brianpmcdonnell17
Conductor
I am going to be taking my first trip on VIA; I have a lot of experience with Amtrak but don't know as much about VIA so have a few questions. I will be starting and ending the trip in Chicago so will get to Vancouver on the EB and Cascades and to Toronto on the LSL and Maple Leaf. My dad will be meeting me for the Canadian portion of the trip, most likely flying into/out of Seattle and Toronto. I have a maximum of 11 days to work with, so have four nights that will not be on the train. I was thinking 2 nights in Toronto and 1 each in Vancouver and Seattle; does that sound like a good distribution? The only one I have been to before is Seattle and I figured I would need 2 nights in Toronto as the connection between the Maple Leaf and Canadian would allow little time there if I only stayed one night. Also, which direction would likely have the better scenery in mid March?
Lastly, what are the details of the accomodations? Do all sleeping car classes receive including meals and access to showers? Do coach passengers have access to an observation/dome car? Considering there are two of us, if we both get berths, should we both get upper/lower, or should one of us get each? How difficult would it be to spend time on the train together if one of us was in coach and the other in sleeper?
I apologize for the excessive number of questions; VIA just seems to offer a much larger number of options than Amtrak.
Lastly, what are the details of the accomodations? Do all sleeping car classes receive including meals and access to showers? Do coach passengers have access to an observation/dome car? Considering there are two of us, if we both get berths, should we both get upper/lower, or should one of us get each? How difficult would it be to spend time on the train together if one of us was in coach and the other in sleeper?
I apologize for the excessive number of questions; VIA just seems to offer a much larger number of options than Amtrak.