Ice in sleepers?

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We always get quite a bit of dialog on this topic every couple of months, but I have to ask folks Has anyone actually been unable to get ice as needed? I offered a permanent solution, but it is only realistic if the drink station was being re-done.
I have always found ice on the Viewliners at the coffee station but the attendants on the Superliners always say they are prohibited from providing it because of a health hazard, I. E. People reaching in with their hands. Since there is always a scoop I don’t think this is the problem but that’s their story!
 
It is the rule, it isn't made up. How strictly managers enforce and whether a crew member wants to risk discipline is another story. It is why hotels have replaced their ice machines, and you almost never see open ice accessible to a customer in a restaurant. The real question is does anyone actually have a problem getting ice when they need/want it?
 
Even if there is a scoop, some people still reach in with their hands, use their (sometimes semi-used) cup to scoop out the ice, or just need 1 ice cube so use their hand. I have seen each of these personally!
 
Jesus, folks, when someone is actually denied ice in a sleeper, post that. Otherwise quit neurosing about it.

Despite the absence of ice from the car in May on each of five different long distance trains all over the country, both Superliner and Viewliner, I was always to get ice from the attendant in a reasonably timely manner.

Ice is available. End of story.
 
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It is the rule, it isn't made up. How strictly managers enforce and whether a crew member wants to risk discipline is another story. It is why hotels have replaced their ice machines, and you almost never see open ice accessible to a customer in a restaurant. The real question is does anyone actually have a problem getting ice when they need/want it?
No question that one can get ice.
My only question is why is ice available on the Viewliners at the coffee station and not on the Superliners, rule or no rule?

Folks, at the Jacksonville stop, the ice bags were rolled upon a cart and distributed to all the attendants.
 
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The Viewliners were built with a dedicated ice station which complies with at least the intent of the FDA regulations...water supply, drain, cover. The Superliners were not, and generally used a Styrofoam ice chest. Not sufficient.
 
The Viewliners were built with a dedicated ice station which complies with at least the intent of the FDA regulations...water supply, drain, cover. The Superliners were not, and generally used a Styrofoam ice chest. Not sufficient.
SuperlinerIIs have an Ice Drawer by the Coffee and Juice Station.
 
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Thanks. I knew there had to be an answer but the ice is just in the open bag with a scoop. Not really any different from it sitting in a styrofoam cooler in the bag.
 
Some day it will go away, at this point they (viewliners) have mostly been left alone. As has been said, as long as we can get it without a problem, there are other more substantive issues to tackle.
 
The Viewliners were built with a dedicated ice station...
The A/T has a stainless steel drawer under the coffee machine in the middle of every Sleeper car. Your car guy makes a point of instructing how to use it! Instructions on how to use or not use the "facilities" is more graphic! LOL
 
I've never been on Auto Train. I haven't yet seen a Superliner sleeper with an ice station. Looks like I never will...
 
I've never been on Auto Train. I haven't yet seen a Superliner sleeper with an ice station. Looks like I never will...
The non-Deluxe sleepers on Auto Train are (to my knowledge) completely ordinary Superliner sleepers. So if they have ice in the sleepers on the AT, it’s going to be because of the crew, not the equipment.
 
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Jesus, folks, when someone is actually denied ice in a sleeper, post that. Otherwise quit neurosing about it.
I've been denied ice even before the whole FDA crackdown. I even had an SCA once ask me "Do you have any idea how far I have to walk to get that ice?!" before flat out refusing to move an inch on my behalf. When I went to the dining car to get it on my own they said only my SCA could do that. Getting ice on Amtrak has always been a crap shoot for as long as I can remember.

Despite the absence of ice from the car in May on each of five different long distance trains all over the country, both Superliner and Viewliner, I was always to get ice from the attendant in a reasonably timely manner. Ice is available. End of story.
On my last trip (last week) it took about an hour from my original request until delivery. Is that a reasonable amount of time? In the past I would have had ice in seconds by simply getting it myself. On most of my trips ice service ends around 10PM and resumes around 6AM. If you board during that window there will be no ice available for up to eight more hours. So no, ice is not always available and the real story is a lot more nuanced than your flippant admonition implies.
 
Even if there is a scoop, some people still reach in with their hands, use their (sometimes semi-used) cup to scoop out the ice, or just need 1 ice cube so use their hand. I have seen each of these personally!
Even at home I use a plastic cup when getting ice from my freezer's ice maker bin. I am always amazed when guests move the cup out of the way so they can scoop ice with their hand. Even on more formal occasions when using an ice bucket with tongs, someone will invariably ignore the tongs and use their fingers.
 
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I ride multiple LD trains both Superliners and Viewliners in sleepers and have never ever had trouble getting ice. Ill see how it goes this September. I only use ice to chill cans. I use the cups on Viewliners .

If it takes an hour for ice delivery that's on you the passenger. I would not wait that long. I would handle things myself.
 
If it takes an hour for ice delivery that's on you the passenger. I would not wait that long. I would handle things myself.
So you've never boarded in the middle of the night I guess. Or does "handle things" mean you simply waltz into the dining car and open the ice storage yourself?
 
If it takes an hour for ice delivery that's on you the passenger. I would not wait that long. I would handle things myself.
So you've never boarded in the middle of the night I guess. Or does "handle things" mean you simply waltz into the dining car and open the ice storage yourself?
And then get yelled at by the staff and/or kicked off the train.
 
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DA, why do you even ride? Your trips sound consistently awful.

If I had an SCA downright refuse, I'd be on the phone to customer relations. As to waiting for an hour, well, I know I've waited, but I also know the attendants are busy and usually phrase my request as "when you get a minute".

I wouldn't have dreamed of asking for ice in the middle of the night, and, after the ice was withdrawn from direct customer access, would not expect to be able to get it outside of normal OBS crew duty hours.
 
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Ice is available. End of story.
&

I wouldn't have dreamed of asking for ice in the middle of the night...
So your binary logic decrees aren't based on what actually happens but on whatever arbitrary reality you're willing to dream of? Previously ice was often available even late at night and now it rarely is. "End of story."

DA, why do you even ride? Your trips sound consistently awful. If I had an SCA downright refuse, I'd be on the phone to customer relations. As to waiting for an hour, well, I know I've waited, but I also know the attendants are busy and usually phrase my request as "when you get a minute".
Waiting an hour for ice or being snapped at by a lazy SCA isn't the end of the world, but it's enough to speak up when some know-it-all starts dictating which topics other people are allowed to discuss in their presence.
 
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When I board late at night I carry a smaller cooler of ice. I owned a business. I facilitate. And yes I have walked down and gotten my own ice. I do ask first. If I need a refill of iced tea at lunch and no one is around I refill my own glass and anyone at my table. I have helped in the diner when they are swamped (SWC 2016). I handle things nicely and politely and in 35 years of travels it has worked just fine.
 
Excuse me for not using precise enough language with the more metaphoric "dream".

My expectation is that ice, like many services, would not be available in the middle of the night outside of crew service hours If I were boarding in the middle of the night and needed ice that night, I would plan ahead and take care of that need myself by bringing some along in a cooler, like Sauve850, assuming I could not wait until morning when the OBS crew comes on duty.

I wouldn't expect to be able to buy a snack in the cafe upon boarding in the middle of the night, nor for breakfast service in the diner to be open. If I were hungry, I'd get a snack on the way.

The FDA rule has been enforced, if spottily, for a few years now. A long time ago I stopped expecting an open ice cooler be available to the passengers for self service, though I was pleasantly surprised when there was one. It isn't that they took the ice away to provide poorer customer service, it was health regulation. I adapted by buying a cooler and asking for ice only once a day to fill it. What did you do to adapt?

I ride quite a bit on long distance trains all over the country. I have always been able to get ice during crew service hours, although I have had to wait a bit sometimes, and the request was sometimes received grudgingly. But I got it. That is my subjective experience, I don't know of any metrics on it, so objective facts on the how frequently a passenger requesting ice fails to get it appear to be unavailable.

Again, if I was met by "Do you know how far I have to walk" I would reply yes, I do know, you have to walk as far as the diner. And a mention that he'd either get a tip at the end of the trip or a report to Customer Relations, and let him choose.

I am not the one you need to speak up to. I can't do anything about it. Customer Relations is who to talk to. Whinging here does nothing.
 
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I don't think anyone is saying that the best course of action if you want ice in the middle of the night is to wake up your SCA for it. However, that's not even going to be an issue if they just have a bag of ice in the sleeper "refreshment stand", for anyone who might need it. Put the ice out, and no one needs to be bothered about it. And if health regulations prohibit that, can you explain why every single time I've been in a sleeper for the past few years, they've had ice? If that's illegal, every single SCA I've had in recent years has been breaking the rules.

Also, I don't think DA was asking you to solve this problem for him. We all know you "can't do anything about it." But this is a discussion about ice in the sleepers, so it makes complete sense for him to mention his experience on the matter. My point is, if someone talks about a bad experience, maybe they're not mentioning it so that you can fix it - it might just be part of a discussion.
 
I'm happy to report that Roman, our SCA on the Coast Starlight Seattle to San Jose in April, brought us a whole bag of ice.
Oh, how I wish Amtrak could clone Roman! He is an exceptional SCA, in every aspect. But in regards to the topic of ice... soon after boarding (on first encounter with Roman) I requested ice to keep medication and few snacks cool. I had a quart size (new and unused) zip lock bag that he filled up and brought back in a timely manner.

I never had to ask for ice again. Throughout the trip, as he made his rounds checking on passengers - which he did several times a day- he would specifically ask me if I needed more ice.

That kind of service should be the norm, not the exception. Oh well....
 
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Roman is not alone, but Amtrak's onboard customer service is wildly variable. I've had several "Romans" but I've also had several pretty bad ones (never in the car, dictate when the bed goes down, etc.) Most are somewhere in the middle.

cpotisch, that is the way it used to be. Most attendants had a cooler out in the middle of the car filled with ice that passengers could get themselves when they pleased. It was an arrangement most of us liked. However, FDA health regulations banned the open ice access and Amtrak started cracking down on that a few years ago. It took awhile, anything Amtrak is YMMV, but it is now pretty standard not to have passenger accessible ice and Amtrak OBS crew only have access. Recently, they stopped stocking ice in the sleepers in many cases and the now the SCA has to get it from the diner instead of getting it from a cooler in roomette 1.

Not having it in the car does make it a pain for the SCA to get it, I recognize that. That is part of I why started carrying a cooler so I could get a day's supply without it melting in an uninsulated cardboard bucket, and so not bother the SCA with that request more than once a day.

My point is that ice is generally available during regular crew hours, though not nearly as conveniently as before. That is the subject and substance of this thread. You now have to experience the vagaries of Amtrak's inconsistent customer service to get it, but the customer service issue is much broader and not restricted to just getting ice.

The original question was is ice available to sleeping car passengers, and with a few exceptions, like the middle of the night, or a completely recalcitrant SCA like the one that DA had the misfortune to have, the answer is yes. Do you have to wait for it sometimes? Yes. Are the SCAs always happy about the request? No. Is it a good customer service experience? Many times, not very. But generally ice can be had.
 
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