# FTL-WAS-CHI-GBB



## cindylou (Feb 1, 2009)

On Jan 24th, after spending 10 glorious days sailing the Caribbean and crossing the Panama Canal, we arrived at the FTL station to start our trip home. We checked our luggage onward to Chicago, and sat in the sunshine. The Silver Meteor was about 40 mintues late arriving from Miami. _No problem, mon! I've been in Jamaica!!_ Actually, I was wondering if our return trip would be as good as our previous one; after all, we started out 2 weeks ago feeling the excitement of our first Amtrak trip and anticipating the 10 day cruise. Might this be sort of a let down after being pampered and enjoying the sunshine?

Finally the SM arrived, we met our attendant in Car 9811, Roomette #3: Bianca. She told us that the AC compressor wasn't working, hence it would be a little "warm" in our roomette! Due the late arrival of the train, we only had about 5 minutes to head to the dining car, so opted to wait for lunch. Settled in and enjoyed the So. Florida scenery. We both ordered angus burgers for lunch, and they were very good. It is sooo much cooler in the dining car, that we wished we could just stay in there for the rest of the day! We stopped somewhere past Orlando, and overheard the SA's saying we were "going to pick up and engine, or maybe work on the AC"...(weird to be complaining about air conditioning when it's below zero where we're headed!) We stopped in Deland, and they attempted to switch the compressor from auto to manual, but said it was too hot to work on, so onward we go. Bianca came by and made dinner reservations for us at 5 pm. We pulled in to Palatka, Fla about 1 hour and 15 min behind schedule, and made up a little time heading to Jacksonville. Once again, they tried to work on the compressor, but no luck getting any cool air to circulate. The lack of AC is starting to take it's toll on us...it feels a little cooler with the door to our roomette open, but unfortunately our neighbor across the hall is sort of annoying. (Hope nobody on the forum happens to be this "odd fellow"!) He was a middle aged man, spent his entire trip watching cartoons on his DVD player, with the volume turned up too high, and no headphones. I finally politely asked Bianca if she could ask him to either close his roomette door, or use headphones. I don't think he ever did either, and finally we tried to retire for the night. It was a very miserable night due to the heat, but as we got closer to DC in the early morning, we FROZE...I don't think we had heat in our car either. Anyway, Bianca was pretty apologetic, and said " I hope they do something to make it right for you guys." (Does this mean I should call customer service and register a complaint??) Also, something was wrong with the PA system...we could never hear the announcements that were made; the speakers were very crackly and no volume. Bianca brought coffee to us in our room, and was all-around great, even though I'm sure she had some grouchy customers to deal with! She got a $20 tip.

We arrived in DC at about 8 am, checked in at the Acela Lounge, grabbed some breakfast, and decided to hop on the Old Town Trolley to see more of the sites of DC. We thoroughly enjoyed this, and decided to "hop off" the bus and visit the National Air and Space Museum, which my hubby was dying to see. It was awesome! Took alot of pictures, then hopped back on the bus and finished our tour. We got back to the station in the early afternoon, had a great Cajun lunch in the food court, and spent time relaxing in the Acela Lounge. This place is wonderful, : quiet, nice restrooms, snacks and free coffee and soda, newpapers.

At 3:30 we boarded the CL for our 4:00 departure. Once again, we enjoyed the scenery passing thru W Virginia and Maryland. We saw tons of deer grazing in the fields at dusk. We stopped in Martinsburg WV, right by an old brick roundhouse. What a beautiful old building...does anyone know it this is being restored? We had 6 pm dinner reservations, and ate with a nice couple from LA. Hubby had the Flat Iron steak again, and said it's the best yet! I had the stuffed pasta shells, which were very good, too. Our attendant, Jamil (sp?) turned down our room, and we crashed early around 9 pm. Tired from a big day in DC! We woke up about 6:30 am and just decided to have coffee in our room and watch the scenery; enjoyed the huge steel mills around Gary, Indiana. Soon we could see the Chicago skyline, and quite a bit of snow on the ground. And to think, only a few days ago, I was wading in the Caribbean! Oh well, back to reality!

We backed into Chicago Union Station, claimed our luggage, and spent a few hours wandering the station, and relaxing in the Lounge. Then we boarded the SWC at about 2:45 pm and departed about 3:15 for Galesburg, in coach. This last short leg of our trip was not a very relaxing one...we happened to be in the first two seats in coach, nearest the door that led to the dining and lounge cars. There was a group of young men who CONSTANTLY were running back and forth, doors opening, closing and banging. Then an announcement was made that a young man had "left his cell phone" in the lounge car, and would however took it please return it to him." Then a few minutes later, another announcement the "this cell phone has GPS, so return it to him immediately." Must have been some foul play going on. We spent our time trying to relax and read, but with all this commotion going on, it was sort of tough!

We arrived in Galesburg right on time (5:55 pm), retrieved our luggage, and the two weary, but happy, train travelers faced a 3-4 hour , wintry drive back home to Iowa. All in all, it was a memorable trip, both by train and cruise ship! And we are already planning to make it an annual event, so I'd better start saving my pennies now! Thanks to all the forum members again who answered our questions, and gave us tips and advice.

Cindy


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## AlanB (Feb 1, 2009)

cindylou said:


> Anyway, Bianca was pretty apologetic, and said " I hope they do something to make it right for you guys." (Does this mean I should call customer service and register a complaint??)


Yes, you should call customer service and mention the issue and the discomfort. CS most likely will send you a voucher for some amount good towards a future trip. Be sure to praise Bianca too, while you're at it.



cindylou said:


> We stopped in Martinsburg WV, right by an old brick roundhouse. What a beautiful old building...does anyone know it this is being restored?


Yes, in fact they've come a long ways since I first saw that building several years ago. It's still a work in progress, but they are doing a wonderful job.


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## the_traveler (Feb 1, 2009)

Thanks for the report(s)! I'm glad you had a good time!



cindylou said:


> our neighbor across the hall is sort of annoying. (Hope nobody on the forum happens to be this "odd fellow"!) He was a middle aged man, spent his entire trip watching cartoons on his DVD player, with the volume turned up too high, and no headphones


At first, I thought you were talking about me  - but I don't have a DVD player on my laptop! *WHEW!*



> It was a very miserable night due to the heat, but as we got closer to DC in the early morning, we FROZE...I don't think we had heat in our car either. Anyway, Bianca was pretty apologetic, and said " I hope they do something to make it right for you guys." (Does this mean I should call customer service and register a complaint??) Also, something was wrong with the PA system...we could never hear the announcements that were made; the speakers were very crackly and no volume.


Yes, contact Customer Service! You may get something as a voucher. It may be something like $25, but when things were really bad, I have received vouchers for $300 and $500!


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## Ryan (Feb 1, 2009)

cindylou said:


> We stopped somewhere past Orlando, and overheard the SA's saying we were "going to pick up and engine, or maybe work on the AC"...(weird to be complaining about air conditioning when it's below zero where we're headed!)


That would have been Sanford, southern end of the Auto Train. We saw one of the northbound silvers stop at Sanford for plumbing and A/C issues while sitting on the Auto Train waiting to return north last month.

Great report, and glad you enjoyed the trip!


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## cindylou (Feb 2, 2009)

I spoke with customer service today, and I must say, I was treated very nicely. She listened to my story about the air conditioning and apologized several times for the inconvenience. Then after a few minutes "on hold", she came back on the line saying we would receive a voucher in the mail in a couple of weeks. Didn't mention the amount. Doesn't matter! Just knowing that we're getting some compensation, and that they are receptive to customer issues is the main thing.

Also, I did put in a good word for Bianca, and she thanked me kindly and said they would pass it along to Bianca's supervisor, so I hope that's true.

Cindy


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## AlanB (Feb 3, 2009)

cindylou said:


> I spoke with customer service today, and I must say, I was treated very nicely. She listened to my story about the air conditioning and apologized several times for the inconvenience. Then after a few minutes "on hold", she came back on the line saying we would receive a voucher in the mail in a couple of weeks. Didn't mention the amount. Doesn't matter! Just knowing that we're getting some compensation, and that they are receptive to customer issues is the main thing.


Cindy,

Glad to hear that you're getting some compensation for the lack of AC. Just make sure that you keep an eye on the date on that voucher as it's good only for one year. So you'll just have to start planning your next Amtrak trip. 



cindylou said:


> Also, I did put in a good word for Bianca, and she thanked me kindly and said they would pass it along to Bianca's supervisor, so I hope that's true.


Amtrak is usually pretty good about getting both compliments and complaints into an employee's records. In fact the internal Amtrak employee newsletter even prints a select few in each issue.


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## Everydaymatters (Feb 7, 2009)

Nice report, Cindy. Also nice hearing about a cruise to warm weather since we're at the end stage of another snowy winter.

Will it be the Caribbean again next year?


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## cindylou (Feb 7, 2009)

Amen to being at the end stage of another snowy winter!

Yes, we would love to go to the Caribbean again, and visit some new places. (We did the Panama Canal trip this time.) Would like to board a cruise out of New Orleans, as I think it would be a fun train trip down there, but can't really find a cruise yet that sound good that leaves from NO. I've been scouring the Amtrak System Timetable, looking at train destinations that would hook up with cruise ship ports!

Oh dear! I'm afraid I'm hooked!!

Cindy


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## GG-1 (Feb 8, 2009)

cindylou said:


> Oh dear! I'm afraid I'm hooked!!
> Cindy


One of my friends takes about 3 cruises a year. His wife was good at searching for what the called _Boat move cruise_. They said the fares were frequently as much as 80% Cheaper, due to these cruises being at the end of one season in the area and the begining of the season in the next.

Their only regret was the cruise from San Francisco and Shanghi China. The regret it followed the coast and did not have winter clothes as the went by/stopped in Alaska. they made several comments about the ice on deck and feeling like they could reach out and touch the glaciers.

Aloha


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## MrFSS (Feb 8, 2009)

cindylou said:


> Amen to being at the end stage of another snowy winter!
> Yes, we would love to go to the Caribbean again, and visit some new places. (We did the Panama Canal trip this time.) Would like to board a cruise out of New Orleans, as I think it would be a fun train trip down there, but can't really find a cruise yet that sound good that leaves from NO. I've been scouring the Amtrak System Timetable, looking at train destinations that would hook up with cruise ship ports!
> 
> Oh dear! I'm afraid I'm hooked!!
> ...


One my wife and I did a couple of years ago was the *Mexican Riviera* out of San Diego. You can walk from the SAN station to the cruise ship dock!


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## cindylou (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks! I will check out those suggestions and keep you posted!

Cindy


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## the_traveler (Feb 8, 2009)

cindylou said:


> Oh dear! I'm afraid I'm hooked!!


That happened to all of us!  *Once is never enough!*


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## cindylou (Feb 14, 2009)

Just wanted to post an update: yesterday we received a voucher in the mail from Amtrak for $250 toward another trip (due to the broken AC in our sleeper last month) !! I really didn't expect that amount, so we're thrilled, and now I'm REALLY planning next winter's trip: ridin' the rails to a cruise ship somewhere! 

Cindy


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