Cleveland to San Diego

[Jay]

Our family is taking a cruise out of San Diego in December. I'm considering taking Amtrak from Cleveland to San Diego. I looks like it would be about a 2 1/2 day trip. Lakeshore Limited, Southwest Chief, Pacific Surfliner. We would be traveling with a teenager. He was excited about the idea. We have never traveled by train before, so any suggestions or info would be greatly appreciated. How bad are delays, what are the chances of missing connections, what is the food like, should we spend the extra for a sleeper(or are the seats comfortable enough)? I think this would be a great experience for our son, but if I'm wrong please let me know. Thanks for any info.

 

[denmarks]

Delays are common. The Lakeshore limited was 4 hours late yesterday but there were still a couple of hours layover for the Southwest Chief. The Southwest Chief has been early and there are plenty of Pacific Surfliners.

Get a sleeper on the Southwest Chief. There are no showers in coach and I would not like to try to sleep in a seat for 2 nights. Don't forget that meals for all of you are included with a sleeper and you only pay once.

Meals are better than airplanes and I have no complaints about them.

Sleepers sell out fast and prices only go up as time goes by, so you better get one reserved immediately.

 

[saxman]

Yeah the Lake Shore can be delayed sometimes, but I think you should still have enough time to make your Chicago connection. Also you can consider the Capitol Limited from Cleveland. The Southwest Chief is almost always ontime. So I wouldn't worry about that one. I'd splurge for a sleeper. You get all your meals included in the dining car. I think (most) of the food is very good, and you'll enjoy the dining car atmosphere.

Sleepers are nice because you can get away from the crowd and lay flat down, whenever you want. But I'd reserve soon, as prices will go up.

Hope you have a good trip

Chris

 

[Judy]

Thanks for all the info. I'm not sure if we are going to cruise out of San Diego or Tampa, but if we head west I would love to take the train. One more question. I see that there are 3 stations in San Diego, does anyone know which one is nearest to the pier?

 

[jccollins]

The main/downtown Amtrak San Diego Santa Fe Station (SAN) is the only one readily accessible by train and is, conveniently, the closest one to the pier. The pier is located about 1/2 mile down the street from the train station.

Amtrak's San Diego Old Town (OLT) is on the Surfliner route before the main downtown station. It is a limited stop station (only certain morning and evening Surfliner trains stop at it) and it is further away from the pier. The San Diego Zoo bus stop (SDZ) would not be an option since it is only available for passengers traveling to the zoo on an Amtrak day excursion. It is further from the pier anyway.