How many kids in a Family Bedroom?

[El_Kabong]

My sister and I are putting together a family trip between Chicago and Philadelphia. As an homage to our trips as youngsters, we'll be Amtrak-ing it on the way out.

Unfortunately, the Broadway Limited (and Three Rivers) no longer exist, so we're doing the CL to a Northeast Regional.

My question concerns accommodations. We're going to have me and my two teenagers, and my sister, her husband, and her three kids (6, 4, and 2).

Will the five of them be allowed to stay in the Family Bedroom, or do we need to put one of hers in with us (either roomettes or bedrooms, not yet decided)?

Or are they better off getting the Bedroom Suite?

 

[montana mike]

The Family Bedroom is comfortable for 4 people-two adults and two kids. I would suggest you consider getting a family BR and one of the roomettes right next to this BR and have a couple of the kids stay in that room. The bed room suites I think you are talking about are actually two bed rooms-which have 4 beds total-although a couple small kids could occupy one of the beds.

 

[El_Kabong]

The Family Bedroom is comfortable for 4 people-two adults and two kids. I would suggest you consider getting a family BR and one of the roomettes right next to this BR and have a couple of the kids stay in that room. The bed room suites I think you are talking about are actually two bed rooms-which have 4 beds total-although a couple small kids could occupy one of the beds.

With a total of eight of us and considering the lower buckets are still available, I'm leaning towards just getting four bedrooms (with two of them the suite) so we'll have plenty of room and bathrooms.

 

[Eris]

For my family and kids, we'd have been fine with five in a family bedroom at those ages- I'd put one parent + 2yo in the lower full length bunk, the 4yo in the lower short bunk, the 6yo in the upper short bunk, and the other parent in the upper full length. That configuration is within the allowable setups for the room (though it can't be booked online). It's pretty much the same as two bedrooms for them, bedwise, except they're all closer together for supervision of the littles.

 

[the_traveler]

Just a reminder that although the Family Bedroom has 4 berths, only 2 of them are "normal" adult size. The remaining 2 berths are 4'9" or less!

On a Superliner, 4 of the 5 bedrooms per car (E-D and C-B) have a connecting door in between, only bedroom A does not have a door to other bedrooms. You may want to consider getting roomettes across the hall from each other. Although you will not have a private bathroom in the room, there is 1 bathroom on the upper level and 3 more bathrooms plus a shower on the lower level of each sleeper. Plus 2 roomettes (for 4 passengers) usually costs less than 1 bedroom (for 2 passengers)!

 

[CoachSlumber]

For my family and kids, we'd have been fine with five in a family bedroom at those ages- I'd put one parent + 2yo in the lower full length bunk, the 4yo in the lower short bunk, the 6yo in the upper short bunk, and the other parent in the upper full length. That configuration is within the allowable setups for the room (though it can't be booked online). It's pretty much the same as two bedrooms for them, bedwise, except they're all closer together for supervision of the littles.

Makes sense to me. That lower bet is pretty wide, no? Family bed room can be a bargain; I've gotten one for two people for not much more than roomette. Note it does not have a bathroom.

 

[Ryan]

2 Adults and 3 kids is allowable in the family bedroom.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

The Family room allows 2 adults and 3 children, you just have to book it on the phone, you can't book it online. Getting them the family room and two roomettes for your family would work.

 

[El_Kabong]

Thanks to everyone for the info. We ended up going with four bedrooms for (a) the room, (b) the private bathrooms, and © not having to go up and down stairs to do everything.

Of course, now that I've purchased the tickets, they'll announce thru-sleeper service on the CL-Penn.

 

[El_Kabong]

One more question if I may:

I know from the Amtrak website the partition between bedrooms B and C can be removed to create a suite.

Can the wall between D and E be removed as well?

I'm hoping to put my sister and her kids in D and E to insulate the potential noise from other passengers as much as possible, but that won't work unless D and E can open up.

 

[Ryan]

Yes they can.

 

[FormerOBS]

To be clear about bed capacity on Superliners, each bedroom (A-E) has one narrow full-length upper berth and one wide lower berth. The Family room (designated F or 15) has the same. That wide lower berth is not as wide as a double bed, but it is wide enough that it can be used as a double bed. In the Family room, there are two additional beds, one upper and one lower, that are narrow and short (about 4 feet). Two adults can occupy the two full-length beds, and the lower berth is wide enough that an adult can sleep with a small child fairly comfortably. That's how you get two adults and three children into a Family room. In my experience, the lack of a restroom is usually not a problem because there are three restrooms just a short distance away, and kids need to be active. The short walk to the restroom can help burn off some energy and allow the child to explore a bit to satisfy his curiosity.

 

[El_Kabong]

Is opening up the dividers something i need to let Amtrak know about in advance, or can I ask the car attendant when we arrive?

 

[Long Train Runnin']

The car attendant can take care of it once you board the train.