Just for fun - upper or lower?

[Suze10860]

Just for giggles, I'm doing an informal poll. If you're part of a couple that travels together in a sleeper car, who normally gets which bed?

I'm quite sure what my husband and I will do - I'll take the upper. We're close in age, both around 60ish, and probably very similar as far as our physical fitness. We're both in good shape, although he has bad knees. My husband also has 4 inches in height (I'm 5'8" and he's 6' even) and about 70 pounds on me.

I don't see the upper bunk presenting any type of problem at all for me but I do think my husband would have a harder time getting in and out of it and would probably feel more cramped than I would. While I'm in a traditional husband/wife relationship I'd love to hear from anyone who travels with another person in a sleeper. Do you base your sleeping arrangements on size, age, personal preference or something else?

We're in a viewliner by the way. Thanks!

 

[Chey]

If I'm in a superliner, bottom bunk - gotta have that window!

In a viewliner, top bunk - better view from the upper window. I usually wake up a couple of times during the night.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Most of my trips are on Western trains and when I'm traveling on my own I generally use the bottom bed so I can see outside. Sometimes I'll leave the seats in daytime configuration and use the top bed for sleeping. When traveling with someone I generally take whichever bed they don't want. The only thing I don't like about the top bunk is the funky method for climbing in or out and the unsettling disbelief that the netting would actually prevent me from falling out if the car shook hard enough to need it.

 

[tricia]

Superliner: lower bunk.
Viewliner: upper bunk.

Same whether I'm alone or traveling with my husband. He's kind enough to let me have the bunk I prefer, and had enough Navy experience that the Superliner upper bunk's confined, windowless space doesn't faze him.

 

[Bonser]

Just for giggles, I'm doing an informal poll. If you're part of a couple that travels together in a sleeper car, who normally gets which bed?

I'm quite sure what my husband and I will do - I'll take the upper. We're close in age, both around 60ish, and probably very similar as far as our physical fitness. We're both in good shape, although he has bad knees. My husband also has 4 inches in height (I'm 5'8" and he's 6' even) and about 70 pounds on me.

I don't see the upper bunk presenting any type of problem at all for me but I do think my husband would have a harder time getting in and out of it and would probably feel more cramped than I would. While I'm in a traditional husband/wife relationship I'd love to hear from anyone who travels with another person in a sleeper. Do you base your sleeping arrangements on size, age, personal preference or something else?

We're in a viewliner by the way. Thanks!

My wife, bless her heart, takes the upper when training on the CZ. We're both mid-late 60's in reasonable shape. I'm 6'4". I am very grateful she insists on the upper. I do, though, always offer to take it.

 

[ehbowen]

I'm unmarried, but I've shared both a roomette, bedroom, and accessible bedroom with my father. I invariably take the upper bunk, of course...after three years aboard a Navy battleship, the close confines of the upper Feels Like Home...

 

[SarahZ]

I’m extremely claustrophobic, so my ex always took the upper bunk. He liked that it felt like a tight, dark cave. (I think he’s part cat.)

I tried it once and made it about 10 seconds before I stopped breathing and a panic attack set in. :-/

 

[Bob Dylan]

I'm unmarried, but I've shared both a roomette, bedroom, and accessible bedroom with my father. I invariably take the upper bunk, of course...after three years aboard a Navy battleship, the close confines of the upper Feels Like Home...

Try a Sub or Tin Can Rack!

 

[JRR]

Try a Sub or Tin Can Rack!

My wife always take the top bunk. She is much more agile than I am. I have offered to go up top but she always insists.

 

[Palmland]

I’m relegated to the top berth. Like it on Viewliner, hate it on Superliner. The hard part on Superliners used to be getting in/out with the low head clearance and netting in the way. Much easier now that I’ve learned to take down the netting. Haven’t fallen out yet and I’ll take my chances in the future. That’s one reason I hope the Viewliners will replace Superliners. And, I don’t think there’s any reason a single level car couldn’t be configured with the large windows of a Superliner SSL.

 

[bratkinson]

I travel alone and always take the lower berth.

Maybe that's because I fell out of the upper bunk one night while in USAF basic training. Or perhaps I was pushed out account I can out-snore most people, so I've been told.

 

[user 13416]

I don't mind the upper bunk, although next time I'll take my own pillows and blankets. However, my only experience was on the Auto Train.

 

[Saddleshoes]

I have always taken the upper berth because the rocking motion is magnified up there. I like that motion and sleep like a baby up there. My wife dislikes the motion so she gets the lower berth.

 

[pennyk]

I generally travel alone and sleep on the bottom bunk. I do not feel comfortable climbing up and down in the middle of the night.

However, when I traveled with my sister in the past, I took the top bunk (since she has a disability that made it difficult for her to climb) and when I was married to a 6'3"/large man, I was relegated to the top bunk since the bottom bunk is a bit larger.

 

[F900ElCapitan]

In kind of depends for my wife and I. When we’re riding in a bedroom, we actually share the lower bed. Then we only have done one overnight with one roomette, it was incredibly cold in the roomettes and since I love the cold much more than her, I took the top bunk and did my best to steal all the A/C I could. We also did one night with two roomettes to try it out and we both slept on the bottom bunk. I’m riding alone on the TE out to CA in June, I’m quite sure I’ll be on the lower bunk so I can look outside as much as I can.

 

[Qapla]

I haven't traveled in a sleeper .... yet

So, as far as sleeping as it is, I have only slept in coach and I prefer the aisle seat - more room for my aching knee/leg

Now, if I do get to ride in a sleeper with my wife, I will give her the choice. She would most likely take the bottom bed and let me climb.

 

[railiner]

When I travel solo, I take the lower.
With my wife, I give her the lower.

 

[andytiedye]

Usually we get a bedroom and both sleep on the bottom bunk. Otherwise, I take the top.

 

[SP&S]

Mrs SP&S gets the lower bunk. We try to get a bedroom these days, she laughs too much at me getting into the upper in a roomette.

 

[Asher]

Wife in lower me in upper.

 

[ehbowen]

Try a Sub or Tin Can Rack!

Let's just say that I was much thinner back then!

 

[debmep]

We are in our mid 60s and have done 3 long distance trips. Next Coming up in May, Pere Marquette, then CONO. Past trips I’ve always been on the upper in both roomette and bedroom. This upcoming trip we booked 2 roomettes. I choose not to have to climb up and down at this age. Hubs can’t do upper due to closed in feeling. We’ve done all western routes so far.

 

[Mystic River Dragon]

I always travel alone in a roomette (I'm amazed and impressed at the agility of those of you who manage to travel together in one!) and I always sleep in the lower bunk.

I am not good even with short heights and am fairly klutzy (I even have trouble standing on those stools in the library to get a book from a high shelf), so the upper bunk would not be a good choice for me.

Also, if I wake up at night, I like to open the curtains and look out at the lights and towns we are passing--nicer from the larger windows on the bottom level.

 

[Railroad Bill]

When I travel alone I use the bottom bunk. Easier to hook up Cpap machine and access to BR.
When my wife is along, I take the top bunk. As Jim said, in a roomette, its like a submarine rack.. I am 6'6' so it is a challenge as I get older to get up there. Easier in a bedroom than roomette.

 

[Maglev]

I've slept in the upper berth of a Roomette once in a Viewliner and once in a Superliner, and even 25 years younger I found access difficult. Mostly when I am sharing a room, it is a Superliner Bedroom and I take the top bunk. I never use the top bunk when I am alone in a room, and always keep the upper bunk all the way up in a Viewliner Roomette.