Would This Amtrak Trip be Romantic... or a Good Way to Destroy a Relat

[Fixx42]

Hello all,

I'm thinking of inviting my girlfriend to join me for a trip from Emeryville to Boston, via the California Zephyr and Lakeshore Limited. It would be about 3 days, and we'd have a roomette for the Zephyr up to Chicago (2 days), and then a coach seat down to Boston (1 day).

Anyone do anything like that with a romantic partner before? And if so, did you have a great time, or did the small space drive you guys nuts?

Many thanks!

Fixx

Edited: Got my destinations confused. Thanks for the catch Mackensen!

 

[Mackensen]

Hello all,

I'm thinking of inviting my girlfriend to join me for a trip from Emeryville to Boston, via the California Zephyr and Lakeshore Limited. It would be about 3 days, and we'd have a roomette for the Zephyr up to Chicago (2 days), and then a coach seat down to NY (1 day).

Anyone do anything like that with a romantic partner before? And if so, did you have a great time, or did the small space drive you guys nuts?

Many thanks!

Fixx

I'll leave it others to comment whether a spouse can be called a romantic partner or not, but my wife and I have done several long-distance trips together. Last year we did Chicago-Los Angeles, Los Angeles-Seattle and Seattle-Chicago (with some time between each). We've done the Lake Shore several times.

The small space is definitely an issue. The Coast Starlight worked out the best since I spent most of my time in the Pacific Parlor Car and she had the roomette to herself. For the Zephyr I would plan on spending time in the Sightseer Lounge. Two days is a lot of time. If either one of you (or both) plans on using a computer it can also get a little hot.

Based on personal experience I'd say your biggest trouble point in the Lake Shore. Sleeping in coach isn't the greatest experience in the world. I've done the Lake Shore on the Boston section in coach as far as Springfield (I'm confused, you mention both Boston and NY) and it's a long day across New York and Massachusetts after a restless night out of Chicago. If you're going straight through from Emeryville with no layover in Chicago your girlfriend may be done with the train (and you) by then!

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

The roomette is "compact but cozy". It has what you need for a good trip and not much more. The CZ section should be fine, but the LSL coach may not be very romantic, but it won't detroy your relations! :wub:

Nevertheless, the train is still better than today's domestic flying or bus. Expect delays, though, and the meals are included in Sleeper. Please tip the Sleeper and Diner attendants according to their service. Have a nice trip!

 

[johnny.menhennet]

The roomette is "compact but cozy". It has what you need for a good trip and not much more. The CZ section should be fine, but the LSL coach may not be very romantic, but it won't detroy your relations! :wub:

Nevertheless, the train is still better than today's domestic flying or bus. Expect delays, though, and the meals are included in Sleeper. Please tip the Sleeper and Diner attendants according to their service. Have a nice trip!

For once, I agree with everything here. Except that the California Zephyr will not be fine. It will be great!

 

[George Harris]

If you could at all change from Roomette to Bedroom you should do it. Two people in a roomette is really really tight.

 

[zephyr17]

If you could at all change from Roomette to Bedroom you should do it. Two people in a roomette is really really tight.

The lower in a roomette is really too small for two people even for a short period. If you are going for romantic, you need a bedroom.

If your GF hasn't ridden trains before, I have to disagree with other posters. Three days is too much of an immersion, especially if things don't go well, as they sometimes do with Amtrak. Take her on an overnight and go from there.

 

[NorthCoastHiawatha]

I can't recommended it at least in a roomette, first I can't for the life of me ever seeing my self sharing a superliner roomette with someone. One is enough and thats all I ever wanna do. Why? because the upper bunk is just to damn small, I tried it once I had one hell of a time getting in or out do to the fact the ceiling is so close to the bunk and second the bunk is barely long enough for me. Also the lower berth is no where big enough for two people to share comfortably. Also if this is her first Amtrak trip I wouldn't recommended taking such a long trip, if it turns out she doesn't like the experience the first day out it would make a miserable trip. So basically what zephyr17 said a seasoned Amtrak rider like myself can roll with the punches and deal with a trip gone amiss but first time riders well lets just say Ive seen people get pretty nasty about it.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

.... if it turns out she doesn't like the experience the first day out it would make a miserable trip.

This is your main issue.

Also its a bit common for dating couple to go on vacation together, and when they return to take different taxi home after the vacation. It's a big test of the relationship. You need to have a talk with the GF first, then maybe a overnight test trip.

I think it would be a great idea, but it also can be a relationship killer.

So talk with your GF about it, don't force the issues, if she open to the idea then go for it .

If you win lottery upgrade to all bedroom across, that would help out greatly.

Edit due to big finger small smart phone.

 

[Ryan]

I did it for my honeymoon in bedrooms.

Amy and I sat in an empty roomette for a little while and decided that it would have been a doable trip in roomettes, but not nearly as nice (we have also travelled separately in roomettes before).

I'd certainly go for it.

 

[Steve4031]

I took my gf on the Capitol limited 6 months into the relationship. Had Barry white playing in the roomette as we rolled east out of Chicago. A 6 hour delay at porter do to a power outage kind of killed the mood. Additionally she didn't appreciate an emergency brake stop either. She thought there was a fire.

A trip a couple of years later on Cz to glen wood springs was marred by a 3 hr delay going and a 6 hour delay returning. That was the end of over night travel for several years.

Last year we had a better ride on lsl in a viewliner roomette.

She encourages me to ride, and respects my passion stating that she sees a gleam in my eyes when I board a train. However, she will view a train as an option for getting from point A to point B. if there is a quicker or easier way to do the trip, she prefers that.

 

[TraneMan]

Do a couple of short trips, and let her get the feel of it.

I've taken my partner on a couple of short trips to Chicago, and then last year we too a long one out to Whitefish MT. We had a roomette together, and we were fine with it. He did not want the upper bunk since it's too cozy up there for him, and I was fine with it, even tho I really wanted the window to look out at the star lite sky or seeing a thunderstorm in a distance..

Every now and then I'd get up and go enjoy the rail view since we were on #27, and or wonder up to the lounge car and check out the crowd there.

For this year trip, I figured I'd upgrade to the bedroom for our trip, but he said no, the roomette is fine, and I was kinda shocked he didn't want to upgrade to the bedroom.

 

[The Davy Crockett]

Do the trip.

If she 'takes' to Amtrak, and things go well, she'll just love you that much more.

OTOH, if the trip goes poorly, but you love and respect each other, it can be a bonding experience, while you support each other through the 'ordeal' - even if that means she never rides Amtrak LD again.

But if she conditionally loves you, and bases your relationship on the condition that you alone are responsible for her happiness, and the trip goes poorly... She'll break up with you.

Amtrak will have done you a huge favor in the last scenario.

 

[Ziv]

Unless the trip is a surprise, (which would be a bad way to introduce her to Amtrak in my opinion) I would show her this thread. The way she reacts to the legitimate concerns will tell you whether this is the transportation mode for her. I went out with a girl for 7 years, loved to hang out with her, but the time we spent together in Thailand was a constant push me, pull you, with both of us instinctively going in different directions regarding degree of luxury and openness to getting off the beaten path. We stayed together but we didn't travel like that again.

The problem on a pre-booked train trip is that you are kind of locked in. I was able to switch up our trip to Thailand on the fly, and that would be harder to do on a 3 day trip. Upside is, it is just 3 days, though.

 

[jphjaxfl]

My wife and I have done many train trips on Amtrak together before and after we were married. We almost always do bedrooms when we travel together. One time before we were married, a bedroom was not available, so we got 2 roomettes across the hall from each other which worked just fine. We always have a great time. She didn't ride as many trains growing up as I did, but enjoyed the trios that she did all before Amtrak.

 

[Texan Eagle]

Some folks mentioned here they've taken their wives with them on long Amtrak trips and it turned out well, but I'd guess its different taking your wife for the trip vs taking your girlfriend, if you know what I mean. When the girl is your wife, you are already married and (hopefully) know and understand each other's likes and dislikes well and are ready to adjust. With a girlfriend with whom you are just hanging out without being engaged/married, things might be different. I'd go with the suggestion of first testing the waters with a short trip, maybe involving just one night. Not on Amtrak but in a foreign country I convinced my girlfriend to try out her first overnight train trip (she had never done one before), and it surprised me how a first-time rider can find several things weird about a train that we seasoned railfans don't even notice. She did like the experience in the end and is willing to try more train trips now, but I am glad the first "test" was a single night trip and not a very long one.

 

[the_traveler]

Unless you know for certain that she LOVES to travel by train, I would start with some short trips. Since you're in CA, you have many choices. Even take a Roomette on the Coast Starlight! Then you will know if she wants to spend 3 night on a train each way. Better to find out now than in Denver or Chicago!

 

[Rail Freak]

Unless you know for certain that she LOVES to travel by train, I would start with some short trips. Since you're in CA, you have many choices. Even take a Roomette on the Coast Starlight! Then you will know if she wants to spend 3 night on a train each way. Better to find out now than in Denver or Chicago!

Amen, Brother!!!! :hi:

 

[Gord]

Hello all,

I'm thinking of inviting my girlfriend to join me for a trip from Emeryville to Boston, via the California Zephyr and Lakeshore Limited. It would be about 3 days, and we'd have a roomette for the Zephyr up to Chicago (2 days), and then a coach seat down to Boston (1 day).

Anyone do anything like that with a romantic partner before? And if so, did you have a great time, or did the small space drive you guys nuts?

Many thanks!

Fixx

Edited: Got my destinations confused. Thanks for the catch Mackensen!

Lots of variables here. Depends on her personality, is she easy going and able to go with the flow if things go wrong? Has she experienced a sleeper or for that matter, train travel, before? A roomette is pretty small, much like trailer camping, some people adapt easily to the small space, some not so much.

I bit the bullet on my first Amtrak trip with my gf on a LSL / CONO trip to New Orleans and got a bedroom for the CONO leg. First impressions are important and the extra space and en suite washroom was a big plus to her. Roomette was fine for the LSL as we were pretty much just sleeping between Buffalo and Chicago. She liked the Sightseer lounge on the CONO a lot and enjoyed meeting different people during meals in the diner.

She now really likes rail travel and has learned to put up with some of the problems and delays which invariably, occur. On the Crescent, we were once 6 hours late into NOL, on the CONO we experienced a few glitches at various times, a stuck drawbridge just north of NO, a shopping cart placed on the track wiped out the air supply to the toilets for the better part of a day, a roomette with a heater that wouldnt shut off on the LSL, a whacko in Hammond, LA that was chasing his distraught wife around with a gun and so on.

I should add that her first rail trip with me was Toronto to Edmonton on The Canadian so she has a pretty high standard for overnight rail travel.

My best advice is don't oversell the trip, let her know that things don't always work perfectly, make sure she has books, magazines, etc. available to while away the time and book bedrooms if your budget allows.

Gord

 

[PRR 60]

A caution about two people in a roomette on the train between Chicago and Boston.

The sleeping cars used on that route - Viewliners - do not have any common-area toilets. All the toilet facilities are in the rooms. In the berdoom, the toilet is located in an enclosed room. That is fine. However, in the roomette, the toilet is in the open within the room. It is under a cover, that when raised, reveals the toilet. That works OK for a single traveler. For two people in the room, it presents what I feel is a very difficult logistical problem. While one person is using the toilet, the other has to either vacate the room or sit and watch. The latter is just a little too much togetherness, in my opinion. If the call for one person comes at 2am while the other is sleeping, the problem becomes even more awkward.

Bottom line: I would not use a Viewliner roomette for two people. I know it is done, but there is just a little too much yuck factor for my taste.

 

[Palmland]

f you want to make a good impression on a first trip - keep it short and get a bedroom. Bedroom from Emeryville to Denver would be a great introduction. Then grab a Southwest flight to the east coast after spending the night in a nice Denver hotel (the Oxford would be a good one). You'll save time (and maybe money) and she'll want to go on another Amtrak trip.

 

[Bierboy]

If you are going for romantic, you need a bedroom....

I'll second that! My wife of 35 years and I TOTALLY enjoy LD travel, but always book a bedroom. It opens up a wide range of romantic opportunities!

The great thing about rail travel is, if you DO need some space occasionally, you can always head to the SSL for awhile. During those times, my wife loves being in the bedroom to read, while I hang out there.

 

[sitzplatz17]

Not on Amtrak but in a foreign country I convinced my girlfriend to try out her first overnight train trip (she had never done one before), and it surprised me how a first-time rider can find several things weird about a train that we seasoned railfans don't even notice. She did like the experience in the end and is willing to try more train trips now, but I am glad the first "test" was a single night trip and not a very long one.

I'm curious, what were some if the things that she noticed that were "weird". I'm actually working on having my girlfriend ride on the CL to Chicago (and back too maybe!) - it would be her first time on Amtrak and it'd be good to be prepared

f you want to make a good impression on a first trip - keep it short and get a bedroom. Bedroom from Emeryville to Denver would be a great introduction. Then grab a Southwest flight to the east coast after spending the night in a nice Denver hotel (the Oxford would be a good one). You'll save time (and maybe money) and she'll want to go on another Amtrak trip.

I did this trip with a girl once as well. Great introduction to Amtrak, Bedroom EMY - DEN and then flew back to DC. While we're not together anymore she was converted to Amtrak and probably keeps raving about it today!

 

[Fixx42]

Thanks all! I probably should have mentioned that she's done short (6-7 hour) trips in coach on Amtrak before. Neither of us has ever done an overnight trip. I'll pitch it to her, and see what she thinks!

As for getting a bedroom, I wish I could, but on our student budgets (we're both still in University) I'm afraid that even the roomette is a stretch!

 

[Henry Kisor]

Is there an Amtrak version of the airlines' Mile High Club? Just asking, wholly for research purposes, you understand.

 

[the_traveler]

If the train is in Denver, I suppose!