Amtrak Dining and Cafe Service discussion 2024 H2

[railiner]

It's been a while since I've been on a Viewliner but I believe the coffee maker was a Douwe Egberts machine that uses liquid coffee concentrate that's mixed with hot water.

Yuk! Princess Cruises used to use liquid coffee concentrate, and had the reputation for the worst coffee at sea. They have since improved with regular ground coffee.

 

[PVD]

I haven't seen one of those machines on a train in a while. They sell quite a few different concentrates, and some are very good, and some are certainly not. Also, they need to be kept clean and have a good water supply. The one thing they do provide is the ability to have 24 hr service without too much of a hassle. A route like the AutoTrain (limited morning travel) it could make sense.

 

[toddinde]

Yes, we are a nation of slobs.

I haven’t noticed anyone particularly dressing up in European trains, and there aren’t a whole lot with dining cars. But generally, Europeans dress better than Americans.

 

[eackly]

I haven't seen one of those machines on a train in a while. They sell quite a few different concentrates, and some are very good, and some are certainly not. Also, they need to be kept clean and have a good water supply. The one thing they do provide is the ability to have 24 hr service without too much of a hassle. A route like the AutoTrain (limited morning travel) it could make sense.

A buddy of mine from my undergrad days, designs coffee machine for BUN and I have tried liquid concentrate coffee at his house and my unrefined palette could not tell the difference between it and ground coffee.

With that said, he has said that it needs to be a quality liquid coffee of which there is a lot of variation from very cheap to high quality.

Burger King for the longest time used liquid coffee from Douwe Egberts and it was pretty bad.

I have no idea if it is even feasible for AMTRAK to purchase and install liquid coffee dispensers.

 

[railiner]

This is used in a couple of different lounges on my current cruise ship. Makes a freshly ground, from beans, variety of french press coffee drinks. Delicious!
Might be a bit too large for just a single sleeper use.

 

[alanh]

Found a pic of the Viewliner II coffee station. It's just an insulated carafe which I assume they fill in the diner or cafe. There are outlets for a coffee maker but aren't being used,


Here's the Superliner urn.

 

[UserNameRequired]

Found a pic of the Viewliner II coffee station. It's just an insulated carafe which I assume they fill in the diner or cafe. There are outlets for a coffee maker but aren't being used,


...

Interesting, a 15 Amp 250 Volt outlet. Would a coffee maker they could have used have a water supply too?

 

[Willbridge]

Found a pic of the Viewliner II coffee station. It's just an insulated carafe which I assume they fill in the diner or cafe. There are outlets for a coffee maker but aren't being used,


Here's the Superliner urn.

The Superliner urn always looks like someone just thought of it the day before. On the other hand, if it goes bad order, it can just be pitched out.

 

[Asher]

I haven’t noticed anyone particularly dressing up in European trains, and there aren’t a whole lot with dining cars. But generally, Europeans dress better than Americans.

Nice suit and tie, no deodorant.

 

[alanh]

A buddy of mine from my undergrad days, designs coffee machine for BUN and I have tried liquid concentrate coffee at his house and my unrefined palette could not tell the difference between it and ground coffee.

With that said, he has said that it needs to be a quality liquid coffee of which there is a lot of variation from very cheap to high quality.

Burger King for the longest time used liquid coffee from Douwe Egberts and it was pretty bad.

I have no idea if it is even feasible for AMTRAK to purchase and install liquid coffee dispensers.

I know they've used them in the past. I'm certain I've seen them in the Superliner diners. The advantage is there's no grounds to deal with and coffee sitting that has to be dumped. It also has a hot water spigot. The disadvantage, at least in my opinion, is the ones I've had taste lousy.

 

[JamesWhitcombRiley]

Better coffee machines are showing up in big gas stations. Sheetz has the same ones I've seen elsewhere, with fresh beans on the top and a grinder built-in, single pours. At Sheetz all the machines are like this, while other places still have one additional machine, the old type with flavored coffee from powders.

 

[blueman271]

I don’t understand all the hand wringing about coffee. Free and hot seems like a pretty good deal.

 

[PVD]

The coffee discussion started because on a particular riders' trips it was neither hot nor free, it was missing completely. And free and hot is not a good deal if the product is substandard by a wide margin. Peoples' likes and dislikes as to what is a desirable blend may vary, but there are clear differences between cheap blends and better ones whether in ground, instant or concentrate. A clean coffeemaker (whatever type) and decent water are prerequisites regardless. And a large number of people prefer real dairy products to chem-lab creamers.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I don’t understand all the hand wringing about coffee. Free and hot seems like a pretty good deal.

Only a Navy guy really understands this!

 

[Asher]

That’s the way it was when I started drinking coffee. My dad being a navy Bosun could make strong coffee, good martinis and in later years sourdough bread. No complaints allowed.

 

[JoeRids]

I am on the eastbound Cardinal. The state on onboard service is, sporadic, to put it kindly.

So, I received two dinners; one last night and one just now. The SCA advised me I was only entitled to 1 alcoholic beverage for the entire trip. Is this correct?

As an aside, the passenger next to me told me he received 2 drinks (one with each dinner).

Also, in order to make way for a SCA carrying food, I accidentally bumped into the coach attendant (who did nothing the whole trip but board passengers and spent the rest of the time in the cafe car doing nothing). The way she carried on about it, I hope she will seek serious medical attention soon!

 

[nmarsh]

I haven’t noticed anyone particularly dressing up in European trains, and there aren’t a whole lot with dining cars. But generally, Europeans dress better than Americans.

Don't you think that it might have more to do with who has money to dress better/do international traveling vs. which culture has better taste?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I am on the eastbound Cardinal. The state on onboard service is, sporadic, to put it kindly.

So, I received two dinners; one last night and one just now. The SCA advised me I was only entitled to 1 alcoholic beverage for the entire trip. Is this correct?

As an aside, the passenger next to me told me he received 2 drinks (one with each dinner).

Also, in order to make way for a SCA carrying food, I accidentally bumped into the coach attendant (who did nothing the whole trip but board passengers and spent the rest of the time in the cafe car doing nothing). The way she carried on about it, I hope she will seek serious medical attention soon!

If you were in a sleeper how do you know the coach attendant “did nothing the whole trip”? And what did you expect her to be doing the whole trip?

 

[JoeRids]

If you were in a sleeper how do you know the coach attendant “did nothing the whole trip”? And what did you expect her to be doing the whole trip?

You are correct, I shouldn’t be so presumptuous. After all, even though I noticed her sitting in the cafe for several hours, taking up an entire table, listening to music (sometimes at volume) and also barking at me to “ask your sleeping car attendant” when I asked her a simple question which she wouldn’t even allow me to finish , I am in no place to judge a fellow human being. For all I know she could have spent the rest of the time in the coaches caring for her passengers (who pay her salary). I also did acknowledge in my post that she did stand by the door at station stops, so I guess she did all that was required.
The purpose of my post was really to ask about the beverage; this was just an aside that I see went horribly awry.

 

[gregg_vw]

I am on the eastbound Cardinal. The state on onboard service is, sporadic, to put it kindly.

So, I received two dinners; one last night and one just now. The SCA advised me I was only entitled to 1 alcoholic beverage for the entire trip. Is this correct?

As an aside, the passenger next to me told me he received 2 drinks (one with each dinner).

Also, in order to make way for a SCA carrying food, I accidentally bumped into the coach attendant (who did nothing the whole trip but board passengers and spent the rest of the time in the cafe car doing nothing). The way she carried on about it, I hope she will seek serious medical attention soon!

You are entitled to one alcoholic beverage with each dinner. The SCA should well know that.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

You are entitled to one alcoholic beverage with each dinner. The SCA should well know that.

And if you’re lucky enough to sit with me you might get a 2nd drink for free. I was seated with 3 newbies on the Empire Builder and 2 of them ordered a 2nd drink. When the LSA came to collect I asked her if one of them could have my free drink and she said yes.
I had also offered to order an appetizer at each of my 4 dinners if anyone wanted 2nds. Only twice was I taken up in that offer.

 

[MARC Rider]

You are entitled to one alcoholic beverage with each dinner. The SCA should well know that.

Unless they've changed their policy, it's only one free alcoholic beverage for the entire trip.

 

[MccfamschoolMom]

The PDF of the Floridian's dinner menu states, "Served with a complimentary alcoholic beverage". The description of the Floridian's Traditional Dining on the main Traditional Dining page on the Amtrak website states, "First alcoholic drink at dinner on us". However, it is unclear from those two pieces of information whether the first alcoholic beverage at each dinner meal is free, or just the first alcoholic beverage overall which is free. A moot point for the hubby and me personally, since he's a teetotaler and I haven't touched the stuff in over 30 years, but I'd want to see an official ruling from Amtrak on the issue, and I'd be inclined to argue that the current language implies 1 free alcoholic beverage at each dinner meal.

 

[zephyr17]

Unless they've changed their policy, it's only one free alcoholic beverage for the entire trip.

It's one drink per dinner service. That is always how it has been done on the western trains, anyway.

 

[Asher]

The PDF of the Floridian's dinner menu states, "Served with a complimentary alcoholic beverage". The description of the Floridian's Traditional Dining on the main Traditional Dining page on the Amtrak website states, "First alcoholic drink at dinner on us". However, it is unclear from those two pieces of information whether the first alcoholic beverage at each dinner meal is free, or just the first alcoholic beverage overall which is free. A moot point for the hubby and me personally, since he's a teetotaler and I haven't touched the stuff in over 30 years, but I'd want to see an official ruling from Amtrak on the issue, and I'd be inclined to argue that the current language implies 1 free alcoholic beverage at each dinner meal.

Are you referring to each diner meal or each dinner meal. Personally I usually abstain at breakfast.