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I am interested in getting to Fort Lauderdale from Los Angeles so I can take a Panama Canal cruise. Amtrak.com says I can connect SWC to Capitol Limited to Silver Meteor. The connections look pretty safe. We would then spend a night in FTL prior to boarding the ship. Time of year would be late fall.
What do you all think about these connections?
Also, why is the roomette so expensive on the Silver Meteor?
-------------------- Vicki in usually sunny Southern California Posts: 951 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Aug 2006
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Miss Vickie, I would consider all of those connections quite safe. Likely you and Mr. Art will be hearing the earlier #91 Silver Star announced if you are in Union Station.
The Roomettes are expensive on the Meteor simply owing to supply and demand and Amtrak's yield management pricing. There are only 45 Rooms (3 Viewliners) on the train, and some eight of those are used by the Dining Car crew. On the Chief, there are 42 rooms, plus whatever are sold in the T-Dorm car.
Posts: 9977 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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I see no problems with your connections. If you have some Amtrak Guest Reward points you might want to consider using those on the Silver Meteor portion of the trip. Because first class service has been so comparitively expensive on the Silver Service trains, I often begin my trips flying on budget carrier AirTran from Charlotte, NC to either Baltimore or Chicago and start my trips aboard the Capitol Limited or some other superliner equipped train.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Good morning Vicki, and Happy New Year!! Yes, as Gilbert and David have said, you shouldn't have much of a problem making the #30-97 connection in Washington. My wife and I have made that connection fine going each direction.
I think Gilbert correctly explained why the Silver Service sleeping accomodations are so expensive....
Are you traveling in 2 roomettes on the Meteor, or in a bedroom? The bedroom is probably your better choice, and for 2 of you, it would probably be less expensive than 2 roomettes.
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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Thanks all. Rich - we always travel in one roomette although we have never been on a Viewliner with an included bathroom. I now have the Amtrak Chase card so I will try to get enough points to use it on the Meteor - best deal for the points.
-------------------- Vicki in usually sunny Southern California Posts: 951 | From: Redondo Beach, CA | Registered: Aug 2006
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Vicki, for just 5000 more points, you can get roomettes all the way from Albuquerque to FL. In other words, pay cash for your sleeper from LA to Albuquerque and use Guest Rewards points for both the Zone 2&1 bits from Albuquerque to FL. Just make sure you have the right days hahaha. You will likely have to change sleepers in ABQ but it's no big deal--and if you tell your car attendant and show him both tickets, maybe he or she can adjust it so you wouldn't even have to do that.
The roomettes are actually a little bigger on the Viewliner, because of the commode/sink. However, using the commode from the upper berth when the person in the lower berth is asleep may be a little tricky; I've never shared a roomette, so I don't know. (The one time I traveled with a friend, we had 2 roomettes, the one time with my husband, we splurged and got the bigger sleeper--he is no train person!--and when he did come down once to use the bathroom after I was in bed, I did hear him but don't recall it being a problem)
One thing to keep in mind, though, as you've never been on the Viewliners: There is no downstairs shelf for your larger luggage, as there is on the Superliners. Therefore, when you get to DC, you may want to consider checking your larger luggage. I suppose you can even do it from LA (though maybe with the sleeper number change they will get confused???) I'm not familiar with luggage checking and the safety of it--safety in terms of whether luggage ever gets lost in transfers, I mean. I do know it stinks on airlines but think Amtrak is better, but you'd better check with others here on that subject.
One more thing, Vicki: I'd seriously consider giving yourself one more day as a "cushion" in Fort Lauderdale. Sometimes on a cross-country trip, weather can cause delays--look what happned in Kansas in early December this year--and with all the connections, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry? Esp since I have heard Fort Lauderdale area where the hotels are is pretty nice, with water taxis etc.--would be an extra day of fun, seems to me. I know that when I was planning a Panama Canal cruise with a friend, and all we were doing was taking the Silver Meteor down from upstate NY to Fla (not even coming cross country; though we were planning for December, when weather can be worse), we decided we'd rather be safe than sorry, and also wanted a little R&R time in Fort Lauderdale--the Meteor arrives late and is often quite a bit later than they say. So we were planning on 2 nights in the Fort Lauderdale hotel, arriving on Amtrak on Thursday with the cruise leaving on Saturday.
As it turned out, we never booked the cruise; ailing parents and other factors intruded at the time. But when we go someday, we do still plan on the 2-day cushion in Fort Lauderdale.
BTW, the cruise we were planning was Holland America, who I loved for my Alaska cruise (fantastic food!). It stopped in Aruba and Curacao as well as Costa Rica (for rain forest excursion) and Panama Canal--doesn't it sound wonderful? I'd love to be there RIGHT NOW, the weather here STINKS (well, today is better, but in general, winter has come early and hard here in upstate NY. . . .)
Whatever you do, have a lovely trip!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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