do people buy sleeping rooms for 14-hour ride in daytime?

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Sandy McBride

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do people buy sleeping rooms for 14-hour ride in daytime? (7am to 8:30pm) or is that a waste of money?
 
Not a waste of money at all. You'll find lots of people who have purchased rooms for the privacy and the meals on daytime trips. I rode in one myself from New Orleans to Houston just last year.
 
It's actually pretty aggressively marketed on the Coast Starlight...
 
A great way to let your good dining car lunch settle...kick back for an afternoon nap in your private roomette as you await dinner time.
 
One of the best ones, and sometime very inexpensive, is from Atlanta to New Orleans.

All day ride - three meals and a roomette has sometimes been almost less expensive than high bucket coach.
 
I have done it for shorter trips.
 
Eleven hours on the Starlight last month, lunch, dinner, and the PPC car. "Priceless!" (Especially sice there were three of us tickected in the roomette. Never even pulled the beds down)
 
Some people do not want to deal with crowds and the noise in coach. Also it nice to use the shower in the sleeper and use the first class lounges in the major cities.
 
I've done it as well for Richmond-New York and Richmond-Philly. It isn't a waste of money at all IMHO...between the privacy, included meals, and ability to take a nap, there's not a lot that beats it out there.

Edit: And a big plus? You will not be forced to deal with a crying baby elsewhere in the car. It's kind of hard to put a price on that;)
 
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ehbowen said:
A great way to let your good dining car lunch settle...kick back for an afternoon nap in your private roomette as you await dinner time.
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that sounds like Homer Simpson's fantasy! :D :D :D
 
Anderson said:
I've done it as well for Richmond-New York and Richmond-Philly. It isn't a waste of money at all IMHO...between the privacy, included meals, and ability to take a nap, there's not a lot that beats it out there.
Edit: And a big plus? You will not be forced to deal with a crying baby elsewhere in the car. It's kind of hard to put a price on that;)
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People do bring their crying babies into sleeping cars!

My niece and I were on the Capitol Limited from Cleveland to DC earlier this year. (1AM to 1PM) There were TWO crying babies. One in the room adjacent to us and one at the end. Fortunately, we had earplugs....
 
On the end of a Seattle-Champaign trip with my uncle, he paid for a bedroom from Chicago to Champaign, a trip of little over 2 hours! :eek: The reason being that due to some quirk in pricing, it was actually cheaper, by the time you figure in the cost of dinner, to buy the bedroom than it would have been to buy two coach tickets and two dinners on the CONO.
 
I did Chicago to Kansas City last month. Quiet, comfortable and got a meal. Plus the lounge and luggage storage in Chicago. It was worth it to me.
 
People do it all the time for a three hour ride S Florida to Orlando on the Silvers - includes lunch.
 
I have for the ride from EMY-RNO which is just under 7 hours. And I'm one of those with a "crying baby" in the sleeper section. Granted he's pretty well behaved but babies will cry. We were all babies at one point or another...
 
I'm known for saving money whenever possible, so of course I would never do it. The Coach seats are already comfortable and have too much legroom, so a Roomette turns into a total waste. Also, I do not enjoy meals in the Diner.

JMO
 
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MrFSS said:
One of the best ones, and sometime very inexpensive, is from Atlanta to New Orleans.
All day ride - three meals and a roomette has sometimes been almost less expensive than high bucket coach.
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I can attest to that. I've paid $50 for a roomette for 2 and gotten 3 meal each for that. Add to that the better treatment, the cleaner toilet and the quiet of the privacy.
 
My kids and I have done LAX to San Jose on the Coast Starlight in a sleeper car (family room and also roomettes). It really adds to the experience of the trip.
 
Swadian Hardcore said:
I'm known for saving money whenever possible, so of course I would never do it. The Coach seats are already comfortable and have too much legroom, so a Roomette turns into a total waste. Also, I do not enjoy meals in the Diner.
JMO
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Shocker!
What is it by the way, about meals in the Diner, that you do not enjoy? For me, meals in the diner, scooting X the countryside at (you-name-it-miles-per-hour) is almost the best part of riding the rails. I will do EVERYTHING IN MY POWER to avoid sitting in the diner, while the train is NOT moving.
 
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The CONO attracts some day travelers. I had one group of people boarding at Memphis riding to New Orleans in the family room. They shoved four adults there, brought their cooler of booze, and yucked it up all morning, which unfortunately woke me up and, as they got more inebriated, started to use some racist language that made some of the others on that same level shut their doors and windows. But they didn't pay more than $40 per person for the room, and got a free breakfast and lunch out of the deal.
 
rrdude said:
Swadian Hardcore said:
I'm known for saving money whenever possible, so of course I would never do it. The Coach seats are already comfortable and have too much legroom, so a Roomette turns into a total waste. Also, I do not enjoy meals in the Diner.
JMO
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Shocker!
What is it by the way, about meals in the Diner, that you do not enjoy? For me, meals in the diner, scooting X the countryside at (you-name-it-miles-per-hour) is almost the best part of riding the rails. I will do EVERYTHING IN MY POWER to avoid sitting in the diner, while the train is NOT moving.
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Hey, I knew this would shock some people, but I might as well tell the truth. Here my points against it:

1. The food isn't that great IMHO.

2. Lots of arrogant passengers and few friendly ones.

3. Have to give tips.

4. Shakes all over the place, making it hard to eat.

5. Much louder than the other cars for some reason.

6. Can't enjoy the scenery while eating.

I know, I know what you guys have to say about this, but the main reason I get a Sleeper is in orcer to fall asleep. I don't care much for the meals but they are a nice bonus. Roomettes aren't even that great to sit in when the seat slides forward for recline.
 
I buy a roomette whenever one is available fore even borderline reasonable price. My most recent daytime roomette ride was on the Lake Shore Limited Boston Section from Boston to Albany last weekend. I have done Charlottsville to New York on the Cardinal more than once and New York to Richmond and back on one of the Silvers a couple of times. Also done intra-Florida - Tampa to Miami or Orlando to West Palm Beach and such. Will probably do many more of those once I move to Florida. Even more so if the Silvers get a FEC section.
 
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