These amenities need to be provided on all trains, or don't bother.
Agreed. That means they should have been ADDED to all trains not removed from the few that had it.
The wine and cheese tasting, and the champagne and cider... not needed.
I feel like this was eliminated because it was a target of criticism. I would have been supportive of a small fee (they had a $5 fee for a while) to cover the cost of the wine and cheese. The costs could also be recovered through pushing wine sales not only at the end of the tasting, but at dinner time.
The cranberry juice... This is a cost/usage decision that management should make, and be respected.
I agree. This should be a decision made based on how many passengers are using the amenity (hopefully it was).
Newspapers are nice, but one or two copies in the lounge(s) would be all thats needed... Picking up local papers at intermediate stations would be a nice, inexpensive touch.
On the San Joaquin complementary newspapers are provided for all passengers. They just leave a stack of them in the café for passengers to grab. I feel like they could go to a system like this and just leave a few copies in the sleeping car for passengers to grab. They could also sell papers in the lounge car. Heck, I think it would be nice if they would sell paperback copies of popular books in the lounge (similar to the newsstand service provided in the golden era of train travel.)
Amenity kits most likely go to waste as most people have there favorite brands of toothpaste/shampoo, etc. HOWEVER the lounge car should have a basic inventory of toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, shampoo, soap, cough drops, and other essential hygiene products for sale.
I guess I the only one on this forum that liked the Amenity Bags. I enjoy trying the different brands of shampoo and conditioner provided by hotels (especially when it's a better brand). I always thought the stuff Amtrak provided was pretty good.
I'm a HUGE advocate of Amtrak installing Shampoo and Conditioner dispensers in the shower rooms and lotion dispensers in the sleeper bathrooms. That way the amenity is provided... without the "shrink" of tossing the stuff that is partially used.
But if left with no other choice, I like the idea of offering these items in the lounge car.
Most hotels (3 star and up) proudly offer a service where if you forget a toothbrush or a razor they will happily provide one for free (I think they are provided by the manufacturers as a measure of goodwill. I once had to shave using a woman's Venus razor that said "Complements of Gillette" and had a coupon to buy my own inside. I passed on that offer.) Maybe Amtrak can work out a similar arrangement.
Vases should be provided by Amtrak, but as an option for the OBS diner staff.
Flowers and chocolates should be an option for the OBS diner/sleeper staff to provide, make it THEIR decision if it increases tips to make it worthwhile (and the costs should be tax deductible as an unreimbursed expense). On the lines of this specifically allow crew members to provide extra “little things” at their expense, though rules/guidelines of what NOT to do would be needed.
On my last trip on the California Zephyr we had an awesome SCA who provided his own cookies, candy and chocolates to passengers (he admitted that the extra tips he gets for providing this extra service more than covers the cost of all of the items items).