ourlouisiana
Service Attendant
Boarded #20 Saturday 11 April, 2009. Reminder, the only bad thing about sleeper is that it is a long walk from the gate past the 4 coaches, lounge, and diner to get to the sleeper, and we were in the 1st one. Left NOL on time. This trip, I brought my scanner !!! Our SA Shana, came to tell us about our Viewliner features aboard the Sea View. . Breakfast was served as we passed Lake Ponchartrain, watching the pelicans sitting on piers and fishing. We sat with a father-daughter returning to Virginia from spring break in New Orleans. Can’t beat scrambled eggs and grits !! Donna had the omlet, but didn’t like the taste of the vegetables in it. We picked up a dining car attendant in Meridian. Track got rough just before Tuscaloosa.
Our SA Shana helped out in the diner with lunch, making sure that her people were served - even though there was a steward and two attendants. From Birmingham the train slowed down as we climbed the southern Appalachains. We had a problem in that the electricity went out a few times during the afternoon, but Shana went into the panel and reset the breakers as soon as she was notified. During the night the same thing happened, again she took care of it.
We made dinner reservations for 1630, and went to the diner at our appointed time. We were seated promptly, then the whole thing came apart. A lady and her grandson enroute to Atlanta joined us. Others came into the diner, were seated, their orders taken, and were served - in fact, 4 couples. We were stopped at ATL when our order was finally taken. Our SA came to let our companion know that we had arrived at her destination. Without their dinner, they left, not very happy. I let the steward know she would not be eating, to cancel her order. Almost 90 minutes after entering the dining car, we were served. There was nothing wrong with the food, the steaks were cooked correctly and served hot. but the service was terrible. Though there was a steward and two servers, there seemed to be chaos in the dining car.
More fun was coming. We thought we saved enough money to pay for our auto rental by reserving roomettes instead of bedrooms. What we didn’t consider is that two large, past middle age adults fill a roomette !!! Changing into bedclothes was fun, when we converted the seats into the lower bed (yes, we should have stepped out and let the SA do it) was even more fun. Climbing into the top bunk was the best. I made several attempts to climb forward before .I figured it was designed to back into the upper bunk. We rested well except that the engineer from Atlanta to Charlotte would slow the train down then lock the brakes at the last second.
Breakfast Easter morning was another challenge. We were joined by the father from Saturday, his daughter slept in. Our orders were taken shortly. Donna was served her coffee, but the orange juice and cranberry juice was given to the table across from us where the passengers looked puzzled. Our food was delivered later, but our seating companion’s food was given to the table past us, again more puzzled passengers. We called the steward’s attention to it, and his breakfast was delivered later. My eggs/grits and Donna’s French toast were good. (Hard to miss with those items) The clear weather made the Virginia countryside even more beautiful.
Since we would be eating dinner with my wife’s sister, we asked for a double small salad for lunch. We were joined by a young lady and her son on their way home from Spring Break in Atlanta. All four of us were brought two small salads. By now, we couldn’t wait to get out of the dining car. I can figure that if we didn’t tip them, we would have received this poor service, but we did, and we tipped the LSA prior to our first meal.
Our SA Shanna, was fantastic. Though we did all of her work in our roomette, she continued to check up on us the entire trip. The only thing she didn’t do was follow us out of our roomette to make sure we had everything, we forgot the bag of pralines under one of the seats. We arrived in Philadelphia on time - which made us on time for the entire trip.
After a few days of visiting and seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, we returned to Philadelphia on Friday 17 April 2009 for our return trip. We were escorted to the Acela Lounge by our red cap Tony. Amtrak needs to take this as a model and do something with the Magnolia Lounge in New Orleans. This place is really nice, with computer work stations, sofas, comfortable seats, snacks and drinks.
#19 arrived on time. We were introduced to our SA Rob, whom we encountered on a previous trip on the Crescent. This was the same trainset that we took as #20. I asked our SA to check out our roomette from #20. He came back later joking that there was a bag that was torn, and only sugar crumbs, no pralines. Shortly a cheerful voice invited us to the dining car. We were seated with a visitor from Germany who was in the roomette across from us.. Our orders taken promptly by our server Delisa. We joked about not having Dr Pepper on Amtrak. Our food was served hot and promptly, we had the steaks again. This crew seemed to work together and enjoy working together I teased our server asking if we could come to breakfast in our pajamas - to which told us to come on. .
Back in our roomette we were watching a DVD on our laptop and our SA stopped by frequently to catch glimpses of the movie. Again, we set up our own beds.
At breakfast .we were joined by a lady and her grandson, returning to Mississippi from a trip to DC. ( Seems as though a lot of grandparents are taking their grandchildren on train trips - glad to see that) Our server teased us about not being in pajamas. We were now at the station in Atlanta. After breakfast, I went out to the platform to meet Rob, who was smart enough to have a jacket in the cool morning. I thought Atlanta was a refueling operation, but apparently I misunderstood.
We were served lunch at Birmhingam, and were joined by a doctor and his wife from New Orleans. I tried the veggie burger - which was good, Donna had the warm turkey sandwich, which she really enjoyed. We had slow orders west of Tuscaloosa, and were put in a siding about 10 minutes to await #20. My camera went to sleep just as it passed,. And I missed a great photo. At Meridian we stepped off the train for a few minutes, it was now cloudy and much warmer. We were now 30 minutes late.
We went for our final meal just north of Hattisburg, and the train stopped on the main for about 30 minutes. My scanner was in our room, so I didn’t know why we stopped. After one last feast, we said goodbye to our new friends Lori and Delisa in the diner. The chef‘s at Amtrak have created a decadent dessert called “Oreo Dream Pie“ which is absolutely sinful. .
All too soon, we were backing into the station in New Orleans, our train stopped at 7:39 PM, only 6 minutes late. While waiting for our checked baggage, we were told that the train hit a motorcycle at Hattisburg. We corrected the lady that the motorcycle hit the train as the train cannot swerve.
And so our trip had ended. Can’t wait until next year. We did mention the names of the great employees, and deliberately left out the names of the others.
.
Our SA Shana helped out in the diner with lunch, making sure that her people were served - even though there was a steward and two attendants. From Birmingham the train slowed down as we climbed the southern Appalachains. We had a problem in that the electricity went out a few times during the afternoon, but Shana went into the panel and reset the breakers as soon as she was notified. During the night the same thing happened, again she took care of it.
We made dinner reservations for 1630, and went to the diner at our appointed time. We were seated promptly, then the whole thing came apart. A lady and her grandson enroute to Atlanta joined us. Others came into the diner, were seated, their orders taken, and were served - in fact, 4 couples. We were stopped at ATL when our order was finally taken. Our SA came to let our companion know that we had arrived at her destination. Without their dinner, they left, not very happy. I let the steward know she would not be eating, to cancel her order. Almost 90 minutes after entering the dining car, we were served. There was nothing wrong with the food, the steaks were cooked correctly and served hot. but the service was terrible. Though there was a steward and two servers, there seemed to be chaos in the dining car.
More fun was coming. We thought we saved enough money to pay for our auto rental by reserving roomettes instead of bedrooms. What we didn’t consider is that two large, past middle age adults fill a roomette !!! Changing into bedclothes was fun, when we converted the seats into the lower bed (yes, we should have stepped out and let the SA do it) was even more fun. Climbing into the top bunk was the best. I made several attempts to climb forward before .I figured it was designed to back into the upper bunk. We rested well except that the engineer from Atlanta to Charlotte would slow the train down then lock the brakes at the last second.
Breakfast Easter morning was another challenge. We were joined by the father from Saturday, his daughter slept in. Our orders were taken shortly. Donna was served her coffee, but the orange juice and cranberry juice was given to the table across from us where the passengers looked puzzled. Our food was delivered later, but our seating companion’s food was given to the table past us, again more puzzled passengers. We called the steward’s attention to it, and his breakfast was delivered later. My eggs/grits and Donna’s French toast were good. (Hard to miss with those items) The clear weather made the Virginia countryside even more beautiful.
Since we would be eating dinner with my wife’s sister, we asked for a double small salad for lunch. We were joined by a young lady and her son on their way home from Spring Break in Atlanta. All four of us were brought two small salads. By now, we couldn’t wait to get out of the dining car. I can figure that if we didn’t tip them, we would have received this poor service, but we did, and we tipped the LSA prior to our first meal.
Our SA Shanna, was fantastic. Though we did all of her work in our roomette, she continued to check up on us the entire trip. The only thing she didn’t do was follow us out of our roomette to make sure we had everything, we forgot the bag of pralines under one of the seats. We arrived in Philadelphia on time - which made us on time for the entire trip.
After a few days of visiting and seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, we returned to Philadelphia on Friday 17 April 2009 for our return trip. We were escorted to the Acela Lounge by our red cap Tony. Amtrak needs to take this as a model and do something with the Magnolia Lounge in New Orleans. This place is really nice, with computer work stations, sofas, comfortable seats, snacks and drinks.
#19 arrived on time. We were introduced to our SA Rob, whom we encountered on a previous trip on the Crescent. This was the same trainset that we took as #20. I asked our SA to check out our roomette from #20. He came back later joking that there was a bag that was torn, and only sugar crumbs, no pralines. Shortly a cheerful voice invited us to the dining car. We were seated with a visitor from Germany who was in the roomette across from us.. Our orders taken promptly by our server Delisa. We joked about not having Dr Pepper on Amtrak. Our food was served hot and promptly, we had the steaks again. This crew seemed to work together and enjoy working together I teased our server asking if we could come to breakfast in our pajamas - to which told us to come on. .
Back in our roomette we were watching a DVD on our laptop and our SA stopped by frequently to catch glimpses of the movie. Again, we set up our own beds.
At breakfast .we were joined by a lady and her grandson, returning to Mississippi from a trip to DC. ( Seems as though a lot of grandparents are taking their grandchildren on train trips - glad to see that) Our server teased us about not being in pajamas. We were now at the station in Atlanta. After breakfast, I went out to the platform to meet Rob, who was smart enough to have a jacket in the cool morning. I thought Atlanta was a refueling operation, but apparently I misunderstood.
We were served lunch at Birmhingam, and were joined by a doctor and his wife from New Orleans. I tried the veggie burger - which was good, Donna had the warm turkey sandwich, which she really enjoyed. We had slow orders west of Tuscaloosa, and were put in a siding about 10 minutes to await #20. My camera went to sleep just as it passed,. And I missed a great photo. At Meridian we stepped off the train for a few minutes, it was now cloudy and much warmer. We were now 30 minutes late.
We went for our final meal just north of Hattisburg, and the train stopped on the main for about 30 minutes. My scanner was in our room, so I didn’t know why we stopped. After one last feast, we said goodbye to our new friends Lori and Delisa in the diner. The chef‘s at Amtrak have created a decadent dessert called “Oreo Dream Pie“ which is absolutely sinful. .
All too soon, we were backing into the station in New Orleans, our train stopped at 7:39 PM, only 6 minutes late. While waiting for our checked baggage, we were told that the train hit a motorcycle at Hattisburg. We corrected the lady that the motorcycle hit the train as the train cannot swerve.
And so our trip had ended. Can’t wait until next year. We did mention the names of the great employees, and deliberately left out the names of the others.
.
