I am traveling with my two son's & taking an Amtrak Vacation that I set up back in February. At the time I requested 2 suite-able Deluxe Sleepers on the Lake Shore Limited from New York to Chicago. They took my reservation (not cheap!)and had no problem, there were two Deluxe Sleepers right next to eachother available & these could be opened up to combine into a Deluxe Suite. Now, the week of my trip I called to confirm & I'm told that these particular two sleepers are NOT suite-able. The other Deluxe Sleepers on this train are, just not mine! I wasn't happy about this & the girl told me to bring it up with the conductor when I board, perhaps he will switch me. I am dubious that this is really going to happen. Does it sound like something that could be done? Or was she trying to get me off the phone? This is my first time traveling Amtrak & we are really looking forward to it. This was a dissapointing surprize.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
Something doesn't hold water around here.
The Viewliner cars assigned to the Lake Shore are configured 1Spl, 2Dlx, 12Std. Therefore, if you have booked the only two Deluxe in the same car, there is only one way they can be - and that is "suite-able".
Naturally, the Bedrooms could be in different cars, and even one could be the Special, insomuch as that is available for general sale one week prior to departure.
Posted by QTBug (Member # 2684) on :
According to my tickets & the Amtrak sales girl, they are right next to eachother. But that there are other Deluxe sleepers on the train that are suite-able. My two for some reason are not. ?
Posted by rresor (Member # 128) on :
They probably lost the key that's used to open the sliding panel. I booked two adjacent deluxe rooms on Auto-Train a few years back, and our attendent had to search far and wide for a key. Finally found one, though.
Or maybe the panel is stuck shut. With the state of maintenance of Amtrak equipment, one never knows quite what to expect.
Posted by jp1822 (Member # 2596) on :
What are your room numbers or letters? Find out if you don't know. A and B are deluxe rooms, 1 through 12 are standard rooms, H is the handicap room. I have found a couple of agents call the Handicap room a "deluxe room." I was on the Empire Builder and had confirmed my onboard suite of deluxe rooms with the reservation desk, at the station prior to departure, and while onboard before we left the station. Guess what - no one could find a key from Seatte to Chicago. If we had known this ahead of time, I would have gotten a deluxe and one standard room. It seems really odd that they know this in advance that the deluxe rooms can not be made into an onboard suite. Perhaps their's no key or the door is jammed shut between the rooms, but you usually find this out last minute. And sleepers are switched in and out of the Lake Shore Limited consists. Talk to another agent too. Deluxe rooms are a rare commodity on the Lake Shore Limited and there are only two to a sleeping car.
Posted by CK (Member # 589) on :
It's a little off the subject but I wanted to share our experience about the sliding door between the deluxe rooms. True stories....3 times my wife & I have boarded the train, entered our "deluxe" ($$$)room, the train starts moving, the sliding door slides open, we have an unexpected "meeting" with our "neighbors", we hunt down the car attendant, he searches far & wide for the key, which 2 out of 3 times he does not find, he resorts to duct tape to keep the sliding door closed. After the 3rd time, we now bring our own duct tape. We keep our sense of humor & realize it's all part of the experience of riding Amtrak!
Posted by royaltrain (Member # 622) on :
If I paid all that money for a suite, and the connecting wall did not open, or the porter could not find the key I would not be keeping my sense of humour. Amtrak, in my view, would have an obligation to pay damages to the customer who did not receive what he paid for. I have travelled in deluxe bedrooms many times, including the viewliners, and it would appear that the wall could be unlocked with one of those multi-use tools that can be purchased in any hardware store. You may want to buy one of these devices (with more optional attachments the better) since, as others have posted, the key is frequently missing.
Posted by QTBug (Member # 2684) on :
Wow, this is all very 'interesting' ! You mean the only reason that I cannot have the suite that I requested (and was lead to believe was available)comes down to a little key that has been misplaced? Yikes.
Posted by QTBug (Member # 2684) on :
Well, I took your advice & called to speak to another agent. She assures me that these are indeed 'insuitable' ( that's apparently the term)and whomever I spoke to earlier mis-informed me. NOW, before I start celebrating I will try an obtain one of those multi-tools just in case. I have no reason to believe at this point that the next Amtrak employee will inform me that this last woman I spoke to misimformed me! And so on.
Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :
QTBug, you don't really need to purchase one of those multi-tools (although they are exceptionally handy).
By the exit door, in the emergency box, there is a big red axe. Wait for the car attendant to go for a meal, and create your own door..... :P
Posted by jp1822 (Member # 2596) on :
"I was on the Empire Builder and had confirmed my onboard suite of deluxe rooms with the reservation desk, at the station prior to departure, and while onboard before we left the station. Guess what - no one could find a key from Seatte to Chicago. If we had known this ahead of time, I would have gotten a deluxe and one standard room."
This was my post above and referred to by another member. I wrote a letter to customer relations, as well as Gunn, regarding this episode, along with other troubles on this trip. Gunn wrote me a reply, still waiting on some consolation prize from the Customer Relations Department. I had some tools with me and I could not get the lock to turn. And it does seem like a pretty simple thing. When we transferred to the Capitol Limited in Chicago - I made sure the door was open before we left. Turned without a problem with the key - course the duct tape was a pain to peel off....It was a lot of money for the suites and there was a reason why we got them - convenience, more room, atmosphere etc. What irritated me is that we would have arranged things differently if we knew the door between the rooms could not be opened. In addition, we had no air conditioning from Seattle to Chicago - this was in the beginning of June so it was pretty hot! I finally convinced the conductor to call ahead to Edmonds and get fans brought on. It helped, but it was still hot in there once we hit the prairies! I usually let a lot of things slide with Amtrak, but this trip really pushed my over the top.
Posted by dilly (Member # 1427) on :
On a related topic. . .
I got locked out of my standard room aboard the Southwest Chief last summer.
Yes, in theory, it's not supposed to happen, since the locks on the corridor doors were officially decommissioned years ago.
I simply slid the door shut, as usual, when I left to brush my teeth at 6 a.m. But when I came back, the compartment was locked tighter than a bank vault -- clearly the result of a faulty inside latch.
Over the next two hours, every member of the train crew apart from the engineer took a crack at getting that door open.
Wire hangers, Swiss Army knives, and strange Amtrak tools were produced. There was much muttered cursing and perspiring. All to no avail.
I finally went to breakfast in my pajamas and 99 cent store shower flip-flops.
Eventually, the crew decided I'd have to wait until Albuquerque, where a maintenence crew would yank the window off the side of the car and climb in.
We were running extremely late. And it took me about thirty seconds to calculate that Albuquerque was still eleven (!!!) hours away.
I think it was the way I started slamming my head against the corridor wall that convinced the conductor to give it one final shot, using a giant chisel and sledgehammer.
In the end, we got in, damaging the already faulty door in the process.
The moral?
Whenever you leave your compartment, be extra sure that you've got your pants on.
Posted by Tigger (Member # 2455) on :
quote:Originally posted by dilly: [B] I got locked out of my standard room aboard the Southwest Chief last summer.
Yes, in theory, it's not supposed to happen, since the locks on the corridor doors were officially decommissioned years ago.
I got locked out of my family bedroom on the Empire Builder last month. The car attendant noticed it while we were at breakfast and she wanted to put up the beds. She greeted us at the door and was not happy. I thought the doors could not be locked from the outside, either, although I don't know why they shouldn't be lockable.
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Dilly - I think I was in that same car on the California Zephyr a few years ago -- the door closed when I boarded at Martinez, and would not open, so the attendant had to get some kind of wedge to get it unlocked..
Posted by dilly (Member # 1427) on :
re: "I don't know why they shouldn't be lockable."
Crew members have offered various reasons as to why the locks were decommissioned:
1) when the locks jammed or became broken, they were too expensive to repair or replace.
2) the lock company went out of business.
3) passengers kept walking off with the keys.
I was surprised that Amtrak crews really have no way (other than by trial and error) to quickly access a locked compartment -- or even one that's simply latched from the inside.
All sorts of scenarios come to mind: middle-of-the-night heart attacks; someone smoking and setting the mattress on fire; a bratty kid refusing to unlatch the door; a mentally unbalanced passenger, etc. etc. etc.
If the need is truly dire, the conductor will stop the train to allow crew members to climb off and remove the window from outside -- even if you're in the middle of Montana, miles from the nearest station.
Since I'm sure it takes a fair amount time, I'm not certain I'd want to be the passenger stuck inside the compartment.
Posted by dilly (Member # 1427) on :
P.S. It was lower level standard room (#12) on Superliner Sleeping Car #32029.
The chances are good that the latch still hasn't been repaired. So if you find yourself booked into that room. . . .
Posted by RRRICH (Member # 1418) on :
Dilly - I rechecked my notes. The room I had the problem with in 1998 was Room 9, not Room 12 -- different car, I guess. I did not note which car it was. Also it was on the Coast Starlight, not the CZ as I said earlier.
Posted by royaltrain (Member # 622) on :
Dilly indicated that the Amtrak crew were telling her that at one time the bedrooms would lock from the outside and that passengers were given keys? I've ridden Amtrak superliners almost since they were new, and I never remember seeing locks that the passenger could access from the outside let alone been given a key. When I rode the Blue Train in South Africa some years ago, I was given a key for the deluxe suite, and that is the only time I ever had a "real" key. On Via'a new Renaissance trains sleeping car passenger's are given a plastic "key" that allows you to lock your bedroom door, somewhat similar to what you now see in most hotels. But I very much doubt that Amtrak ever provided keys to its passengers. Has anyone on this board ever received a key from Amtrak?
Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :
January 1983 was the first time I was in a Superliner sleeper. We had a deluxe room for our honeymoon. We had no room keys and I don't recall that the door could be locked from the outside.
------------------ Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth. -Mr. Toy
I've been riding AMTRAK sleepers for more than 25 years, and I have NEVER been given a "key" to a room. And my understanding all along has been that the sleeper room doors cannot be locked or unlocked from the hall -- only from within the room.