Dinner in your room, or "Room Service!"

railiner said:

Or how about "paperback writer"?

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I'm a "paperback reader" ... but I can see how that might encourage conversation. :unsure:

I have a scintillating job as a grocery clerk/janitor at a grocery store, a job which, on the excitement level, is on par with cutting an apple in half and watching the halves turn brown. Mentioning my job ends that thread of conversation right here and right now. :lol:

I usually eat in my room although I go to the dining car on occasion. When the room attendant introduces him or herself to me I mention that I truly prefer to have my meals brought to me and I wave in the direction of the dining car and say 'I'd rather give you the tip than them anyway'. I put their tip on the tray after each meal. There have been many discussions about how much to tip but at this point in time I usually give $5 for breakfast and lunch and $7 at dinner.

They're used to bringing people their meals and I've only has one attendant who objected. She was so bad I complained to Amtrak about the situation because she had a lot of handicapped people downstairs and she was giving them heck about why they couldn't get to the dining car.

The reason I don't go to the diner very often is because I have had more than one weird experience. Plus I like a relaxed meal in the privacy of my room instead of feeling rushed. But a few months back a man knocked on my door and said 'Hey neighbor, I got on the train in Pittsburgh last night-do ya feel like having breakfast with me?' I was so surprised I said 'Sure' and we visited and laughed for at least an hour in the dining car.

JayPea said:

I have a scintillating job as a grocery clerk/janitor at a grocery store, a job which, on the excitement level, is on par with cutting an apple in half and watching the halves turn brown. Mentioning my job ends that thread of conversation right here and right now. :lol:

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Unless you work with Chad Vader...

shelzp said:

I put their tip on the tray after each meal. There have been many discussions about how much to tip but at this point in time I usually give $5 for breakfast and lunch and $7 at dinner.

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Thanks. Good info about tipping for my upcoming SWC trip, as I'm disabled and want a lower level roomette and meals in my room. I plan to mention that on the phone when I book my reservation. Again --> thanks.

When you book your room, talk to a ticket agent and ask to have a Transportation Notice attached to your reservation. If the process has not changed (??), this will put a notice on the SCA's manifest so that he/she knows about your need in advance.

Tom

FormerOBS said:

When you book your room, talk to a ticket agent and ask to have a Transportation Notice attached to your reservation. If the process has not changed (??), this will put a notice on the SCA's manifest so that he/she knows about your need in advance.

Tom

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Thanks. I made a note of that (Transportation Notice) and will mention it.

Back in another thread, I recounted a story of the creepy LSA who was taking the reservations and hitting on my next-roomette-neighbor. Reading this, it sounds like the role of reservations and service belong to the SCA, not the LSA. Or does the LSA just take reservations, but if you want in room service you ask him/her or the SCA?

I guess my question is. if the SCA or the LSA is a PITA, can the other perform the duty ASAP?

VentureForth said:

Back in another thread, I recounted a story of the creepy LSA who was taking the reservations and hitting on my next-roomette-neighbor. Reading this, it sounds like the role of reservations and service belong to the SCA, not the LSA. Or does the LSA just take reservations, but if you want in room service you ask him/her or the SCA? I guess my question is. if the SCA or the LSA is a PITA, can the other perform the duty ASAP?

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LSA's handle dining car reservations. SCA's handle sleeper room service. If you force the issue an SCA will sometimes make a dining car reservation for you and an LSA will may notify your SCA that you want room service but that's as far as either of them will take it in my experience. Essentially you'll be right back where you started.

I'm really sorry to hear some of these stories. On my train (52/53), the lion's share of our clientele was retirees. Older folks have medical issues. That's life. It was well known to all that a certain number of meals would be served in the rooms, every trip. Nobody was surprised by it. Sometimes it meant a lot of work, and sometimes we didn't feel so delighted to be working that hard, but that's life in the real world. That's why we call it a job.

Tom

I have a child with autism who does not handle new people particularly well. So, whenever we travel in a sleeping car, we take our meals in the room. Lately, however, the meal I order is never what we receive. So, I think I'm going to start writing it down.

I've always eaten in the diner because I enjoy meeting new people and finding out how (amazingly) we all have a lot more in common than we have differences.

And it sure sounds like ordering in your room is an inconsistent and disorganized process.

I have no clue what goes on behind the scenes of train service operations, but why isn't it just like ordering breakfast at most hotels? You have a door tag in your room, you check off what you want and when you want it, and the next morning it shows up. It would seem to make everybody's life a lot easier - if you want to eat in your room, your SCA gives you the slip, you fill it out, SCA takes them to the dining car. Even better, the LSA can pick them up when they are making reservations. Nobody has to remember your order, the kitchen can stage and schedule stuff accordingly (and plan to have those entrees set aside).

It also seems to me that the SCA has to spend a lot of time IN the dining car actually putting the meal together, gathering silver wear, mustard packets, etc.

My two cents:

I read through all of the replies on this topic and really am amazed at some of the comments. I do not doubt the veracity for a second, just surprised at some of the

negativity; hopefully those sorts of things were promptly reported to Amtrak's Customer Relations - call "Julie" - keep saying "Agent," and when you get a live one,

request the Customer Relations department.

Now to the essence of the topic: I most times enjoy the dining car whether traveling solo or with my better half. Either way, the overwhelming majority of my

long distance experiences have been A-plus in the diner. There have been times though when a meal was requested in my room - never, ever had any sort of

issue. In fact on more than one occasion my attendants refused a tip.

Advice: If at all possible be a bit flexible with the timing for your meal as this provides your attendant a degree of latitude in gathering up the orders, etc.

Hopefully that "amenity" will not be phased out as so many others have in recent times.

Enjoy!

I've done it when I'm extremely late for breakfast or its about to end. I did it a few times on my huge birthday trip, as there was times I just wanted to relax in my room, since I usually have to tell "my story" (since people ask) every time I sat down for a meal, it was to early for me to do that.

Ray said:

I have a child with autism who does not handle new people particularly well. So, whenever we travel in a sleeping car, we take our meals in the room. Lately, however, the meal I order is never what we receive. So, I think I'm going to start writing it down.

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Now that's bad service. Thankfully it's easy to deal with: you should certainly write it down.

Amtrak seems to be extraordinarily bad at dealing with any 'special needs' including medical conditions. It's unfortunate. Most of the crew are very well-intentioned and very good people. The procedures have degenerated to the point where one lazy employee anywhere in the entire chain can cause complete failure to accommodate, unfortunately.

We normally eat in the diner, the joy of new acquaintances is appreciated. However when we will be detraining during a meal time we often ask the SCA to bring the meal so if it hits the fan for some reason we have no fears.

We are taking a short hop-skip coach trip from GBB to Osceola at turkey time and for S&G's if I could make a dinner reservation in advance. Care to guess the answer?

When I was in the Disabled room, I was offered right off the bat meals in my room. Didn't mind. But the emergency rations... Ugh.

I only had meals served in my room twice. Once was years ago when my daughter was 3 and did not want to sit with other people. The only other time was a couple of years ago when I was just getting over a case of food poisoning and was unsure if dinner would agree with me (it did). Both times the SCA was great about it. I like the social aspect of community seating on trains.

In terms of taking reservations, I have seen LSAs do it, I have seen it delegated to the SCA for each sleeping car, I have seen it delegated to one of the SCAs or SAs for the whole train. Like many things Amtrak, YMMV.

Always request room service from your SCA, though. I think it is good to notify the SCA you are going to want room service prior to the meal service, so the SCA can organize how he wants to handle it for the car generally.

Blackwolf said:

If you want to have room service, it is openly available and should be used. Just remember to tip accordingly.

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What would you consider appropriate for a $20 meal in the room? Or do you tip by the trip, not by each service?

Neroden:

I can't agree with your assertion that Amtrak is "notoriously bad at dealing with any 'special needs'". There are some people in Amtrak who have shown that they need retraining, or better yet, a dope slap. But I truly believe the good employees vastly outnumber the bad.

YMMV, I suppose

Tom

I think he's talking at the institutional level, since it's seemingly unknowable if the particular thing he's allergic to is in any of the food served.

All of the good employees in the world can't be accommodating if they aren't provided with the tools to do so.

I would tip $5 on a $20 meal and, yes, tip for each meal delivered plus a single tip for the "trip" service - $5 per night per person.

I think professionals have a real problem in the dining car eating with strangers. Consider the following--

Person across from you says he/she is a:

1. Lawyer. Would you: A. Smile and say how nice, B. Tell a lawyer joke, C. Tell a bad lawyer story, D. Ask a legal question that's been bothering you and seek free advice?

2. Doctor or dentist. Would you: A. Compliment said individual on his/her education, B. Ask about your current or past ailments, C. Tell a story about a botched procedure or operation, D. Discuss the high cost of health coverage and/or Obamacare?

3. Stock broker. Would you: A. Extol the workings of our capitalist system, B. Decry the money you lost in the market because of a bad tip, or C. Ask for advice?

4. Banker. Would you: A. Praise the format and clarity of your bank statements, B. Complain about high fees, or C. Complain about your difficulty obtaining a mortgage?

Since one of the foregoing applies to me, I always consider eating in my room, and when I go to the dining car, never ever state my occupation!

E. Realize that a person isn't defined by their occupation and treat them like a normal person.

Very nice! In my experience, the exception rather than the rule! People just can't avoid it. If they ignore it, it's like the elephant in the room.