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Well, I'm back in North Carolina. I guess trains weren't for us. Got on the Greensboro to Washington (20 Crescent), and after 20 minutes, we all started feeling queasy. I had given the kids dramamine before the trip, but it did not seem like it was working. I didn't have the grown up ones for myself, so I was so desperate, I drank the liquid stuff (ALOT of it). It didn't help, so one of the train people saw me crying, and offered to get my grown-up dramamine out of the checked baggage. Took two more dramamine. Still was queasy...we were all fighting for the restrooms by then...the nice train person even offered us an empty sleeper to get sick in (left him a big tip).
Anyways, got off at Washington DC and asked the Acela club person what to do to return tickets, and she said to go to the ticket office. Went there and waited and waited. Gave the lady my tickets...no refund..no partial refund. She just gave me a slip of paper (which I thought was a refund) she took my tickets, and that was it. I was so drowsy on dramamine, that she could have handed me a puppy, and I would have thought I was set.
Walked to the nearest hotel (the phoenix), and died. Rented a car the next morning, and started our very sad journey back.
I just got back today, and called Amtrak. They said that the lady at the DC station should have credited our card right there, however, the lady didn't even cancel our trip! So the nice lady on the phone cancelled our trip for us, and told me to call customer relations tomorrow.
I guess we are not train people, and I am very sad about this. I think we should have done a trial run as was suggested on this website. We just didn't have the time to do it. But, we should have made the time.
Anyways, I hope that all of your journeys are great, and I do thank you very much for your words of encouragement. I am just so sad that it did not work out for us.
We will get out west to see my father. I just have to wait and see what Amtrak does with my credit card....sigh.
posted
I think you must be mindful, "scaredrider", that what the Amtrak Agent at Washington gave you was a receipt for the tender of partly used transportation (an old railroad term for ticket). As a result, no one can say "we never got it from you".
Since the tickets were tendered partly used, and involved cancelled accomodations, the final amount to be refunded is determined by the Amtrak Refunds section that I believe systemwide is headquartered at Philadelphia.
So, you must be patient, but no way can you expect that you were issued an instant credit to your credit card account.
In short, it is going to "take time".
Suggest you mount up the black monolith advertising some remote location (had to get the Atlas out to find "Ushuaia") atop the van and start loading up; I think that is the only way you will be happy to the extent you can be with anything in this life.
Enjoy life
GBN
[This message has been edited by Gilbert B Norman (edited 06-03-2002).]
[This message has been edited by Gilbert B Norman (edited 06-03-2002).]
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
6 hours on the train & your whole family is deathly ill? I can only surmise that you all convinced yourselves that you were going to be ill & it happened. I have traveled over 200,000 miles by train in the US & Canada & have never seen anyone have such a severe reaction to the motion of the train. Might I suggest a visit to a doctor as this may be indicative of some underlying medical condition. Yours, Reggie
Posts: 462 | From: Bakersfield Ca., 93312 | Registered: Jul 2000
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I am sorry to hear that you had motion sickness. It is difficult to understand how that could happen. I suppose there are all sorts of motion sicknesses. I get motion sickness due to almost anything. Even if I stand up with my reading glasses on, I get sick. I do not fly because I get sick. I can ride Amtrak anywhere I like, on the bumpiest track and it does not trouble me in the least. I don't even take any kind of medicine such as Dramamine on a train.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
posted
My husband and son were okay, but myself and my daughters did not feel well at all. It's funny, but after asking a few of the workers on the train, and in the station, I guess it isn't uncommon to get motion sickness on the train. The pharmacies were stocked with dramamine at the Washington Station, so were the newstands. They are very expensive, so try to buy them somewhere else, and bring them along (9.98 for chewable dramamine).
I think one of the things that didn't help, is that we got on at 4:10am, and the beds in the standard bedrooms were made up, so we were laying down, and not standing up. However, the nice thing about the train is that you can get off if you feel ill. Which is hard to do on an airplane.
I do suggest that if someone does have the same motion sickness problems that we did is to get the patches from your doctor. From what one woman at the Acela club told me these work much better than dramamine. She told me that she loves the train, but she always has her patches for the "rough spots".
Anyways, I realize that this message board is for happy train travelers, and I do not want to sour opinions on train travel especially when so many find it enjoyable. Train travel should always be an option, and I truly hope it does not dissapear.
All other aspects of the train were very nice, and I can't say how much the crew helped us out.
My only other train experience was on the Bullet in Japan when I was about 8. I went from Tokyo to Osaka with my aunt and siblings. It was very enjoyable.
[This message has been edited by scaredrider (edited 06-02-2002).]
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To Scaredrider: I am very sorry that you did not enjoy the trip and had to cancel. As I have said in previous posts, I am very sensitive to motion sickness but in the four round trips I have taken from Charlotte, NC to Florida, Colorado and California, I have never experienced any motion sickness. When I flew I had to take dramamine every time since 1965. One thing that almost made me sick during my first trip on the Silver Star was that I had taken a Vitamin C tablet just before boarding the train. This was around 10:30pm and I had had nothing to eat for 4 hours. I was feeling nauseaous after about 30 minutes on the train. My wife reminded me to eat something before taking the tablets but I forgot. After eating a pack of crackers that I had brought with me, I began to feel better. Could it have been something like that with you?
Posts: 57 | From: Huntersville, NC USA | Registered: Nov 2001
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Mrs. Scaredy...Dramamine is a preventitive medicine, and will not help once you're already feeling sick. I have a feeling that your illness may have been caused by the anxiety you had for your trip (which may have been felt as well by your girls), compounded with the usual topsy-turvyness caused by travel. It didn't help that you were getting on the train in the middle of the night, so your normal sleep and eating schedules were thrown off. When my husband and I went on cruise to Bermuda, I was a mess the first night. I've never gotten sea/air/car sick ever, but I felt extremely woozy...so much that I couldn't get out of bed. I didn't feel sick to my stomach at all, but eating meant having to lift my head off the pillow. Every motion of the ship was felt tenfold. I didn't go to the ship's doctor, because I knew what caused this...I had gotten very little sleep the night before with getting things ready, and I had been under a lot of stress for the past few weeks (the house our apartment was in had been sold, and we had 45 days to pack and move to a new apartment...the move was to take place 3 days after we got back from the cruise!). I just gave in to feeling lousy, and let myself rest...the next morning, I was fresh as a daisy. I hope you'll give train travel another try, and maybe on a smaller scale...a shorter distance with fewer changes of trains, leaving at a more reasonable time, and/or travelling with a smaller party (such as just you and hubby, or taking just one of your kids). Consult with your doctor and take all precautions.
Posts: 53 | From: Chicago | Registered: Jun 2001
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Scaredrider, I, like many others, am sorry your trip did not go as you had hoped. Daisybumble mentioned anxiety may have played a part in your conditions. I agree. Anxiety can bring on many mental & physical responses. Don't discount this possibility. Someday you may want to give rail travel another chance. If you feel up to it, do as others have said, try a very short trip (at a low cost). A commute rail trip may even answer the motion sickness situation without presenting you with much anxiety. I wish you & your family well.
Posts: 218 | Registered: Mar 2001
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I am sorry your trip didn't work out. While I have never seen anyone get motion sick on a train, I know someone from Korea who cannot travel anywhere on anything without getting very ill. It is very rare, but some people just have trouble with any kind of motion. However, I agree that you should not discount the possibility that anxiety, rather than physiology, was a major factor in your experience.
I hope you will try a short trip somewhere.
By the way, when Amtrak gave us a refund voucher a couple years ago it took two billing cycles before it was credited to our credit card.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
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Just got back from a cruise to Bermuda, and we hit quite a storm in the Atlantic on the way back! People were throwing up all over the place, but luckily I was fine. (In fact, I thought it was kind of fun!) I must say, after experiencing the accomodations on the ship, I don't see how Amtrak can charge what it does for sleepers! There's no comparison! Hell, the American Orient Express can't compare to the cruise ship accomodations. How can a deluxe sleeper from New York to Miami on Amtrak cost more than a cruise to Bermuda? Something seems wrong to me...
Posts: 56 | From: Hawley, PA | Registered: Mar 2002
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There is no question that the cruiselines have overcapacity at this time - and 911 only added to it. The marginal operators are foundering, and the industry will soon only have some three operators of any consequence.
I would think their business plan is to "hook" you with artificially low fares, and as folks like myself soon exchange a paycheck for checks from Social Security and pension, thay are gambling that the vessels will fill up; only problem is that the low fares you apparently enjoyed will "miss the boat".
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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Another reason the cruise fares are so cheap, most of the service people on the ships are paid little or nothing. They work for tips, that could be why the service is so good. A large part of the cost of a rail trip is employee wages and benefits.
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I know someone who gets severe moytion sickness but it i beielve is the wresult of a medical condition
Posts: 17 | From: new york | Registered: Dec 2001
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Very true, they do rely heavily on tips. For future reference, who do you generally tip on Amtrak, and how much? I have yet to ride a long distance Amtrak train, though I intend to in the near future. I've been on trains all over the place, from various subways and commuter lines, to tourist/excursion trains ranging from Maui to Durango, Colorado to Conway and Mount Washington, New Hamshire. I've ridden many Northeast Corridor trains including the Acela Express, but I still haven't been on a long distance train. I'd love to travel across the U.S. and Canada by train, and I also look forward to riding some of the high speed trains overseas.
Posts: 56 | From: Hawley, PA | Registered: Mar 2002
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Oh well, a message board is not a message board without getting off subject.
Some cruiselines "tell you how much you WILL tip"; and when I think you realize that your cabin steward's family back in Bangladesh will go hungry unless you cough up, you will do so. I believe these tips can even be made nowadays through your ship account that is settled by credit card.
On Amtrak, where tipping is "accepted but not expected", $5 per day, per person to the sleeper attendant will do it, unless you have really asked for a lot in the "go fetch" department. Sleeper passengers should tip $2 per person breakfast and lunch; $3 per person for dinner. Unfortunately, there is no reasonable way to place these tips on a credit card, so come prepared with a stack of small bills. On a CHI-WAS-ORL-NOL-CHI trip last February by myself, I parted with $56 in tips. In a word, I'm not "cheap", but I'm likewise not lavish.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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$5 per day for sleeper attendants???!!!! Hmmmm -- I usually slip the attendant $5 total when I leave the train --IF he (or she) has volunteered to take my suuitcases down to the door for me, and if he (or she) takes them off the train for me -- otherwise, I'll probably tip $2-3.
Your meal tip suggestions sound about right.
--Rich K
P.S. How did we get so far off the original topic of this post, "Had to cancel trip"? Hah-hah!!
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Quite a few years ago I was on the Santa Fe Superchief/El Capitan and I was suffering from motion sickness. The train's nurse put some drops of some wierd stuff with a strong pepperment taste into a glass of water. After drinking it, I felt better right away and felt great for the rest of the trip. To this day I have no idea what this stuff was, but it worked better than any pills I have ever found. Posts: 6 | Registered: Jun 2002
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