We just got back from our trip. We were a family of 5 going from Providence RI to Orlando. I have very mixed feelings about the train and am not sure I will do such a long trip again, or at least not with as many people. We had two roomettes each way and one coach. (My mother was added as a last minute and I didn't have enough rewards to get a roomette, but did for a free coach trip. My son and husband volunteered one each way to take the coach seat)
The roomettes were so very very small!! I would get a room next time. However when I booked online, they didn't give me that option. Lesson learned, call next time for reservations. Another lesson learned, check EVERYTHING that you can! We didn't the first part of the trip and regretted it big time!! Our porter realized this and grabbed the suit cases and checked them for us. Sleeping was
very comfy though!! I was in the top bunk both ways and it was heaven!
The crew can make or break your experience!! We had the
BEST crew on the way down and the WORST on the way back!! The first crew spoiled us with their fabulous personalities and senses of humor. The second crew had NO personalities for the most part and were border line rude!! In fact I got yelled at by one woman on the way home! I hadn't realized that they had "closed" one of the lounge cars and was trying to make my way from the sleepers to coach to bring my husband his winter coat. I was trying to text him to let him know that the doors were closed, and she came in and yelled at me that the car was closed. I explained to her that I didn't know and what I was trying to do. At first she was going to let me thru and then asked if I would have to come back. I said yes. She huffed at me and started yelling at me that she wasn't about to do that and that I would have to take it up with the conductor and he wouldn't like it, and etc. etc.! I hadn't even ASKED her to open the door! I had only told her what I was trying to do and was texting my husband to tell him he had to wait! She flipped out on me. The dining car crew on the way back....ugh! There was a young guy and he was nice and polite, but looked "afraid" for lack of a better word. The woman he was working with had NO personality and was awful, just awful!! She was very abrupt and seemed put out when you had questions. Both trips, both our porters and the dining crew, knew that we were a party of 5 and that we had two roomettes which is 4 people allowed to eat. They both said, it didn't matter which 4 ate, but the the 5th would have to pay. Well, a few times there were only 4 of us wanting to eat so the first crew would just put it all under the rooms. The woman on the second trip had a BIG problem with it and was not happy at all!! It wasn't like we were trying to get something for nothing! I paid for the meals. And I would have paid for the 5 person had we all wanted to eat, but my mother and daughter weren't hungry a couple of times.
I can
not say enough though about the dining crew on the way down. We truly truly truly enjoyed them!! I know the guys name was George, but sadly forget the woman's name. They were just so funny and warm and you can tell they enjoyed their jobs! Even when we were just passing thru to get to the lounge cars they would tease my husband and talk to us. I will be emailing Amtrak to give them kudo's!
Now the part that really frustrated me. As we were on our way down, I received a text saying that our return NY to RI train was cancelled. They cancelled the whole train, due to the holiday. HELLO?? I bought these tickets back in Feb and am being told this now? They had to have KNOWN long before then that they were going to do that. It's not like the holiday was suddenly made up! Long story short, I had to g o thru 3 different people (person #1 thought it was weird that they just up and cancelled the train!) and it took 3 HOURS of my vacation for us to get results. They wanted me to take a 8 hour layover in DC, or a 7 in NY. Or pay another $800 and something to switch trains!! I couldn't have that long of a layover in JAN at night with a 72 year old woman!! It worked out that we had to leave our vacation early but they switched us with no extra $$ needed and a layover of about an hour, which is what we originally had.
The food was actually very good too! It's amazing too how the crew can get all those cups of coffee to people without spilling! Although George did say when he first started he lost a drink over some poor persons head! LOL! Luckily not coffee though!
I also highly recommend the red caps at Penn. It was so nice to let THEM lug everything and just bring us right to the lounge and then the track. We just had way to much stuff and to many people! They made it much nicer! On the way home, they even grabbed ours from baggage claim and then brought it right onto the train for us. Nice!
I don't think I would get my family back on the train though. It was way to long for them. I think I would do it again to go down, but to come home, not sure. At the end there, I just wanted to be done and home!
) is that when you check into your resort, it's almost guaranteed there won't be as many people in line at the check-in desk, since you're not arriving at the same time as the ME buses.
