Amtrak train info w/pics!All Aboard-Choo-choo!UPDATED

[lisa-upnorth]

Originally Posted by Elky

We book round trip travel for august a couples weeks ago and paid for an oversize vehicule, but when i look at the auto train booking there's no more oversize category all type of vehicules are at the same price...

Do you know if we can get a credit for the extra paid?

call Amtrak! I am sure they would refund if there is no higher price option

[lisa-upnorth]

Originally Posted by labfan

There are vegetarians options. My daughter and I are going the end of May and she is a vegetarian. You can go on the Amtrak sight to see a copy of their menu. Not sure if it's standard or not but the dining car menu shows Vegetarian Entree Salad or a Veggie Burger at Lunch. At dinner there's a Vegetarian Pasta.
There are also steak and chicken dishes.

we are traveling May 21st from albany to Orlando(arrive May 22nd) in case you are on then.Return June 1st-2nd

[labfan]

Originally Posted by lisa-upnorth

we are traveling May 21st from albany to Orlando(arrive May 22nd) in case you are on then.Return June 1st-2nd

We'll be traveling the 28th from Albany. Can't wait.
D you have any suggestions on the tip question I posted?

[aprilgail2]

Originally Posted by labfan

I was wondering how much an appropriate tip would be for the Redcaps if we use them in NY Penn Station. Also do you tip the car attendant on the train and if so, how much? We will be in a bedroom from Penn Station to Orlando. I know each person may tip differently but it's been awhile since I've traveled so I want to get an approximate amount.

We tipped the room attendant 20.00 when we boarded and then like 5.00 every time they brought us a meal-we preferred to eat in our room rather than sit with strangers in the dining car.

[lisa-upnorth]

if the redcap at Penn is dealing with your bags give him $5-$10 bucks. Then I will give $10 when I board at Penn to the 'room attendant' on my car.I eat meals in the dining car and tip them there after my meal. I will then tip $10 when I get off to my attendant for their help while traveling.I haven't used the redcaps but many people do.Have fun!!! I will beat ya there

[labfan]

Thanks for your answers on the tipping. This is our first time on an Amtrak. Can't wait.

[lisa-upnorth]

have fun

I just got the dreaded call-----------------track work on June 1-2!!!!! How dare they?!
Now we have to ride a bus from Orlando to Jacksonville not happy! Oh well, at least we will be all happy from our vacation!

[labfan]

Sorry to hear about that dreaded call. We'll be returning home on June 6th.
But at least you will already be done with the fun vacation.

[GetGlowing]

Bummer, lisa-upnorth.

We board the train this Sunday night/Monday morning 2am really. We drive to SC, drink beer at one of our favorite places, and then get nice and sleepy for the ride down.

[torinsmom]

For anyone in the Raleigh/Durham NC area, I have a refund voucher for $186 that I will probably never use. I can use it towards buying tickets for anyone, as long as I am present when they are bought. Tickets would be in that person's name though. I am willing to take $120 cash for the voucher(which is about a 30% savings) or best offer. Tickets would need to be purchased at a train station by July, but travel could be anytime in the future. PM me if you are interested.

[GetGlowing]

Just returned from our WDW Amtrak trip yesterday! We always travel to/from the Kissimmee station. It's much quieter than Orlando (plus our friend who chauffeurs us works just a couple blocks away).

Our inbound train was unfortunately delayed about four hours by a train vs. pedestrian fatality on the tracks just before we boarded. So it took a while for the investigation to conclude before the train was released to continue on to pick us up. It was one of those things where it was going to be just an hour late, then two hours, then three ... so we really couldn't go anywhere while we waited it out. Considering the situation everyone waiting with us took it in stride. When we got on the train, the crew was fresh, and again, they were very accommodating with everyone and tried their best to help passengers make connections further down the line, and gave their best guess for our arrival. When we got to Orlando, they deboarded everyone for Tampa and Lakeland and sent those passengers to their destination by bus to try and get the train back on schedule for the southern Florida portion of the route.

Our trip back was completely uneventful (hooray) and everything ran perfectly on time. Hubby and I treated ourselves to a date night in the dining car, and after a $60 dinner for two, decided the upgrade to sleeper wouldn't be so bad since it includes meals. But since our return trip picks up at 6:40 in KIS and drops us off at 4am, we are only able to take advantage of one meal on the way back anyway.

The Dining Car


Chicken dinner


Ribs dinner - half rack

[NJRRK]

I've always found the meals on Amtrak, in the east, quite good. Thanks you for sharing pictures, and your experience.

[labfan]

Great pics of the food and dining car. It's nice to see actual pics of the food. Glad you enjoyed it.

[GetGlowing]

The meals were huge -- we could easily have split the plates. The family across from us did. But we slept well afterwards!