# Roomette:2 adults and a 3 year old?



## Kaki (Dec 2, 2010)

Has been a while since I have been on here! My daughter, her husband, and 3 year old are thinking about a trip with a roomette. Would Amtrak allow all 3 in a roomette? I thought I would ask BEFORE I call Amtrak just in case it's one of those thing that it depends on who you talk to.


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## zepherdude (Dec 2, 2010)

Kaki said:


> Has been a while since I have been on here! My daughter, her husband, and 3 year old are thinking about a trip with a roomette. Would Amtrak allow all 3 in a roomette? I thought I would ask BEFORE I call Amtrak just in case it's one of those thing that it depends on who you talk to.


Amtrak will not sell a Roomette for 3, it is packed with 2 sleeping, with a 3 year old, sleeping would not happen, nor would the sale


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## Guest (Dec 2, 2010)

zepherdude said:


> Amtrak will not sell a Roomette for 3, it is packed with 2 sleeping, with a 3 year old, sleeping would not happen, nor would the sale


If it was a roomette on a Viewliner, one could easily pull the top bunk down, and the child go up there while the two parents sit in the chairs. At night, the same would continue, with the two parents sleeping in the chairs; no worse than attempting to sleep sitting up in coach. While not the best for the parents, as most parents, their child getting a good, quiet, sleep is more important than theirs.

But, yea, talking Amtrak into it, is probably a long shot.


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## BuzzKillington (Dec 2, 2010)

Well I just did a trip with 2 adults and a 5 month old in a Viewliner roomette. It didn't work at all. We tried all sorts of things, but they really didn't work to get the person on the bottom bunk any sleep. In the bedroom, on the other hand, it worked just fine with room to spare.


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## had8ley (Dec 2, 2010)

Unless you want to do a re-make of Stalag 13 I would say "NEVER, EVER"~ consider the thought as a bad dream~period the end... :blush:


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## dlagrua (Dec 2, 2010)

The roomette is not a good idea so opt for the bedroom. The lower bunk in the bedroom is wide enough for one adult and one small child plus you will have a private bathroom.


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## Devil's Advocate (Dec 2, 2010)

Why not just book it online? I don't think the website knows or cares about these sorts of details. I don't know what (if anything) Amtrak personnel would say because I almost never talk to them. Although I've never tried to sleep with a child in the roomette others have stated it went fine in other posts. Some members have apparently never heard of these silly things called budgets.


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## ALC Rail Writer (Dec 2, 2010)

> Why not just book it online? I don't think the website knows or cares about these sorts of details.


It does. You can't book three people in any sleeper online, save the family bedroom on Superliner trains. If you put in a test booking for two adult and one child fares it will offer you two roomettes and/or the family room if available.

You must call Amtrak to book three people in a bedroom, they will not permit it in a roomette.


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## Devil's Advocate (Dec 2, 2010)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> It does. You can't book three people in any sleeper online, save the family bedroom on Superliner trains. If you put in a test booking for two adult and one child fares it will offer you two roomettes and/or the family room if available. You must call Amtrak to book three people in a bedroom, they will not permit it in a roomette.


According to a test booking I can buy eight tickets to go along with a single roomette. Even if you're right you could just book a roomette for two and then book a single coach seat online. Then you can put all three people in the roomette if you want.


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## Long Train Runnin' (Dec 2, 2010)

My first night on the train was when I was I think 3 or 4 my parents were able to book the 3 of us in a viewliner roomette, and I of course don't really remember to much about the trip, but I know we survived, and Amtrak allowed 3 people to be booked into the room.


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## ALC Rail Writer (Dec 2, 2010)

daxomni said:


> ALC_Rail_Writer said:
> 
> 
> > It does. You can't book three people in any sleeper online, save the family bedroom on Superliner trains. If you put in a test booking for two adult and one child fares it will offer you two roomettes and/or the family room if available. You must call Amtrak to book three people in a bedroom, they will not permit it in a roomette.
> ...


It most certainly will not. Keep going, you don't just stop at step one. I promise you it won't print two tickets with the same car and room number.

Stop acting like a know it all and feign reason before I doubt you are capable of it..


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## Devil's Advocate (Dec 2, 2010)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> It most certainly will not. Keep going, you don't just stop at step one. I promise you it won't print two tickets with the same car and room number. Stop acting like a know it all and feign reason before I doubt you are capable of it.


That's pretty funny coming from you ALC. You must be most humble and reasonable person on here. In your own mind. So lets say the tickets have different cars on them, which I never claimed otherwise, are the staff really going to stop you from entering the roomette with your three year old?


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## ALC Rail Writer (Dec 2, 2010)

No, but so much for your budget-minded Americans.

You buy two roomettes, one bedroom, the family room, or try coach.

You are avoiding the point, your contention is that the system will not be able to tell and or doesn't care tha you are putting three in a room. Point blank it does: you are wrong, your understanding of the system is flawed, and your advice to even attempt this is foolhardy at best.


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## Kaki (Dec 2, 2010)

Thank you for your replies!!! I called Amtrak to ask the question.....I was told that I cannot (online) book 3 people in a roomette. I can CALL them to book 3 in a roomette and at that time I would be made to understand that the room is small, etc. etc.

Since my daughter is 5 feet tall and weighs 98 pounds, I think that she and her 3 year old can fit in the bottom bed. He is quiet and well behaved....and loves trains. Should be a great trip!


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## ALC Rail Writer (Dec 2, 2010)

Her small stature will help, but be prepared to have it be a tight fit. I'm amazed they let you do it, I would advise you and your party take advantage of the lounge cars whenever possible to stretch out a little bit and enjoy yourselves. The roomettes will be extremely cramped, especially during the daytime.

Incidentally you neglected to mention what train you would be taking. It does make a difference.


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## Devil's Advocate (Dec 2, 2010)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> You are avoiding the point, your contention is that the system will not be able to tell and or doesn't care tha you are putting three in a room. Point blank it does: you are wrong, your understanding of the system is flawed, and your advice to even attempt this is foolhardy at best.


Actually my contention was that the system wouldn't know you were buying a coach seat for a three year old, which it doesn't, and that the staff wouldn't prevent you from making it to your roomette with your child in tow, which they won't. I didn't claim it would tie all the tickets to the room. My guess was that it would just put the first two names into the roomette but I never took my booking that far to find out.



Kaki said:


> I called Amtrak to ask the question.....I was told that I cannot (online) book 3 people in a roomette. I can CALL them to book 3 in a roomette and at that time I would be made to understand that the room is small, etc. etc. Since my daughter is 5 feet tall and weighs 98 pounds, I think that she and her 3 year old can fit in the bottom bed. He is quiet and well behaved...and loves trains. Should be a great trip!


I'm glad to hear you were able to get what you wanted and that reasonable exceptions can still prevail over by-the-book disappointments.


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## Kaki (Dec 2, 2010)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> Her small stature will help, but be prepared to have it be a tight fit. I'm amazed they let you do it, I would advise you and your party take advantage of the lounge cars whenever possible to stretch out a little bit and enjoy yourselves. The roomettes will be extremely cramped, especially during the daytime.
> 
> Incidentally you neglected to mention what train you would be taking. It does make a difference.


The trains would be: city of NO (Mem to Chi) and Empire Builder (Chi to Sea).

My husband and I took this same trip in 2008....I hope we can get everything together to do it again this summer..with daughter and her family.


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## ALC Rail Writer (Dec 2, 2010)

Kaki said:


> ALC_Rail_Writer said:
> 
> 
> > Her small stature will help, but be prepared to have it be a tight fit. I'm amazed they let you do it, I would advise you and your party take advantage of the lounge cars whenever possible to stretch out a little bit and enjoy yourselves. The roomettes will be extremely cramped, especially during the daytime.
> ...


I would have opted for the family bedroom, but since you're going with the roomette you should know the upper bunk gets very hot/cold and cramped. There's no window up there as you know, so I don't know how comfortable any one of you would be sitting all day up there.



> Actually my contention was that the system wouldn't know you were buying a coach seat for a three year old, which it doesn't, and that the staff wouldn't prevent you from making it to your roomette with your child in tow, which they won't.


They can and will, it has been done before, and for the record what you're suggesting is theft of services. Always is, always has been. Enforced or not.



> I didn't claim it would tie all the tickets to the room. My guess was that it would just put the first two names into the roomette but I never took my booking that far to find out.


That is not what you said at all, you're backing off an earlier statement in order to appear less incorrect. I'll let it pass. And no it won't allow you to book three in one on a roomette or regular bedroom, you should try test booking, and this time hit "add to cart" there should be a nice error message there. It will not let you to input passenger data until you edit your entry.


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## Devil's Advocate (Dec 2, 2010)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> They can and will, it has been done before, and for the record what you're suggesting is theft of services. Always is, always has been. Enforced or not.


Take that complaint to Amtrak. Telling me about it won't change anything. If you've followed my other posts you might have noticed that I'm actually among the least resource intensive sleeper passengers out there. I generally travel alone, I accept no help with my appropriately sized luggage, I don't drink the free juice or coffee, I skip most of the free food, I buy most of my alcohol on-board and I convert my own bed. I'm basically an SCA's best case scenario. I pay the full accommodation charge even as I leave plenty of goods and services on the table that Amtrak can then use to take care of more demanding people who need constant help and/or a constant supply of food. Even if the day ever comes that I let a third passenger into my normally full-cost and half-used roomette Amtrak is still getting the better end of the stick overall. But maybe if you complain loudly enough they'll stop allowing any exceptions and we can all watch them follow a by-the-book path into the financial gutter. Sometimes it pays to let something like this slide. So long as everyone has a ticket and the accommodation fee is paid it should be no big issue.



ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> That is not what you said at all, you're backing off an earlier statement in order to appear less incorrect.


If that's how you feel about it so be it. I really couldn't care less. The important thing is that the OP's family will apparently get the room with the three people they want on paid tickets. Whether that comes from the website or the phone or the station counter is of little concern to me and I don't see why Amtrak would care either.


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## Big Iron (Dec 2, 2010)

I can't think of many things that would be more fun than taking the train with my family, snuggling with my 3 year old being rocked to sleep by the rythmn of the rails. That is what family memories are made of.

My love for trains began as a young child taking the train from Richmond, VA to Princeton, IL to visit my grandparents. The Christmas trips were extra special with the layovers in DC and Chicago.

A family of five, three sons, travelled in every accommodation the B & O and Amtrak threw at us. A few times the 3 brothers sharing one double slumbercoach while my folks were across the hall. The best trips being in the ensuite bedrooms. Of course, most rail accommodations travel in even numbers so my twin brother and I generally shared.

I hope that they can get the three of them in the roomette, create fond family memories and better yet, create a new railfan.


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## dlagrua (Dec 2, 2010)

> Since my daughter is 5 feet tall and weighs 98 pounds, I think that she and her 3 year old can fit in the bottom bed. He is quiet and well behaved....and loves trains. Should be a great trip!


If your petite daughter and the 3 yr old slept head to toe in the bottom bunk it might work out. I would just bring an extra pillow and an extra sheet to make them as comfortable as possible.


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## abcnews (Dec 2, 2010)

I don't know if you could book it- they should allow you, but may not. I do think the Conductor would not care. We recently met a young mom on the Silver Star with a Roomette for the first time - and she loved it. The Conductor charged her a very low upgrade fee - and he allowed both of her kids in the Roomette. She told us in the Diner that they started out in coach, upgraded around Savannah - which I guess reduced her overall fee. I think it was like $75 or $125 - don't recall now. But he was fine with all 3 in a Roomette. Better than having them all back in coach trying to sleep..

She mentioned that the difference was "night & day". She just loved the "other side". So I told her about AGR and their credit card, and points. etc... since we were traveling in a Bedroom for free. She was really interested.

But worst case - they could book a Roomette (2 people) and a coach ticket. Then all 3 just sleep in there. Just tip well, so everyone is happy. I know in the past - I would book one Roomette, even though some in our family were coach.

I also once booked a Bedroom on the Twilight Shoreliner (NYC - VA), and 3 of my daughters were in the lower bed. I had the upper - and my oldest son, was next door in a BC sleeper seat- but I think that his ticket was also in the BR with us. They allowed all five of us to squeeze in a BR. Not sure why we wanted that, but I guess we did... In fact, now that I recall, it was awful. You can't sleep on the NorthEast Corridor because you are just going too fast. Like trying to sleep in the back of a race car at Daytona. I think I felt like I was in the cargo hold of a jet airplane. But we do have fond memories of that trip. I was just determined not to overspend.

I guess looking back, they were trying to be nice at Amtrak - knowing how expensive sleepers can be. As I recall - they honored my request to travel with 4 kids in a BR. To their credit - they allowed me to have it my way...


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## Kaki (Dec 2, 2010)

Big Iron said:


> I can't think of many things that would be more fun than taking the train with my family, snuggling with my 3 year old being rocked to sleep by the rythmn of the rails. That is what family memories are made of.
> 
> My love for trains began as a young child taking the train from Richmond, VA to Princeton, IL to visit my grandparents. The Christmas trips were extra special with the layovers in DC and Chicago.
> 
> ...


Thank you..thank you!!!!!

Family and memories...that's what we are doing. My grandson LOVES trains, I think it's because we took him on Amtrak when he was 10 months old (Little Rock to San Antonio) 

He has a little Amtrak overalls that he wore for his third (train theme) birthday. We have taken him on most of the local excursion trains in our area. We think he will love the long distance trip. If there is a family bedroom available that is reasonable, I will get that. We will be ok in a roomette if not.


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## GG-1 (Dec 3, 2010)

Big Iron said:


> I can't think of many things that would be more fun than taking the train with my family, snuggling with my 3 year old being rocked to sleep by the rythmn of the rails. That is what family memories are made of.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> I hope that they can get the three of them in the roomette, create fond family memories and better yet, create a new railfan.


Aloha

I think this part of what you said is the best, most important part of life. I agree with you a million times


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## Devil's Advocate (Dec 3, 2010)

Kaki said:


> Big Iron said:
> 
> 
> > I can't think of many things that would be more fun than taking the train with my family, snuggling with my 3 year old being rocked to sleep by the rythmn of the rails. That is what family memories are made of.
> ...


This is how family memories _and_ future railroaders are made. I _also_ had a train-themed third birthday with a cake that was shaped like a steam engine and had a toy train and rode Amtrak early in my life and was hooked. Over time it became more and more difficult to take the train as other interests competed with Amtrak's time schedule but eventually I returned and I hope trains will be there for me to continue to choose until the last of my days.


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## Big Iron (Dec 3, 2010)

Kaki said:


> Big Iron said:
> 
> 
> > I can't think of many things that would be more fun than taking the train with my family, snuggling with my 3 year old being rocked to sleep by the rythmn of the rails. That is what family memories are made of.
> ...


He is going to have the time of his life. Sounds like there is a future "foamer" in your life, and I say that with all due respect. When I started riding trains passenger service was in full decline prior to Amtrak taking over. I don't remember the equipment failures, late trains, ragged equipment.....just the great times with family going to visit family.

Given its faults, Amtrak is still a great way to travel.


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## kaki (Dec 11, 2010)

Update:

I have our trip reserved  

The first time I called I was told the we WOULD be able to put mom, dad, and their 3 year-old in the roomette together. When I called back and the agent actually tried to enter it, the system would not let her do it. Oh well. We were able to get a reasonably priced family bedroom for the outbound trip and a much higher priced family bedroom for the return trip (chi-sea/sea-chi). 

 

My husband and I were able to get reasonably priced roomettes for the whole trip. My son-in-law will sleep in coach for the mem-chi/chi-mem trip since that whole trip is about 10 hours, at night.


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## ALC Rail Writer (Dec 11, 2010)

You will enjoy the family bedroom a lot more.


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## AlanB (Dec 12, 2010)

ALC_Rail_Writer said:


> You will enjoy the family bedroom a lot more.


I agree! 

You'll have a lot more room for the 3-year-old during the day with the family room, as compared to the roomette. And even at night, you'll be far less cramped with the extra bed for the little one.


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## alanh (Dec 12, 2010)

Officially they will allow up to 2 adults and 2 infants (under 2, one per adult) in a roomette. Even with infants, I think you'd be pretty cramped with two. The same applies for the accessible room.

Bedrooms will allow 3 adults and/or children (2-15), but you have to call so they make sure you know the size. Family rooms allow 2 adults and 2 children.

In all cases, if you haven't ridden in one before, be aware the beds are really, really narrow. The lower roomette bunk is just 28 inches wide, and the upper is 24 inches. The lower bedroom bunk is 40 inches wide, and is the only one you could plausibly use for two adult-sized people. This is about the size of a twin bed, so the two in it should be really friendly.


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## Kaki (Dec 12, 2010)

alanh said:


> Officially they will allow up to 2 adults and 2 infants (under 2, one per adult) in a roomette. Even with infants, I think you'd be pretty cramped with two. The same applies for the accessible room.
> 
> Bedrooms will allow 3 adults and/or children (2-15), but you have to call so they make sure you know the size. Family rooms allow 2 adults and 2 children.
> 
> In all cases, if you haven't ridden in one before, be aware the beds are really, really narrow. The lower roomette bunk is just 28 inches wide, and the upper is 24 inches. The lower bedroom bunk is 40 inches wide, and is the only one you could plausibly use for two adult-sized people. This is about the size of a twin bed, so the two in it should be really friendly.


They took a trip together in a roomette when the baby was 10 months old with no problem.

My daughter and her 3 year old are booked in a roomette...Mom and son will be sleeping on the bottom bunk and the top bunk will be empty.....with son-in-law in coach. I tried to explain this to the reservation agent and she tried to reserve it with all 3 in the roomette, the system would not let her do it.

Soooo....I am hoping the after we board we can talk to the porter and he will understand the situation and let my son-in-law sleep on the top bunk. That portion of the trip is an overnight and is from 10:30 at night until 7 in the morning

I was able to get them a family bedroom for both ways on the Empire Builder, one way was VERY reasonable and the other way was NOT reasonable....oh well, it will be a great trip anyway!!!

Also, on one portion of the EB our roomette will be in a different car than their family bedroom and that will be ok too! We are all really excited!


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