Crescent discussion 2023 Q4 - 2024

[Sidney]

The Crescent and the Eagle are the two longest trains still stuck with flex.?Traditional dining should be on both these trains.

 

[zephyr17]

The Crescent and the Eagle are the two longest trains still stuck with flex.?Traditional dining should be on both these trains.

Traditional dining should be on all long distance trains. Eagle, Crescent and Lake Shore are still on Flex. On Amtrak.com, CONO is shown to be on Flex, but reports here indicate that sleeper passengers just get comped cafe food. Which, personally, I'd prefer.

 

[xzperu42]

It may only be more lipstick, but at least the dining car was crisp and clean on the outside

 

[drdumont]

Nice ride so far, we are on time as we approach Atlanta. I had dinner last night in my room and it was better than the Flex meals I recall having pre covid. I had the beef dish:
View attachment 36795

When I return on Monday the dining car should be back on, so it will be interesting to compare.

The staff so far have all been good. No complaints.

Window in Cafe (it’s not Switzerland, but still not bad):

View attachment 36796

Sorry to bust your bubble, but that is FLEX porqueria. I can't use the usual sobriquet here.

Might also be they are concerned about somebody using some non-approved detergent or cleaning fluid that is not permitted and that could damage the coating of the glass or the rubber surrounds or something else.

"Coating on the glass"... That's rich. It's not glass, it is LEXAN, a plastic developed by GE, IIRC. The coating on the outside is DIRT.
I use plain bottled water, which works well. Thus I don't have to rinse.

 

[JWM]

Wash the train, get the windows clean and if the cars need glass to do it then do it. Also, get the dining cars back on the on the overnight trains that still do not have them. We are not talking "haute cuisine" here. A lot of prep, I think, is done "off train" and it is a matter of cooking a steak, plating it and serving it. This isn't rocket science.

 

[drdumont]

Wash the train, get the windows clean and if the cars need glass to do it then do it. Also, get the dining cars back on the on the overnight trains that still do not have them. We are not talking "haute cuisine" here. A lot of prep, I think, is done "off train" and it is a matter of cooking a steak, plating it and serving it. This isn't rocket science.

Alas, railroads had to resort to Lexan and other polycarbonates due to morons who throw things or shoot at trains. It is less abrasion resistant but more resistant to impact damage. FRA glazing regulations also require dual panes for safety.

 

[BarryATL]

This person flogged a recent trip on the entire length of The Crescent in a roomette. The room and most of the car is in such bad shape. I have avoided the train since Covid. I am glad I did. I would have been very unhappy to pay those high prices for are really beat-up coach. By the way, it was filmed before 6/1 so he is showing us flix dining.

 

[zephyr17]

This person flogged a recent trip on the entire length of The Crescent in a roomette. The room and most of the car is in such bad shape. I have avoided the train since Covid. I am glad I did. I would have been very unhappy to pay those high prices for are really beat-up coach. By the way, it was filmed before 6/1 so he is showing us flix dining.

Looks like a pretty normal Viewliner I to me, worn but not particularly "beat up". As I said, pretty normal. Agree that Viewliner I sleepers are not a great value proposition, but it is what it is (and has been for awhile).

 

[Sidney]

This person flogged a recent trip on the entire length of The Crescent in a roomette. The room and most of the car is in such bad shape. I have avoided the train since Covid. I am glad I did. I would have been very unhappy to pay those high prices for are really beat-up coach. By the way, it was filmed before 6/1 so he is showing us flix dining.

It still is flex. Only difference is now it is served in the dining car.

 

[jiml]

This person flogged a recent trip on the entire length of The Crescent in a roomette.

That person is a member here and has reviewed several Amtrak trains. He definitely leans positive in his reports, which makes this one more concerning.

 

[jis]

That person is a member here and has reviewed several Amtrak trains. He definitely leans positive in his reports, which makes this one more concerning.

As an aside, the Viewliner Is are next in line for refurbishment.

 

[tgstubbs1]

It still is flex. Only difference is now it is served in the dining car.

This video had more details about the amenities than other videos. His comments about the food were interesting. He seemed to like the taste but not the presentation.
I wonder if there is some reason they use black plastic dishes. I can't recall seeing black china at anyone's house, or restaurant.
Maybe the flex food would look better if the plastic dishes were more like regular china.

 

[xzperu42]

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This video had more details about the amenities than other videos. His comments about the food were interesting. He seemed to like the taste but not the presentation.
I wonder if there is some reason they use black plastic dishes. I can't recall seeing black china at anyone's house, or restaurant.
Maybe the flex food would look better if the plastic dishes were more like regular China.

Having just ridden the Cresent round trip , my take as previously mentioned is that the flex food is OK for about two meals per year. I was confronted with 8 of them within a week and could not stand the thought after about 6.

I watched the video, and it was better than most for sure. Even though he pointed out and videoed some of the shortcomings, my impression was he still enjoyed the trip... which was also what I experienced.

 

[drdumont]

I recently rode the Crescent from Phila. to New Orleans. The 2 days before the day of The Great Eclipse. There was nothing wrong with the Viewliner I, no flat wheels, everything worked. The food, alas, was crap. You can serve FLEX meals on black plastic, in foil pans, or on the finest bone china, and it is still crap. Lipstick on a pig. Sure, the VL I is dated, but I had no issues.
It's so sad, as the food and the service even after the AMTRAK takeover was excellent. I remember the pecan pie with ice cream, peach cobbler and other regional delectables. Too bad it has gone the way of The Good Old Days.

 

[xzperu42]

The apple pie and ice cream on Amtrak from way back was good too. My recent Crescent trip was the first time I ever had a Frank & Louies’s Buttercake.

​

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I want to know what everyone does for food when not traveling. Some of you must have a personal chef that cooks every meal. I would so much prefer traditional dining, partly just for the dinner, and partly to have a union label on my meal with a cook/chef making my meal, but to call it crap and lipstick on a pig. That seems harsh. It is not great but it is edible. It would be healthier if it was not full of salt and preservatives but that is in a lot of food sadly.

 

[Rasputin]

I eat at home, sometimes good healthy food, sometimes not. But I am not paying $600 and up for the home experience.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I eat at home, sometimes good healthy food, sometimes not. But I am not paying $600 and up for the home experience.

I would like to see what the cost is to Amtrak for the flex meals and what it would cost for what was around 2017 and adjust for inflation.

 

[zephyr17]

I want to know what everyone does for food when not traveling. Some of you must have a personal chef that cooks every meal. I would so much prefer traditional dining, partly just for the dinner, and partly to have a union label on my meal with a cook/chef making my meal, but to call it crap and lipstick on a pig. That seems harsh. It is not great but it is edible. It would be healthier if it was not full of salt and preservatives but that is in a lot of food sadly.

I don't eat sodium bomb frozen dinners, so there's that...

 

[Chatter163]

I would like to see what the cost is to Amtrak for the flex meals and what it would cost for what was around 2017 and adjust for inflation.

It’s not the cost of the food that saves them money, it’s the dining car payroll.

 

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

It’s not the cost of the food that saves them money, it’s the dining car payroll.

I would assume that is true for about any restaurant, including fast food. Maintenance and upkeep of car, labor, supplies, food. Add it all up and what do you get for a number. I am curious.

 

[Sidney]

I eat at home, sometimes good healthy food, sometimes not. But I am not paying $600 and up for the home experience.

That’s the crux of it. The Crescent charges quite a bit for their sleepers. To be served flex is an insult. Good cooked to order food(traditional dining) is part of the Amtrak experience.!Not reheated TV dinners.

I just began a rail pass. First part is NY to Chicago on the LSL. I did book a roomette on the CONO to New Orleans because I found one for $350. Also it’s cafe car food for sleepers, a step up from flex. Back to the pass from NOL to Washington.on the Crrscent. I was trying to break it up with an overnight from Birmingham to Greensboro, but at $450 I passed.

 

[cassie225]

So viewliners are up for refurbishment/ but when Amtrak is so slow and I’m to the point that when it’s said it might be years and years and years. Just give me traditional and I can deal with the sleepers in said condition

 

[Eternityroad]

That’s the crux of it. The Crescent charges quite a bit for their sleepers. To be served flex is an insult. Good cooked to order food(traditional dining) is part of the Amtrak experience.!Not reheated TV dinners.

I just began a rail pass. First part is NY to Chicago on the LSL. I did book a roomette on the CONO to New Orleans because I found one for $350. Also it’s cafe car food for sleepers, a step up from flex. Back to the pass from NOL to Washington.on the Crrscent. I was trying to break it up with an overnight from Birmingham to Greensboro, but at $450 I passed.

For years I traveled Coach between the west and east coasts on the SWC. Then one night after boarding back in 2010 I became aware that I could book a roomette on the train at lower price. (I boarded in Kingman Ar.) I had a great time and the food was great considering this was a train. In the ensuing years I pre-booked roomettes and had awesome rides on the SWC. it has been now been years since I traveled Amtrak and after reading posts on this site I am reluctant to get a roomette when i next decide to travel East. I do not fly so I would rather sit in coach and bring my own cache of food. It is a shame that the quality of service has fallen so much.

 

[Lonestar2804]

This person flogged a recent trip on the entire length of The Crescent in a roomette. The room and most of the car is in such bad shape. I have avoided the train since Covid. I am glad I did. I would have been very unhappy to pay those high prices for are really beat-up coach. By the way, it was filmed before 6/1 so he is showing us flix dining.

This person is me lol. While the viewliner 1s are tired (if you can even describe it as that by this point), it was still a pleasant trip. Granted, I always see rail travel as a fun and enjoyable experience, hence the overall positive outlook from the video. I do wish Amtrak would take into account the car type and meal service when pricing sleepers, as I paid $700 for that trip, which is way more than it was worth. The v1s are also next to be refurbed, so the pricing will make at least a little more sense moving forward. I don't think Amtrak has released any renders or images of what the refurb looks like, but my guess is they'll be identical to the Superliner refresh. Also, as others have mentioned, and as I mentioned in the video, even though the dining car is returning, flex meals will still be served until at least Q4 of this year or Q1 of next year.