On October 20, a friend and I rode the Builder from Chicago to Portland, then caught the Coast Starlight to L.A. We had a bedroom on both trains. This isn't a trip report, but some random observations.
The equipment on the Builder did not live up to the "premier" marketing. Many (if not the majority) of the fluorescent lights on the upper deck of the lounge were either completely out or were dimly flickering, as from bad ballast. The heating in our car went in and out the entire trip. The toilets stopped working on the final day.
The OBS crew of the Builder was no better. Our attendant, Steven, did not offer to familiarize us with the features of the room, nor was he available in-person or by call-button when we wanted the room converted. In Minneapolis, through some mis-communication a wheelchair-bound, older female passenger was put on the platform before anyone was available to help her. It was a cold night, and she was complaining about being cold, yet the attendant didn't do anything but walk away. He, by the way, was in a full parka and hat. Mike, my traveling companion, saw what was going on. He retrieved her luggage from the rack so she could find a warm garment to put on. Seems to me she could have either been wheeled into the vestibule to wait, or Steven could have done what Mike did, or maybe Steven could have wheeled her into the waiting room... but don't just leave an old, cold, disabled woman on a platform!
One of the diner attendants (her name began with a "V" but I don't remember the full name) must have gone to charm school in Soviet Russia. She was too in a hurry about everything, never smiled, and took shortcuts like yelling the "evening special" to four tables at once (while some of the pax were still in the process of sitting down) instead of informing each table separately. One lunch, she was delivering desserts when a bump caused one of the ice cream containers to launch itself toward one of the passengers seated opposite us. The ice cream hit him in the arm. V just grabbed the ice cream off the floor and put it in front of the pax without even an apology. For the rest of that run, we dreaded the thought of having her as our attendant.
Once in Portland, Steven did not offer to remove our bags from the rack. I did that myself.
The Builder lost time mid-route but we ended up in Portland a tad early.
Now, on to the Starlight.
Our attendant was Maddie (Maddy?), a younger man who transferred from Chicago because he didn't like the weather there. He was more personable than Steven, but even he did not offer to explain anything about our room or on-board routines. We received a champagne split upon boarding, but no toiletries kit. He did, however, keep each common bathroom stocked with a can of Febreeze, which I thought was a clever and nice touch.
We took all our meals in the PPC, and Debbie was our attendant. She had a somewhat loud and grating voice, but she did provide some of the most attentive service we had on the trip. It was clear that she was passionate about the PPC and keeping it on the CS route. Maybe she was a little too passionate: after each of the two wine tastings we did, we all got a mini-lecture about the economics of the PPC, Amtrak accounting, money distributions, making back the refurbishment costs, etc. What could have been a simple plea, "Please support the PPC by eating here and purchasing drinks here so we can continue to offer this wonderful experience to you" became a five-minute talk that went over the heads of most pax and had them looking at each other with facial expressions that seemed to say, "What the f*** is she talking about and why do I need to hear this?" Don't get me wrong: it's great to see such involvement, but I don't know that it had the desired effect.
The Starlight was punctual the entire trip.
Once we arrived in L.A., I asked Mike (an Amtrak virgin) if he would do a LD trip again. Answer: Not if it's like the Builder, but yes if it's like the Starlight. He really got off on the PPC being for sleeper-passengers only. Actually, I rather liked that touch, too. The car was much less crowded that the Sightseer Lounge, and it just made for an elevated experience.
The equipment on the Builder did not live up to the "premier" marketing. Many (if not the majority) of the fluorescent lights on the upper deck of the lounge were either completely out or were dimly flickering, as from bad ballast. The heating in our car went in and out the entire trip. The toilets stopped working on the final day.
The OBS crew of the Builder was no better. Our attendant, Steven, did not offer to familiarize us with the features of the room, nor was he available in-person or by call-button when we wanted the room converted. In Minneapolis, through some mis-communication a wheelchair-bound, older female passenger was put on the platform before anyone was available to help her. It was a cold night, and she was complaining about being cold, yet the attendant didn't do anything but walk away. He, by the way, was in a full parka and hat. Mike, my traveling companion, saw what was going on. He retrieved her luggage from the rack so she could find a warm garment to put on. Seems to me she could have either been wheeled into the vestibule to wait, or Steven could have done what Mike did, or maybe Steven could have wheeled her into the waiting room... but don't just leave an old, cold, disabled woman on a platform!
One of the diner attendants (her name began with a "V" but I don't remember the full name) must have gone to charm school in Soviet Russia. She was too in a hurry about everything, never smiled, and took shortcuts like yelling the "evening special" to four tables at once (while some of the pax were still in the process of sitting down) instead of informing each table separately. One lunch, she was delivering desserts when a bump caused one of the ice cream containers to launch itself toward one of the passengers seated opposite us. The ice cream hit him in the arm. V just grabbed the ice cream off the floor and put it in front of the pax without even an apology. For the rest of that run, we dreaded the thought of having her as our attendant.
Once in Portland, Steven did not offer to remove our bags from the rack. I did that myself.
The Builder lost time mid-route but we ended up in Portland a tad early.
Now, on to the Starlight.
Our attendant was Maddie (Maddy?), a younger man who transferred from Chicago because he didn't like the weather there. He was more personable than Steven, but even he did not offer to explain anything about our room or on-board routines. We received a champagne split upon boarding, but no toiletries kit. He did, however, keep each common bathroom stocked with a can of Febreeze, which I thought was a clever and nice touch.
We took all our meals in the PPC, and Debbie was our attendant. She had a somewhat loud and grating voice, but she did provide some of the most attentive service we had on the trip. It was clear that she was passionate about the PPC and keeping it on the CS route. Maybe she was a little too passionate: after each of the two wine tastings we did, we all got a mini-lecture about the economics of the PPC, Amtrak accounting, money distributions, making back the refurbishment costs, etc. What could have been a simple plea, "Please support the PPC by eating here and purchasing drinks here so we can continue to offer this wonderful experience to you" became a five-minute talk that went over the heads of most pax and had them looking at each other with facial expressions that seemed to say, "What the f*** is she talking about and why do I need to hear this?" Don't get me wrong: it's great to see such involvement, but I don't know that it had the desired effect.
The Starlight was punctual the entire trip.
Once we arrived in L.A., I asked Mike (an Amtrak virgin) if he would do a LD trip again. Answer: Not if it's like the Builder, but yes if it's like the Starlight. He really got off on the PPC being for sleeper-passengers only. Actually, I rather liked that touch, too. The car was much less crowded that the Sightseer Lounge, and it just made for an elevated experience.
