Hi everyone,
I'm about to embark on an out & back trip to Portland (from Minneapolis-St. Paul) to celebrate my birthday. For context, I'm an able-bodied/athletic man in his mid-30s, traveling by myself, and I am also post-vaccination. I have a number of questions as I don't want any nasty surprises.
I'm flying Alaska first class MSP-PDX on Wednesday the 7th, spending the night at a nice hotel in Downtown PDX, then taking the Empire Builder 28 (8) back to St. Paul in a roomette. This is my first Amtrak trip of the pandemic and my first time in a roomette since 2010 (most of the time I'm just in coach MSP-CHI and back since that's a day train).
Questions about Portland:
- How are things currently in Downtown PDX? Have protests and occupations and such calmed down? I live right in the city of Minneapolis so I'm certainly no stranger to frequent protests but I'm wondering if there are any long-term occupation/protests to avoid, any impacts to local transit, etc. I'm staying at the Heathman at SW Broadway & Salmon and planning to get around via MAX, although other than coming in from the airport I'm generally planning to stay Downtown as I'm only there one night.
- Is the Metropolitan Lounge at PDX Union Station currently open? My hotel check-out is at noon but the train isn't until 4:45 so I was hoping for a place to kill some time, and if the Metropolitan Lounge is closed I'll have to find something else to do. If it's closed, I'm open to suggestions on something else to do, preferably not far from my hotel because I'll probably keep my luggage there until I need to go to the station.
- How are local COVID restrictions currently? I'm fine masking everywhere when not eating, but is indoor dining available? What about bars? I'm post-vaccination so I'm not scared of indoor places and it seems there's a chance for rain and it will be in the mid-50s so I probably don't want to spend all afternoon outdoors. Thursday itself is my actual birthday and since I know the train is just flex dining, it would be nice to treat myself to a good local lunch indoors if that's even possible.
- Anything else you think I should be aware of is also appreciated.
Questions about long-haul currently:
- Since I'm traveling solo, can I just have the attendant configure my room so as to always have the top bunk in the sleeping configuration so I can put my luggage up there (or even take a nap without disturbing the attendant)?
- How is tipping handled with flex dining? Does the sleeping car attendant handle all that? If so do you tip them extra for those services in addition to the normal room tip?
- How does dinner work on the first night when there is only the cafe car (diner is on the Seattle section)? Do they give you a voucher to go to the cafe yourself or do they bring that stuff to you as well? I'm not at all a picky eater, by the way, so I don't really mind that it's flex dining, oh well.
- If I want something from the cafe for the rest of the trip (such as beer/wine), is that done by room service as well or do I just go to the cafe myself?
- Anything else you think I should be aware of is also appreciated.
I'm about to embark on an out & back trip to Portland (from Minneapolis-St. Paul) to celebrate my birthday. For context, I'm an able-bodied/athletic man in his mid-30s, traveling by myself, and I am also post-vaccination. I have a number of questions as I don't want any nasty surprises.
I'm flying Alaska first class MSP-PDX on Wednesday the 7th, spending the night at a nice hotel in Downtown PDX, then taking the Empire Builder 28 (8) back to St. Paul in a roomette. This is my first Amtrak trip of the pandemic and my first time in a roomette since 2010 (most of the time I'm just in coach MSP-CHI and back since that's a day train).
Questions about Portland:
- How are things currently in Downtown PDX? Have protests and occupations and such calmed down? I live right in the city of Minneapolis so I'm certainly no stranger to frequent protests but I'm wondering if there are any long-term occupation/protests to avoid, any impacts to local transit, etc. I'm staying at the Heathman at SW Broadway & Salmon and planning to get around via MAX, although other than coming in from the airport I'm generally planning to stay Downtown as I'm only there one night.
- Is the Metropolitan Lounge at PDX Union Station currently open? My hotel check-out is at noon but the train isn't until 4:45 so I was hoping for a place to kill some time, and if the Metropolitan Lounge is closed I'll have to find something else to do. If it's closed, I'm open to suggestions on something else to do, preferably not far from my hotel because I'll probably keep my luggage there until I need to go to the station.
- How are local COVID restrictions currently? I'm fine masking everywhere when not eating, but is indoor dining available? What about bars? I'm post-vaccination so I'm not scared of indoor places and it seems there's a chance for rain and it will be in the mid-50s so I probably don't want to spend all afternoon outdoors. Thursday itself is my actual birthday and since I know the train is just flex dining, it would be nice to treat myself to a good local lunch indoors if that's even possible.
- Anything else you think I should be aware of is also appreciated.
Questions about long-haul currently:
- Since I'm traveling solo, can I just have the attendant configure my room so as to always have the top bunk in the sleeping configuration so I can put my luggage up there (or even take a nap without disturbing the attendant)?
- How is tipping handled with flex dining? Does the sleeping car attendant handle all that? If so do you tip them extra for those services in addition to the normal room tip?
- How does dinner work on the first night when there is only the cafe car (diner is on the Seattle section)? Do they give you a voucher to go to the cafe yourself or do they bring that stuff to you as well? I'm not at all a picky eater, by the way, so I don't really mind that it's flex dining, oh well.
- If I want something from the cafe for the rest of the trip (such as beer/wine), is that done by room service as well or do I just go to the cafe myself?
- Anything else you think I should be aware of is also appreciated.