What can we expect on our first Amtrak trip?

[Blackwood]

Hello,

I just found your web site.

I sorta jumped into an adventure without knowing exactly what to expect.

Maybe you can give me your opinion.

My family and I are traveling from Birmingham, AL to Washington DC.

My wife, myself and our two girls. 1- seven and 1 - twelve.

We have two roometts. Crescent, train #20, car 2010.

We will stay in DC four days, then take the Acela (Coach) to New York for a few days.

We will return to Birmingham on train 19, car 1910.

I don't have a clue what we have in store. We were looking for an adventure. Have we found one?

I am extremley interested in informtion about the roomettes and the dinning car.

 

[PRR 60]

A good source for tips and information regarding Amtrak travel is at On-Track-On-Line. The link is:

http://www.on-track-on-line.com/amtrak-tips.shtml

Note that Amtrak recently changed the names for the sleeping car rooms. The "Roomette" was previously called a "Standard Bedroom" and the OTOL tips pages still use the old terminology.

 

[AlanB]

I for one think that the odds are in your favor that you’ll enjoy your trip. Things to remember, Amtrak doesn’t always run on time, since the freight companies own and control the tracks. Next don’t be expecting the Ritz. Your bedrooms are small but functional. I would highly recommend packing a few overnight bags or smaller carry-on bags with your clothes for the overnight trip. Then check your large suitcases, as they won’t fit in your bedrooms.

Also make sure to pack some toys/games/books/walkman’s for your daughters amusement while on board. Be sure to take all of your meals in the dining car, since they are included in the price of your ticket. You can also spend time in the lounge car if you like and you are allowed to walk through the rest of the coaches, should you wish to stretch your legs. Anything you want from the lounge car will cost you, as that is not included.

Coming back to the rooms or roomette, again don’t be expecting something huge. You can find the room dimensions by clicking here. There is also a virtual tour available on the same page. The rooms however should suit you just fine. There is a shower down the hall, although be warned showering at 79 MPH is an interesting experience.

At night the sleeping car attendant will put down the beds for you. There is an upper and lower bunk in each room. Don’t worry there are safety straps to keep the person sleeping in the upper bunk from accidentally rolling out in the middle of the night, so even your daughters would be safe sleeping up top if they wish.

I also highly recommend checking out those hints & tips that PRR60 linked to in his post. It’s just chocked full of useful information. If after reading that you have anymore questions, please don’t hesitate to come back and ask. I’m sure that someone here will know the answer.

 

[cheapfurcoat]

What can we expect on our first Amtrak trip?

Late trains, missed connections, lazy and/or rude sleeping car attendants,

filthy stinking restrooms, bed bugs, and really great food. Providing that the dining car can actually make the trip with the rest of the train...

Hopefully it won't happen to you but it happened to me. All of it.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

What can we expect on our first Amtrak trip?

lazy and/or rude sleeping car attendants,

Hopefully it won't happen to you but it happened to me. All of it.

Something just tells me your biggest issue here is you did not recieve an acceptable level of customer service as you should have. Wherever customer service is involved, this is usually the case! An employee with a bad attitude on duty is a very bad asset to the company. There were other issues obviously, but "bad employee attitude" will really magnify them as it is human nature to search for the negative! The train can be insanely late or have other problems, and if good customer service was in place, you probably would have somewhat more enjoyed your trip despite the problems. This is just my opinion on the matter, though. Hopefully Amtrak has (and if not, hopefully they will) make good to you. Good luck....

As for Blackwood, if this your first trip, then good luck to you. The first two posters are pretty much on the money, and are not bulling you in anyway. Personally, above all, I feel it pays to be "in the know" in the travel industry as a whole, not just Amtrak! If you keep that in mind, you're less likely to recieve a big surprise.

Your on board service crew should provide you with proper service. Keep in mind, too, gratuity is not required on board, but most of the time it is appreciated (obviously a few employees don't seem to have a clue)! However, as in anywhere in the industry, it should be determined by you (the customer) based on how the level of service is/was at the time it was recieved. If the service doesn't meet the standard you feel it should be, then show it by withholding "the green!" If you happen to have a "not so good" experience with the service level reaching an unacceptable point, then be sure to write the management and keep doing so until you recieve something satisfactory. The squeaky wheel usually ges the most grease! Bottom line, if the train becomes very late or another probelm arises, then that will be the test of how the OBS crew handles the situation as well as how you handle it as well! But the real test is for the crew! I have been on both sides (as a passenger and as a crewmember)! Again, good luck with your trip, and please let us know here in the forums how it went! Take care....... OBS......

 

[GG-1]

What can we expect on our first Amtrak trip?

Late trains, missed connections, lazy and/or rude sleeping car attendants,

filthy stinking restrooms, bed bugs, and really great food. Providing that the dining car can actually make the trip with the rest of the train...

Hopefully it won't happen to you but it happened to me. All of it.

Aloha

Whow, I have alwas had late connections, but only once missed a connection, but I have never had a bad attendant, and always found my room perfectly maintained and have always enjoyed my trips. First for the most part I do schedule long connections over 12 hours. The only short one was 4.5 and that was the one missed, but it prevented me ariving in a hurricane, so some good came of it.

Since you say Adventure, I bet you have fun. While here read others trip reports, including mine. Some of my pictures are one line.

 

[Amtrak OBS Employee]

but I have never had a bad attendant, and always found my room perfectly maintained and have always enjoyed my trips.

Well that is great to hear, but they are out there! So hopefully you will continue to catch the good working crews, and never catch the rude ones. I've worked with a few bad apples. But usually I am with a good crew (thank goodness)!

 

[AlanB]

Late trains, missed connections, lazy and/or rude sleeping car attendants,filthy stinking restrooms, bed bugs, and really great food. Providing that the dining car can actually make the trip with the rest of the train...

Hopefully it won't happen to you but it happened to me. All of it.

Hmm, your original report never mentioned the bed bugs.

However as Dateline and 20/20 have both shown in recent reports, that can happen even in 5 star hotels, much less Amtrak. It's very hard to tell when a previous traveler has left behind that surprise.

Let me also add that I've got almost 50,000 miles traveled on Amtrak, 2/3 of which has been in sleepers, and I've never had that problem.

As for late trains & missed connections, that also happens to airplanes & buses too. And it should be noted that many times it's not Amtrak's fault that the train is late. They don't own or control the train tracks. All of that aside, the Blackwood's won't be making any connections so there is no worry about that problem.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

Mr. Blackwood, Here is a tip for you. Even though your train goes from New Orleans to New York it is biggest passenger load is between Atlanta and Washington.

Thus, going north, you would be advised to eat dinner in the diner at the first call, before getting to ATL. In Atl they shut down temporarily and when they open back up there are a lot of passengers to be served.

I gather you are on the Crescent all the way southbound (from NY) since you only mention the Acela n.b. . If that is the case, the same is true for Washington, D. C. You shoudl eat before WAS, as the train gets much more crowded there, southbound.

Of course if you are traveling Acela both ways, and will not be boarding the Crescent s.b. until WAS, then of course you will be caught up in the dinner crowd. But in any case, train food is usually quite good and it is covered in the cost of your ticket, as has already been pointed out.

 

[cheapfurcoat]

Hmm, your original report never mentioned the bed bugs.

That's something that we admittedly cannot proove but here are the facts;

My 4 year old son had bites all over him when we got home that he did not have the night before we boarded the EB home from Portland. We would have suspected the motel beds but I bathed my son the morning before we left for Portland and he was bite free. My wife and I had a couple bites on us which at first I dismissed as mosquito bites until we got home and saw our son in his bath.

My son was the only one of us to sleep under the covers on the trip home.

My wife and I slept in our clothes on top of the beds or in the seats. I saw the condition of the mattresses in the sleeper bedroom and there was no way I was going to put my body to within one sheet's thickness of those dirty old stained up things.

I did not mention this to Amtrak out of sheer embarrassment. However I believe I am going to take some advice from a member here and write the president of Amtrak and leave out nothing.

 

[Gingee]

Bed bugs? Now that gives me the creeps. Maybe I will drive my car instead.

 

[Guest_Chatter163]

I have been riding Amtrak for many years and all the time and I have never seen a single bedbug.

 

[Anthony]

Wow, me either. That must certainly have been an isolated incident.

 

[WICT106]

I also hope that is an isolated experience. I've taken numerous train trips (see my profile), and never have I had to deal with bedbugs. I've even been aboard trains with groups from Philmont Scout Ranch in NM, and these groups were anything but clean, trustworthy, honest Scouts, and while I had to deal with the lousy attitudes and rudeness of the Scouts, I've never had to deal with the results of their poor hygiene. If anything, the good trips more than nullified and outweighed the "badness."

Airlines have their share of bad sides, as well as bus trips. Also remember that some truck stops along our nation's highways leave much to be desired in terms of cleanliness, but folks don't stop driving just because of one filthy truck stop bathroom. If anything, Amtrak crews do a pretty good job keeping things clean and functional considering what they have to work and deal with.

 

[battalion51]

I also highly doubt rampid "bedbugs." The cars are rotated through "E-clean" where the car goes in for complete fumigation. I think the entire process takes a minimum of a week (Joe would know better than I), and is very thurough. I've been in Sanford when they've been taking cars out of E-Clean and the cars definitely have a bug killer smell when they come out.

 

[Trogdor]

I don't know about bed bugs, but there are certain things found in Amtrak equipment (too often) that would probably give certain people second thoughts. I won't mention them here.

 

[AlanB]

I don't know about bed bugs, but there are certain things found in Amtrak equipment (too often) that would probably give certain people second thoughts. I won't mention them here.

And if you've watched 20/20 or Dateline in the last year, you've also seen that even 5* hotels have failed the cleanliness test. So you are at risk anytime you leave you're own home.

So take it with a grain of salt.

 

[saxman]

Yeah and airlines have no requirment to clean their water tanks. What about those blankets and pillows they hand to you? You think they're washed very often? Think again.....

Chris