Amtrak Flop
Mar 23 '00
Last summer, I decided to take the Amtrak train from Palm Springs to New Orleans. I got 15 per cent off with my AAA card, and for myself and my two kids we saved about 600 dollars over the cost of flying. I was able to make great reservations at a nice hotel in the French quarter with the money I saved.
The ride to New Orleans was on the Sunset Limited line. We had to catch it at the Palm Springs station after midnight, which was hard for my then 10 year old son to handle. He did manage to stay awake till the train arrived. The first thing I learned, was that the Amtrak is never on time, and is always late. Sometimes the train can be more than 2 hours late.
We did have a fun time on the ride to New Orleans, with the onboard store, dining car, and observation room. We met some fun people and had a few good games of cards, and even watched a couple of movies in the evening. The shaking of the coach car does take some getting used to, but the seats recline well, and are roomy. We paid for round trip coach tickets , so we saw little of the train attendants, who spent their time downstairs tending to the customers who paid for rooms, and of course were big tippers.
We had access to bathrooms and changing rooms with running water, down on the lower level. The train was set up with a smoking car which was also on the lower level and was well isolated from children or the upstairs observation area. The ride into New Orleans was uneventful as far as problems, and most of the passengers were considerate and nice.
We arrived in New Orleans 4 and a half hours late. My daughter missed her Greyhound bus that she was going to take back to her college, and had already bought tickets for. Customer Service at Greyhound, which is in the same place as the Amtrak station in New Orleans, gave my daughter a new ticket for three hours later. We were able to stay at the station and eat Subway sandwiches while we waited for her bus.
After my daughter left, I was able to use a kiosk at the station to phone my hotel for me and my son to get a van to pick us up and take us to the hotel.
We had a wonderful 4 days in New Orleans, and I was able to find a few things from my childhood memories to share with my son. The hotel van took us back to the train and bus station.
The train was 2 and a half hours late leaving New Orleans. This time on the way back to Palm Springs, there were a few more families with young children. One woman in our coach area had two toddlers who both screamed and squalled most of the time.
We asked the porter if we could move, but they had the cars sectioned off according to destination, and the woman with the kids was going clear to Los Angeles !! The porter moved us to the rear so we could sleep ( Sort Of ) I went to the bar and had a couple of glasses of wine to settle my nerves and finally fell asleep.
At 5 o'clock in the morning the loud speaker came on. Brownsville Texas was flooded out, and all passengers had to get off the train and board waiting busses to be bussed to San Antonio. We had nothing to eat, and could not even use the bathroom. Thank goodness I had breakfast bars and boxed juices in our carry on bag. It was pouring rain as we loaded the busses.
I and my son were sleepy, and slow so we got on one of the last busses. People on the bus who were traveling alone refused to sit together so that me and my son could sit together. They expected me and my child to be separated. The bus driver would do nothing to help us.
Needless to say I was not happy about that, and some of the people on the bus were rude and obnoxious to me for daring to ask to sit with my own child !! As soon as we got to a rest stop, about 3 hours later, I got off the bus and told the Amtrak personnel what had happened to us.
They were all riding on another bus and did not know about the problems. One of the porters boarded my bus, and made some of the single passengers sit together so that my son and I could sit in the same seats. Some people on the bus made some snyde remarks and the porter decided to stay on the bus to keep an eye on things.
Amtrak treated all of the passengers to a sumptuous buffet for lunch somewhere on the road in Texas. We all felt better after we ate real food. The rest of the ride to San Antonio was un eventful, and we were back on a new train in San Antonio by late afternoon. We all had to look for our luggage ,and make sure it got on the same car we were riding in.
The ride back to Palm Springs was sweet except for we watched the same old movies that we had seen on the first trip. We got back in to Palm Springs about 6 hours late though.
The main thing to remember when you travel Amtrak is that you will never ever be on time, and could be hours later than you thought you'd be. Plan your reservations for busses and hotels with lots of flexibility.
NOTICE : In October of 1999, there was a 7.2 Earthquake near Palm Springs, and the Sunset Limited train derailed about 10 miles out of Palm Springs during the quake. Passengers were injured, but no severe injuries. Passengers sat on the derailed train for hours as busses and other forms of transportation were arranged. The treatment of the frightened and jolted passengers was shoddy at best by Amtrak personnel.
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Epinions.com ID:
Renee_S.
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Location: Lake Park, Georgia
Reviews written: 100
Trusted by: 73 members
About Me:
Many years writing in the marketing and entertainment fields. Now quietly retired.
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