Why don't the attendants want to bring the meal to my room?

[Mark89]

Better no service at all than snarky eye-rolling service.

Amen!

 

[Pooh2]

Confusion? What's confusing about "don't show up until we call your reservation time"?

"don't show up until we call your reservation time"?

Who said that?

Wow, this is turning into a version of "Who's on First?"

In most cases, the chief dining car attendant (I forget the exact title) calls down the reservation times in groups. If you have a dinner reservation at 7:00, you're not supposed to just go down there at 7:00, you're supposed to wait until they actually call your group to the dining car. Previous poster "Pooh" (say that three times fast) waited 60-90 minutes at the entrance to the dining car, so something went seriously wrong there.

However, even though I don't want to pooh-pooh Pooh's complaint, Pooh stated that they had to wait 90 minutes for their breakfast reservation, but AFAIK Amtrak doesn't take breakfast reservations on any long-distance train.

On the Silver Meteor, that morning the dining car attendant was hand writing a "wait list" as people showed up for breakfast (It was not a reservation). Many of the seasoned amtrack travelers were upset because they had not experienced this previously, some were standing there quite some time before realizing that they were suppose to be on a list. We got a unorganized and overwhelmed dining car staff for the whole trip.

Just booked our Texas Eagle trip for fall and hoping we have a better experience with the dining as we will be onboard for 3 meals.

 

[fillyjonk]

Was the diner full? They do wait lists by name or number (depending on the LSA on duty) for breakfast on the TE all the time.

I'm an early riser so I'm usually in there as they open and I get seated and eat. But once the diner's full, they do a reservation/wait list. Same with lunches.

I've only eaten once in my roomette, that was on a late train coming back and the SCA very apologetically said there had been a mess-up with dinner reservations and either I could eat at 9 pm or have him bring me dinner in my room. I opted for dinner in my room (and tipped him accordingly). Generally I prefer to get up and go to the diner.

I do remember overhearing one incident once where a woman was upset because she slept through first call for breakfast and there was a waiting list. So she told the SCA to bring her breakfast. And he did. And then there was a problem because her bed was still not made up into seats. So he started to make it back up to seats. But then, she said, her eggs would get cold. And anyway, she wanted to lie back down after she ate. (I think he had her go over to an empty roommette to eat). I just hope she tipped him well, she was kind of nasty and demanding to him. I mean, it's okay to ask for a meal in your room but to yell at the SCA for everything he's doing to try to help you - not so much.

 

[SarahZ]

Agreed.

I travel on the SWC during busy periods, and there is almost always a wait list for breakfast if you show up after 7:00. They start announcing groups on the PA, just like with lunch and dinner reservations, only they use names instead of a meal time. They just go down the list in order, like they do in a restaurant when you have to wait for a table to open up.

I can see how it might surprise travelers who've never had to wait for a table during breakfast before. In past trips, the LSA has announced (the night before) that breakfast will start at a certain time and it's best to get there early so you don't have to wait for a table. I think an announcement like that goes a long way toward setting expectations and giving everyone a heads-up.

 

[Railroad Bill]

An old saying.. "The Early Bird Gets The Worm" applies to Amtrak breakfast. If you are there at 6:30, usually no waiting.

 

[rrdude]

Personally, I do the same thing on Amtrak that I do when I have a reservation at any restaurant. If it's getting near the time I was told & haven't been called, then I go check and ask how much longer it will be. Then, I come back again at that time. This works whether you're deaf, or your intercom doesn't work, or whatever.

First of all... the passengers who were deaf came at the reservation time, were told to go and wait in the lounge. They waited patiently, and then when they came back to check.. they were told that a last call had been made and the diner was closed. The passengers were obviously deaf.. the LSA forgot about them, simple as that. Second of all.. you say you do the same thing at Amtrak as you do at any restaurant. What restaurant do you know of where you have to walk the length of 3 train cars to get back to your sleeping car and then listen for an announcement that may or may not work?

First of all, I'm not trying to excuse what that LSA did. He or she forgot about them, and then they had no food, and that's clearly a mistake. Hopefully, they were able to provide something from the cafe car, or something like that.What I'm saying is that as a passenger (or again, at any restaurant), most people wouldn't just wait indefinitely, for hours on end. Come on, if you have a dinner reservation at a restaurant at 7:00 pm, and when you get there, they tell you "I'm sorry, your table isn't ready, it will be just a few more minutes," will you wait quietly for the rest of the night until the restaurant closes and you're forced to go home? Most people wouldn't do that. They'd go back to the hostess every once in a while and ask if the table is ready yet, and probably get more insistent and more angry about it the later it gets.I'm not deaf, and I'm not disabled. I have yet to travel in a car whose intercom was entirely broken, but there have been MANY times - maybe even MOST meals - where the LSA forgot to call my reservation. Again, if I'm at 7:00, I hear them call the 6:30 people, and then the 6:45 people... and then nothing. I don't just sit in my car forever, I'll wait a reasonable time, and then go check and see if they're ready yet. If it's going to be a while, I may go back to my car, but if it's just a short while, I'll wait in the lounge. I don't see why this is such a hard thing to do.Now, if people are disabled or deaf, that's a different story. If a disabled person shows up a few minutes early, the LSA should show some flexibility and seat them next. I think most other passengers would be willing to let a disabled person have a table first, rather than make them stand.This is a case of "managing to the exception". The existing rules of restaurant service already work in an Amtrak dining car, the LSA just needs to follow those guidelines and show some common sense. Sure, you can bring up cases where the LSA failed to do so, but that's a training issue.Lastly, restaurants have overcome this problem in other ways. Many chains now give you a "buzzer" that vibrates, makes noises, and flashes lights when your table is ready. This would be a great idea on Amtrak trains, and would solve all the problems you've mentioned, and many others. It's probably "off the shelf" technology at this point. I wish Amtrak had the money for this sort of thing, but if they're cutting back on the flowers at the table, it's clear that they don't.

No need for pagers of ANY kind anymore, just take guest's cell number, and with a paid service, it will TXT them (or call) when table is ready. Might be a little finnicky in some parts of country where no cell service, but as a backup, nice. We've had it built into our POS s/w for several years now

 

[delicious]

An old saying.. "The Early Bird Gets The Worm" applies to Amtrak breakfast.

True. I've only heard of worms in the Chicken-Apple-Maple Sausage in later seating's. Never at 6:30AM.

 

[shelzp]

I may be wrong, but I can't find anywhere on the Amtrak site where it says that meals are offered in the sleepers to all passengers. From what I can find, Amtrak only offers this "officially" to passengers with a disability.

"Meal Service For Passengers With a Disability

On all trains with meal service, passengers with a disability can request that meals be brought to their room or seat. Meals are provided as part of the cost of travel for passengers who are traveling in a sleeping accommodation."

http://www.amtrak.com/meal-services-for-passengers-with-a-disability

So yes, I can see dining car attendants and SCAs getting upset when apparently "able bodied" people ask for meals in their seats - regardless of whether there's a tip in it for them or not. Now, as others have mentioned, it's not always apparent when someone has a disability. But if someone asks for a meal in their room out of the blue when he/she has been to the dining car before, or walks down to the dining car to ask for a meal to go, I can why they would have difficulty with this.

It's in all the Route Guides.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

It's in all the Route Guides.

This was discussed back on page 4 (see posts 65-66).