really is not a big deal. We will eat well that day prior to boarding. Just nice to get in a Heritage diner, especially after dark on a single level train.

IMO, breakfast on a Heritage diner is almost as good as dinner.

 

[AlanB]

We are planning a trip south to New Orleans in April on the Crescent. We have 7 people going so far - my entire family, but we may add an 8th person. I used a combination of AGR points and vouchers - so we have an AGR bedroom award for 3 people, and two Roomettes were purchased at low bucket for the other 4 people. There are not any more bedrooms available, but plenty of Roomettes. If we add the 8th person I most likely would take out another 20,000 points for a Roomette (for two) and change one of the current Roomettes (which was purchased at low bucket), to be just one passenger. This would lower the one way fare for that Roomette to around $279, verses $417 for two adults/Roomette. My question is this... I have not printed the ticket or even paid for it yet, so can I call and take one passenger off the current reservation and get the (new) lower fare with just one passenger instead of two? Or do we loose the low bucket - and have to start all over with a new reservation? The bucket has risen since I made the reservation on Tuesday.

The agent should be able to remove one person from the paid reservation. But do be careful! Some agents may not know how to do it properly and could screw things up for you. Start by carefully explaining what you want to do and make sure that they understand things correctly. If you sense any hesitation, say "thanks" and hang up. If they do seem to understand, ask them to first confirm the rate for your room or what's known as the accommodation charge. This will set the amount in their mind, so that in case they do make a mistake you can remind them of it. They cannot view the history, so if you don't first confirm how much you are currently paying, once they make any changes they will no longer know what bucket you were in for the room.

Once they complete the change, re-verify that the accommodation charge has not increased and have them override it if it has.

One other thought in all of this, while it won't save any money, have you considered simply taking the 3rd person out of the Bedroom and putting them into the 3rd Roomette. This would give everyone a bit more space.

Also - we board in Culpepper, VA at 7:55 PM (southbound), do we stand a chance to get seated for dinner? Keep in mind, there will be at least 7 in our party - maybe even 8 people. Will they frown on the idea of our group trying to be seated for dinner at 8:15 or so? We are certainly OK with splitting up - just not sure that they will indeed offer us the chance to eat that late?

Dinner should be served until 9PM, so yes in theory you should get dinner. Of course one never knows what the crew will actually do.

And one more question, we return via "City of New Orleans" and the" Cardinal". What are your guesses to the probability of having a Sightseer Lounge on the City of New Orleans (northbound) in mid April? Like 90% or more like 75%? Or is it 50/50?

Your odds should be very good for getting an SSL on the City.