Steaming at the Diner Crew on the 4 (5)

[Anderson]

For the second morning in a row, I have been awakened by a creepy whisper announcement from the diner, listing breakfast items. This time I checked my phone; it was 0626. Considering that this train originated two timezones west, for some people onboard it is not yet 5 AM to their clocks, and on top of that the announcement was creepy, coming somewhere between a stalker and an attempt at subliminal advertising (and I'm not even describing it as one of my car-mates did).

Needless to say, I have called up Customer Relations, early hour or not. This announcement was inappropriate on multiple levels. I'm just not sure if I should march up and ask to speak to the conductor before KCY.[/rant]

 

[VentureForth]

It would be nice to have an OBS manager on board...

Of course, any steaming will only help during this Winter Frost...

 

[haolerider]

For the second morning in a row, I have been awakened by a creepy whisper announcement from the diner, listing breakfast items. This time I checked my phone; it was 0626. Considering that this train originated two timezones west, for some people onboard it is not yet 5 AM to their clocks, and on top of that the announcement was creepy, coming somewhere between a stalker and an attempt at subliminal advertising (and I'm not even describing it as one of my car-mates did).

Needless to say, I have called up Customer Relations, early hour or not. This announcement was inappropriate on multiple levels. I'm just not sure if I should march up and ask to speak to the conductor before KCY.[/rant]

I guess you can't please everyone! Some people complain that there are no announcements and here is an LSA giving information that people often complain they don't get. Perhaps the "whispering voice" was an attempt to not disturb those passengers wanting to sleep. The dining crew is up and ready to serve! I hardly think this is something to call Customer Relations about! Save that call for something more serious.

 

[stan]

Just got back from a trip on 5 different long distance trains. On each the diner crew opened at 6 or 630AM but did not make an anouncement till 7AM in the time zone that the diner was operating in. The lounge car also did not make anouncements till 7AM.

When going west the anouncement may seem late, when going east the anouncement may seem early.

The sound system on many cars is shall we say is not the best so anouncements sometimes on some cars are hard to hear.

I think the local 7AM anouncement is a good one as I for one do not want to miss what may be the best meal served.

Stan

 

[VentureForth]

They should have done THIS this morning:

In a whisper: "Goooooood mooorrrnning, ladeeees and geeentlemen. We will be truncating this train in Kansas City. Come by the diner NOW for sauuuuusage, baaaaacon, freeeeeench toassssst, powderpuff eggs... It could be your last hot meal for days.... shhhh.... don't let the coach passenger know!!!"

 

[Nathanael]

There needs to be a much more sensible and consistent announcement policy on Amtrak On the western trains there are far, far too many long, chatty, pointless announcements broadcast over the PA system by the cafe car attendant (and sometimes also the diner crew). Announcements over the PA should be restricted to important stuff even during daylight hours, and should be restricted even more during the hours of darkness (when station stops aren't even announced). I have no problem with the emergency announcements ("Conductor required in car 401, repeat conductor required in car 401")

But seriously, we shouldn't be hearing all the chat from the cafe and dining cars -- the most should be one sentence, like "The cafe car will close at 4:30 and reopen at 5 PM," possibly repeated a second time, but I usually hear long chatty nonsense.

Meanwhile, the Viewliners often have no functioning PA system -- and it's lovely. The sleeper attendants on the Viewliners are very good about giving all passengers the *important* announcements! The sleeper attendants on the Superliners aren't, so when the PA system is unintelligable, you actually get less information on a Superliner.

Sometimes the old ways work better than newfangled technology.

 

[Anderson]

They should have done THIS this morning:

In a whisper: "Goooooood mooorrrnning, ladeeees and geeentlemen. We will be truncating this train in Kansas City. Come by the diner NOW for sauuuuusage, baaaaacon, freeeeeench toassssst, powderpuff eggs... It could be your last hot meal for days.... shhhh.... don't let the coach passenger know!!!"

All joking aside, that's an announcement I would have respected. They didn't mention the truncation until it was too late to grab breakfast.

 

[saxman]

10 pm to 7 am is quiet hours for Amtrak. Usually they follow the rules, but I too, would be miffed about being woken before 6:30. And I too get annoyed with too many PA's. If you want to know whats on the menu, just have people come to the diner and look at the menu. Or many LSA's have the menu posted in the lounge car before you enter the diner.

 

[SarahZ]

Whispering over the PA doesn't cause it to be any quieter, and I'd be annoyed too (especially at that hour of the morning). We had a PA-happy staff on the way back from ABQ last time, and since you can't shut off the PA in the refurbished Superliner roomettes, I was ready to slap people by the time we got to CHI. The cafe car attendant was particularly annoying.

 

[MikefromCrete]

Of all the things to complain about, this seems pretty far down on the list.

 

[gmushial]

For the second morning in a row, I have been awakened by a creepy whisper announcement from the diner, listing breakfast items. This time I checked my phone; it was 0626. Considering that this train originated two timezones west, for some people onboard it is not yet 5 AM to their clocks, and on top of that the announcement was creepy, coming somewhere between a stalker and an attempt at subliminal advertising (and I'm not even describing it as one of my car-mates did).

Needless to say, I have called up Customer Relations, early hour or not. This announcement was inappropriate on multiple levels. I'm just not sure if I should march up and ask to speak to the conductor before KCY.[/rant]

I guess you can't please everyone! Some people complain that there are no announcements and here is an LSA giving information that people often complain they don't get. Perhaps the "whispering voice" was an attempt to not disturb those passengers wanting to sleep. The dining crew is up and ready to serve! I hardly think this is something to call Customer Relations about! Save that call for something more serious.

Or, as I ran into on the CZ recently: the volume in the coach car was "whisper" low for all announcements...

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I guess you can't please everyone!

Too bad nobody is claiming you can please everyone or you might have had a point.

There needs to be a much more sensible and consistent announcement policy on Amtrak On the western trains there are far, far too many long, chatty, pointless announcements broadcast over the PA system by the cafe car attendant (and sometimes also the diner crew). Announcements over the PA should be restricted to important stuff even during daylight hours, and should be restricted even more during the hours of darkness (when station stops aren't even announced). I have no problem with the emergency announcements ("Conductor required in car 401, repeat conductor required in car 401") But seriously, we shouldn't be hearing all the chat from the cafe and dining cars -- the most should be one sentence, like "The cafe car will close at 4:30 and reopen at 5 PM," possibly repeated a second time, but I usually hear long chatty nonsense.

Agreed.

10 pm to 7 am is quiet hours for Amtrak. Usually they follow the rules, but I too, would be miffed about being woken before 6:30. And I too get annoyed with too many PA's. If you want to know whats on the menu, just have people come to the diner and look at the menu. Or many LSA's have the menu posted in the lounge car before you enter the diner.

Agreed.

Personally I would much prefer a mostly quiet ride instead of constant interruptions. I've never ridden another passenger rail system with as much random PA chatter as Amtrak. Nothing even close. Amtrak seems to be the noisy outlier and I wish they'd restrict PA use to items that truly affect the whole entire train, such as arrival delays and emergency announcements. Just the facts ma'am.

 

[fairviewroad]

While I don't think a PA announcement at 0626 instead of 0700 is the end of the world, I do agree with the principle of

fewer and simpler PA announcements.

I can understand listing lunch/dinner menus as that could have more impact on individual's choices, and people are more awake

at those hours to process that info anyhow. But reading aloud a breakfast menu?

("Gosh, honey, they're serving eggs today, perhaps we should go eat!")

 

[Anderson]

Part of it was the early disruption. Part of it was being in a Superliner Rebuild with no sound control. But a lot of it was how strange it was combined with everything, like the OBS was trying to seduce us to the dining car or something.

I suspect a little of it was also dealing with a chatterbox on the CS, in general...but I do agree that harder standards (and avoiding anything so "odd" as this one was) would be nice.

 

[Railroad Bill]

Since I am usually up by 6am, get a shower and ready to head down for breakfast, I resent having these announcements waking up those who need their sleep and would then get to the diner for breakfast before me. Just kidding!!

 

[Old MM]

Maybe they should just text their announcements to everyone. I feel like we are getting to be a nation of people who value real human communication less even as everyone texts more. (DISCLAIMER.... THAT IS MY OPINION ONLY AND NOT EXPECTING OTHER PEOPLE TO SHARE IT) Who knows, I can't pretend to judge the quality of the announcements since I didn't actually hear them. But I might try to give them the benefit of the doubt, thinking that someone might be trying to make the best of a bad situation.

(ALSO, THE OPINION OF THE WRITER ONLY...NO OFFENSE IS INTENDED)

Speaking of bad situations, I looked through the website for the service maps that CHamilton posted earlier and couldn't find them.

Are these from another website?

(FINAL DISCLAIMER... No, I have not spent enough time reading and rereading the forums. I'm on more than usual today because of not being at work and feeling sick and not feeling up to much else other than clearing snow... and if someone had a link, would most humbly be grateful and appreciative for it. If not, no big deal).

 

[CHamilton]

Speaking of bad situations, I looked through the website for the service maps that CHamilton posted earlier and couldn't find them.

Are these from another website?

Yes, they are from the Status Maps site ( http://statusmaps.net ) They update automatically, so I took screen shots to record what was going on last night.

 

[guest]

Just got back from a trip on 5 different long distance trains. On each the diner crew opened at 6 or 630AM but did not make an anouncement till 7AM in the time zone that the diner was operating in. The lounge car also did not make anouncements till 7AM.

When going west the anouncement may seem late, when going east the anouncement may seem early.

The sound system on many cars is shall we say is not the best so anouncements sometimes on some cars are hard to hear.

I think the local 7AM anouncement is a good one as I for one do not want to miss what may be the best meal served.

Stan

Disagree. Anyone to whom the breakfast meal is that special should be able to wake themself up on time. Many others would prefer to sleep in. I myself am up and around at home at 5 am, but on a sleeper trip I particularly like to be allowed to sleep in the early morning. Loud advertisements for the early breakfast seating suck.

If you don't have smartphone with an alarm in it, simply get the sleeping car attendant to give you a wakeup knock.

 

[jebr]

But I might try to give them the benefit of the doubt, thinking that someone might be trying to make the best of a bad situation.

(ALSO, THE OPINION OF THE WRITER ONLY...NO OFFENSE IS INTENDED)

Except that these announcements were made during quiet hours, when nothing is announced unless it's an emergency. Announcing what's on the menu for breakfast does not qualify.

 

[Ryan]

Quoteth the Blue Book (emphasis mine):

a) Dining Car – Breakfast Announcement

(To be made 10 minutes prior to the start of breakfast service.)

Good morning, my name is (name), your Dining Car Steward. At this time I would like announce that the Dining Car will be open and ready for breakfast service at (time) and will finish at approximately (time). The Dining Car is located in the (location) of the train. Once again, welcome aboard the (train name).

b) Hours of Service – Dining Car hours for meal service are general timeframes that may be subject to some variation by specific train or expanded during seasonal or peak travel periods:

• Breakfast 6:30 am – 10:00 am

• Lunch 11:30am–3:00pm

• Dinner 5:00pm–9:00pm

Looks like there's nothing to complain about on the timing. However the script can use a little work.

 

[jebr]

Quoteth the Blue Book (emphasis mine):

a) Dining Car Breakfast Announcement

(To be made 10 minutes prior to the start of breakfast service.)

Good morning, my name is (name), your Dining Car Steward. At this time I would like announce that the Dining Car will be open and ready for breakfast service at (time) and will finish at approximately (time). The Dining Car is located in the (location) of the train. Once again, welcome aboard the (train name).

b) Hours of Service Dining Car hours for meal service are general timeframes that may be subject to some variation by specific train or expanded during seasonal or peak travel periods:

Breakfast 6:30 am 10:00 am

Lunch 11:30am3:00pm

Dinner 5:00pm9:00pm

Looks like there's nothing to complain about on the timing. However the script can use a little work.

Really? Dang. For some reason I thought it was quiet hours until 7. Why did I think that?
Edit: I was thinking of station announcements.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

If the train is scheduled to hit the Bumper early, such as the Sunset, the Diner will open as early as 4:30 or 5 but announcements regarding that are made the night before.

 

[Ryan]

10-7 does go for things like station announcements, but it isn't a blanket rule.

 

[Anderson]

Quoteth the Blue Book (emphasis mine):

a) Dining Car – Breakfast Announcement

(To be made 10 minutes prior to the start of breakfast service.)

Good morning, my name is (name), your Dining Car Steward. At this time I would like announce that the Dining Car will be open and ready for breakfast service at (time) and will finish at approximately (time). The Dining Car is located in the (location) of the train. Once again, welcome aboard the (train name).

b) Hours of Service – Dining Car hours for meal service are general timeframes that may be subject to some variation by specific train or expanded during seasonal or peak travel periods:

• Breakfast 6:30 am – 10:00 am

• Lunch 11:30am–3:00pm

• Dinner 5:00pm–9:00pm

Looks like there's nothing to complain about on the timing. However the script can use a little work.

It looks like the Blue Book needs work. 99% of the trains I've been on have been highly observant of an 0700 "quiet time" for both stop and meal announcements. This goes double if the Viewliner IIs aren't going to have sound controls.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Looks like there's nothing to complain about on the timing.

If paying customers don't want to be awoken at 6:30AM to hear the same generic breakfast menu each morning why should they be dissuaded from saying so? Simple because their concerns are not shared by a rule book that's already ignored in numerous cases? I believe customers who are concerned about this should call it in and let Amtrak decide if the rule book should be modified to allow for fewer interruptions and more quiet time. Amtrak has taken pains to show they're listening to rider feedback, at least with regard to the AGR rules, so why not take advantage of that option?