posted
Well I types this message up once already and for whatever reason it didn't submit properly....so here I go again...
I was just wondering if there is always enough time for every passenger who wants to use the diner to do so. From what I understand sleeping car passengers get first choice. Will anyone who wants to eventually get seated? Due to cost its not something I'd plan on doing more than once each direction of my 28 hour in each direction trip, but I want to do it once for the experience. How can a coach passenger go about getting a reservation in the diner?
posted
thats easy, when the conductor walks through asking if youd like a reservation, tell him/her yes, and how big a party and your first or last name
------------------ JONATHON D. ORTIZ
Posts: 989 | From: DIAMOND BAR CA. U.S. | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
Everyone is right except Jonathon. It is the Stewart who ask for reservations. Also, they usually save one end of the dining room for the sleeper pax and the other end is for the coach.
Posts: 100 | From: Sacramento,CA | Registered: May 2003
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If your train leaves near the dinner hour, (e.g. the Silver Meteor leaves at 7PM) and you are in coach, forget about dinner in the diner for that evening. They will allow passengers in the sleepers eat, but by then the hour is usually so late that they shut the dining car down before other passengers will be seated. At least my experience. If you travel at a peak time in coach and the train is crowded, ignore the message from the dining car steward about dinner seatings at "5PM, 7PM, or 9PM" - the sleeping car passengers will have long ago snatched up 5 and 7. Expect your only choice to be 9PM. Again, my experience. Finally, they don't segregate passengers by coach or sleeper on eastern trains (Silver Star/Meteor, Lake Shore Limited, Crescent, or Cardinal) since there is only one dining room that seats either 40 or 48, depending on how it's configured. If you are alone, expect to be seated with strangers. (This is one of the best parts about traveling by train in my opinion.) And dining car food is far better than what you get in the lounge. When you consider that meals are included in the price of a sleeper, it can often justify the price, especially if there are two of you traveling together.
Posts: 72 | Registered: Jul 2000
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