upstaris vs downstairs

Taking the CZ with grandkids this summer. I am thinking downstairs might be better as to not be too noisy with adults upstairs. Any advice is appreciated. They are 12, 10 and 8.

Coach or sleeper? If sleeper, the "family bedroom" is located on the lower level.

I would also suggest the Family Room downstairs. At those ages they will not be interested much in the scenery. They will enjoy the trip, but will not remember much. I take my grandchildren, in fact I am taking the oldest grand-daughter this summer on a 5600 mile loop. She is 17 and loves the train. I have found that they either love the train, or hate it. My 12 year granddaughter hates it because she loses connectivity. Her parents permit her to have a cell phone "glued" to her 24x7 because otherwise she is so "bored". The CZ is a great route, but you will have to have activities for them to do. I made up bingo sheets with things one might see outside. Had a prize for the winner so everyone was interested in looking out the window. Also had coloring books, and activity books, these helped to keep the noise level acceptable. I also used a trip to the Cafe for a special snack to the best behaved in the morning and then again for the afternoon. To eat together and not disrupt things too much, we eat breakfast early so no wait list. It is a great trip, but a lot of work keeping them from disturbing the rest of the car. The boys would start opening and closing the door over and over, getting louder and louder hoping for a response because they were bored. When we had stops with enough time to walk I had them all burn off steam.

Have a great trip. Take lots of pictures. I usually have one of the kids assigned as the photographer which they really enjoy.

Lonestar648 said:

"It is a great trip, but a lot of work keeping them from disturbing the rest of the car. The boys would start opening and closing the door over and over, getting louder and louder hoping for a response because they were bored. "

Click to expand...

My one complaint having a lower level roomette, LOL! That particular "family" on the SWC also had one or two adjacent (to the family room) roomettes.

henry parsons said:

Taking the CZ with grandkids this summer. I am thinking downstairs might be better as to not be too noisy with adults upstairs. Any advice is appreciated. They are 12, 10 and 8.

Click to expand...

There will be adults downstairs, too.

Kids that age are old enough to behave properly. I always made sure my kids knew what to expect, and my expectations of them.

One of our favorite travel "games" was to observe people and then at night we'd make up stories using those people as the characters. Such as making up the life story of some guy and why he's on the train. We also, when welcomed, talked with people to learn about their lives.

Kids' trip journals are another idea to help them settle at the end of a long day. Interesting to read years later!

Guest Henry Parsons, you are so thoughtful and I totally agree the best location for you and your grandkids is downstairs. I had this experience once, where my roomette was downstairs, and the family room plus several adjacent rooms were occupied by a very rambunctious family. They also spent a lot of time in the hall and their doorways were always open. I asked the SCA if he could transfer me to an upstairs roomette and he was able to comply. It was much better for me there.

Of course this can happen upstairs too. The point is, though, the family room is downstairs. Hence people who are located downstairs should expect to encounter a family grouping of some sort. If you are traveling with grandkids, want to be considerate of other passengers, and have enough foresight to deliberately choose downstairs as your best possible option for the family, then imho you are definitely doing the right thing.

For us, each grandchild has a backpack full of activities they like to do, plus games they like. We take them to the SSL so they have a change of scenery and can play games better in a booth. Keep the young ones active and they generally behave. We were also aware if some one just out of sorts from being tired, so we let them take a short nap. Did wonders.for their attitude. Sometimes we didn't catch on to the open and closing the door right away because we were focused on someone else, but it stopped immediately when we realized it wasn't a bathroom need. We also partnered up the oldest girl and the youngest when we had everyone. This worked better than we thought it would. There is no reason for continued yelling, screaming, running, banging of doors. Zero noise isn't realistic, but generally, if people feel you are working hard to keep the kids entertained and enjoying the trip, they are patient with a few occasions as long as they are short. At home we do not tolerate iPhones at the table or in the bedrooms. No one leaves the table until we are all finished. Sometime during the day they all know there will be a 15 minute quiet time when we all sit together in the family room for a devotional, prayer requests for their friends, and a closing prayer. It is all about knowing the rules and their boundaries when they are with us..

Lonestar648 said:

At those ages they will not be interested much in the scenery. They will enjoy the trip, but will not remember much.

Click to expand...

I was much younger for my first several train trips than any of the kids described by the OP and I remember more about those trips than the adults did.

anuenue said:

One of our favorite travel "games" was to observe people and then at night we'd make up stories using those people as the characters. Such as making up the life story of some guy and why he's on the train.

Click to expand...

I like the idea of making up backstories for other passengers. That's something I catch myself doing all the time when I travel. Most of the time it's just some random nonsense that pops into my head, but every once in a while a sort of sixth sense will perk up after noticing something that's just a little too odd compared to the norm. One time while I was queuing up for international security screening my lizard brain noticed a couple behind me acting just a little off.

I swung my luggage around in front of me and started watching them closer in my peripheral vision. Sure enough as we moved along they started getting more and more antsy and fidgety. Just before we reached the scanning stage they broke off from the rest of the queue and started opening up their luggage and shuffling things around. They appeared to leave something behind in the process. Not sure what it was but I'm glad they didn't have a chance to shove it inside my bag.

Manny T said:

The point is, though, the family room is downstairs. Hence people who are located downstairs should expect to encounter a family grouping of some sort.

Click to expand...

What is this expectation based upon? There is zero notice during the booking process that warns travelers to expect extra family noise on the lower level. Nor is there any advice for quiet travelers to choose the upper level instead. In fact unless you call and argue your way past Julie you can't even consciously know/choose the level where your sleeping compartment will be located anyhow.

1. I always expect the "family bedroom" to be occupied by a family. It's just an expectation. YMMV.

2. If I'm booking a roomette on a Superliner, I call Amtrak and ask the agent for the upper level. If I'm booking a roomette on a single-level Viewliner, I book on-line.

I always know where and what level my roomette is going to be located on.