How exactly does the CCC work for sleeper passengers

[Disneymom2hann]

Hi!

We (my husband, 13 year old special needs daughter, my mother-in-law, and myself) will be traveling on the City of New Orleans the day before Thanksgiving from NOL to Memphis. My family (not including the mil) will be returning on the same train the day after Thanksgiving. We have two roomettes each way. My mother-in-law actually took coach down on the same train last Friday and said there was "no dining car and no sightseeing car."

So I researched and I'm bummed about the apparent loss of the Sightseer Lounge but even more concerned about how dining works for sleeping car passengers. From what I've read, the CCC can be impossibly crowded with long lines. With both an 82 year old mother-in-law AND a special needs teenager, I'm a little worried.

Can someone explain how this works? Specifically, what about the long lines? Neither the mil nor the teen can really handle long lines. What if there is no place to sit? Can we bring food back to the roomettes?

I should add that all of us are experienced Amtrak riders. I love, love, love the train and this is a gift from my husband to me since I hate long drives. The CONO used to be one of our favorite trains and I'm just a little worried. I knew about the CCC when we booked but I don't think I did as much research as I should have.

Thanks.

 

[the Other Mike]

Hi!
We (my husband, 13 year old special needs daughter, my mother-in-law, and myself) will be traveling on the City of New Orleans the day before Thanksgiving from NOL to Memphis. My family (not including the mil) will be returning on the same train the day after Thanksgiving. We have two roomettes each way. My mother-in-law actually took coach down on the same train last Friday and said there was "no dining car and no sightseeing car."

So I researched and I'm bummed about the apparent loss of the Sightseer Lounge but even more concerned about how dining works for sleeping car passengers. From what I've read, the CCC can be impossibly crowded with long lines. With both an 82 year old mother-in-law AND a special needs teenager, I'm a little worried.

Can someone explain how this works? Specifically, what about the long lines? Neither the mil nor the teen can really handle long lines. What if there is no place to sit? Can we bring food back to the roomettes?

I should add that all of us are experienced Amtrak riders. I love, love, love the train and this is a gift from my husband to me since I hate long drives. The CONO used to be one of our favorite trains and I'm just a little worried. I knew about the CCC when we booked but I don't think I did as much research as I should have.

Thanks.

While I can't answer your question, I'm interested in knowing why you've considered the "chicken bone express" one of your favorite trains. I've been on the CONO more than any other train because I'm forced to take it to get to other trains too often. On one trip there was a great party in the lounge but that was at least 20 years ago and then on one trip about 10 years ago, it was the weekend before the 4th. We were held in a yard along the river in Memphis while fireworks were being set off on a barge in the river preventing us from crossing the bridge ( I think ? ). Besides the fireworks, we were parked next to the circus train and I was amazed at some of the sights I saw inside those cars. :blink:

Now I'm worried I've been missing out on something good by staying in my room.

 

[Disneymom2hann]

Hi!
We (my husband, 13 year old special needs daughter, my mother-in-law, and myself) will be traveling on the City of New Orleans the day before Thanksgiving from NOL to Memphis. My family (not including the mil) will be returning on the same train the day after Thanksgiving. We have two roomettes each way. My mother-in-law actually took coach down on the same train last Friday and said there was "no dining car and no sightseeing car."

So I researched and I'm bummed about the apparent loss of the Sightseer Lounge but even more concerned about how dining works for sleeping car passengers. From what I've read, the CCC can be impossibly crowded with long lines. With both an 82 year old mother-in-law AND a special needs teenager, I'm a little worried.

Can someone explain how this works? Specifically, what about the long lines? Neither the mil nor the teen can really handle long lines. What if there is no place to sit? Can we bring food back to the roomettes?

I should add that all of us are experienced Amtrak riders. I love, love, love the train and this is a gift from my husband to me since I hate long drives. The CONO used to be one of our favorite trains and I'm just a little worried. I knew about the CCC when we booked but I don't think I did as much research as I should have.

Thanks.

While I can't answer your question, I'm interested in knowing why you've considered the "chicken bone express" one of your favorite trains. I've been on the CONO more than any other train because I'm forced to take it to get to other trains too often. On one trip there was a great party in the lounge but that was at least 20 years ago and then on one trip about 10 years ago, it was the weekend before the 4th. We were held in a yard along the river in Memphis while fireworks were being set off on a barge in the river preventing us from crossing the bridge ( I think ? ). Besides the fireworks, we were parked next to the circus train and I was amazed at some of the sights I saw inside those cars. :blink:

Now I'm worried I've been missing out on something good by staying in my room.

I doubt you're missing anything. We like it because it runs on time basically. Our other reasons will probably paint us as amateurs but it's things like the fact it's a Superliner. It never seems that crowded. I admit that I'm not an expert on Amtrak. Our travel obsession is Walt Disney World - 35+ trips in the last ten years. We spend hours and hours planning trips, reading about trips, researching trips.

Still, some of our favorite non-Disney trips have been with Amtrak and we'd ride more often if we didn't have to travel from our home on the Florida panhandle to New Orleans, Birmingham, Jacksonville, or Atlanta to catch a train. When the Sunset Limited stopped 20 minutes from my home, things were easier!

 

[the Other Mike]

Ouch, you just made me appericate being in a terminal city for three different trains.

thanks for adding that part, makes me rethink my viewpoint.

 

[Montanan]

I was on the CNO a couple of weeks ago, and there was never a wait for a CCC table, but I think the passenger load that day was relatively light. (I sure hope so, anyway ... there were probably fewer than 50 people on the train south of Memphis, which is nowhere near enough for a sustainable service.) No meal reservations were being taken, and there were always at least a couple of empty tables in the dining section of the CCC.

If you're concerned about the possibility of having to wait, my recommendation is to get to meals early -- that will definitely improve your chances of getting an empty table.

As for the train itself, I like it. It's nearly always on time, the crews are usually excellent, and it's got a more laid-back feel than most of Amtrak's long-distance runs. And while the scenery isn't spectacular, it's definitely pretty interesting in a lot of places.

 

[NativeSon5859]

I was on the CNO a couple of weeks ago, and there was never a wait for a CCC table, but I think the passenger load that day was relatively light. (I sure hope so, anyway ... there were probably fewer than 50 people on the train south of Memphis, which is nowhere near enough for a sustainable service.) No meal reservations were being taken, and there were always at least a couple of empty tables in the dining section of the CCC.
If you're concerned about the possibility of having to wait, my recommendation is to get to meals early -- that will definitely improve your chances of getting an empty table.

As for the train itself, I like it. It's nearly always on time, the crews are usually excellent, and it's got a more laid-back feel than most of Amtrak's long-distance runs. And while the scenery isn't spectacular, it's definitely pretty interesting in a lot of places.

As far as the passenger loads go, you probably just picked a slow day. The lower loads are usually on MEM-NOL, with the higher loads being on CHI-MEM...but the train's overall ridership, just like most others, has increased. Don't worry about it being a sustainable service. It is sustainable and will only improve over time.

Back to the original question...

As for the CCC if you are a Sleeping car passenger...don't worry about it. You will get first choice for meals in the Dining portion of the CCC. Coach passengers get whatever room there is left. The before mentioned lines in the CCC were in the Lounge portion of the car. So if you want a mid-ride snack, and if the loads are high, there might be a wait. But as far as meals go...you'll be fine.

 

[Montanan]

As far as the passenger loads go, you probably just picked a slow day. The lower loads are usually on MEM-NOL, with the higher loads being on CHI-MEM...but the train's overall ridership, just like most others, has increased. Don't worry about it being a sustainable service. It is sustainable and will only improve over time.

Yep, I'd ridden the CNO before, and noticed the strong Chicago-Memphis patronage. It's almost two trains, really -- a CHO-MEM overnighter, and a Memphis-New Orleans local. My most recent trip left Chicago on election night, which may have partly accounted for the light patronage.

The disheartening thing was that I talked with an Amtrak supervisor on the train for a couple of minutes, and asked him about the light load. He said it was a seasonal thing, and then actually told me that, "we'll never really be that competitive, because we're so much slower than going by car"!! I was fairly appalled that someone in his position would be so defeatist.

But realistically, I suppose that the train's sustainability really depends more on the nation's political whims more than anything else. This month's election results were pretty encouraging in that department, but we'll see.

 

[Trogdor]

You could also ask your sleeping car attendant to deliver meals to your room if that works better.

 

[AlanB]

Disneymom,

The bottom line here is that going northbound for dinner someone will come by your room to take reservations and you'll pick a specific time to show up in the CCC for dinner. So no worries there.

Where you'll want to be careful is with lunch. Officially lunch is not included as a free meal to sleeping car passengers. Therefore you'll either have to eat lunch before you board, carry it on, or take your chances in the CCC.

Southbound Breakfast will be first come first served, but lunch should be by reservation.

And since it is a holiday period, I'd expect lines for the northbound lunch and the southbound breakfast. For breakfast, if you choose to eat it on the train, go there as soon as you board in Memphis for the best chance of walking right in to the dining car side of the CCC.

 

[Montanan]

I was surprised that no reservations were taken for any of the meals on my trip ... because of the light passenger load, I assume.

 

[Bill Haithcoat]

As far as the passenger loads go, you probably just picked a slow day. The lower loads are usually on MEM-NOL, with the higher loads being on CHI-MEM...but the train's overall ridership, just like most others, has increased. Don't worry about it being a sustainable service. It is sustainable and will only improve over time.

Yep, I'd ridden the CNO before, and noticed the strong Chicago-Memphis patronage. It's almost two trains, really -- a CHO-MEM overnighter, and a Memphis-New Orleans local. My most recent trip left Chicago on election night, which may have partly accounted for the light patronage.

The disheartening thing was that I talked with an Amtrak supervisor on the train for a couple of minutes, and asked him about the light load. He said it was a seasonal thing, and then actually told me that, "we'll never really be that competitive, because we're so much slower than going by car"!! I was fairly appalled that someone in his position would be so defeatist.

But realistically, I suppose that the train's sustainability really depends more on the nation's political whims more than anything else. This month's election results were pretty encouraging in that department, but we'll see.

Nothng unusual about more patronage between CHI and MEM. That is the historical pattern. Go back to pre-Amtrak times when there were more trains on that route,the same pattern. Indeed some trains had equipment just from CHI to MEM separate from CHI to NOL.

 

[Green Maned Lion]

I guess there really is no free lunch.