New Cardinal Diner

[City of Miami]

Yesterday I received the following email from Amtrak:

We have exciting news to share about your upcoming trip Train 50 from Chicago, Illinois.

Staring October 1, we will be debuting a new dining experience aboard your train—made exclusively available for Sleeping Car customers. Here is what you can expect when you are onboard:

• A new dining menu with hot, ready-to-serve choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner
• A wide selection of wine, beer and spirits (the first one is on us), plus unlimited soft drinks throughout your journey
• Complimentary room service provided by your Sleeping Car attendant
• Exclusive onboard lounge space for Sleeping Car customers to dine and socialize 24x7
• Flexible dining times without the need for reservations

Sample menus can be found at Amtrak.com/flexdining. Information on special dietary requirements, including kosher meal requests, can be found at Amtrak.com/dining. To review your reservation, visit Amtrak.com.

We look forward to seeing you on board.

 

[Manny T]

Seems good. I'll be traveling on the Cardinal in December.

I'm going to take a copy of that email with me. If there are any discrepancies, I'll have proof of what I'm entitled to!

 

[Qapla]

Are you going to turn down anything extra they offer since it's not in your email?

 

[crescent-zephyr]

Seems good. I'll be traveling on the Cardinal in December.

I'm going to take a copy of that email with me. If there are any discrepancies, I'll have proof of what I'm entitled to!

Yeah... that will surely go well. Ha.

 

[PaulM]

If this is for real, then it's a major improvement in my opinion. I done the box thing several times, and only thought it a negative when comparing it to a real diner. But compared to the Cardinal version of diner-lite plus no lounge car, it sounds like a big plus.

Now if they could do the same with the silver star.

 

[pennyk]

Now if they could do the same with the silver star.

According to Amtrak, the Star will get a new dining car in 2020.

 

[jis]

Now if they could do the same with the silver star.

I understand that this is coming to Silver Star too in the first quarter of 2020.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Yeah... that will surely go well. Ha.

All he says is that he wanted to have proof. He never said they won't shrug or slag off.

Now if they could do the same with the silver star.

Goodbye discounted tickets; full fare snack trays to the rescue.

 

[LookingGlassTie]

For the Silver Star, will it be a Viewliner diner car with full service? Like what the Meteor has currently?

 

[pennyk]

For the Silver Star, will it be a Viewliner diner car with full service? Like what the Meteor has currently?

It will not be full service. It will be "flexible" dining like what the Meteor will have starting October 1st.

 

[jis]

For the Silver Star, will it be a Viewliner diner car with full service? Like what the Meteor has currently?

No. Both Meteor and Star will have Flexible Dining in the Viewliner II Diners used as Sleeper Lounges. Meteor gets Flexible Dining on 10/1/19 and Star gets it in early 2020.

 

[railiner]

If this is for real, then it's a major improvement in my opinion. I done the box thing several times, and only thought it a negative when comparing it to a real diner. But compared to the Cardinal version of diner-lite plus no lounge car, it sounds like a big plus.

Now if they could do the same with the silver star.

So...back to the Cardinal...will this mean coach passenger's will no longer have the same choices as sleeper passenger's, as in the other 'flexible dining' trains?

 

[gordonlee]

Sorry to take it away from the Cardinal (again), but this is basically taking the reduced meal service they instituted on the Lake Shore Limited and now downgrading the Silver Meteor to the same service level. Not happy.

 

[Anderson]

Yeah...I'm willing to keep an open mind, but given how well what they did with the LSL/Cap has gone I'm not terribly optimistic about this.

Edit: And I'm going to have a word with someone. These were supposed to be available for coach pax to purchase.

 

[jis]

So...back to the Cardinal...will this mean coach passenger's will no longer have the same choices as sleeper passenger's, as in the other 'flexible dining' trains?

For the time being that would appear to be true. There is a plan afoot to allow Coach passengers to pre-order meals that they can purchase, presumably from the same menu as available to the Sleeper passengers, complementary for Sleeper passengers of course. The branding of the soft product on the Viewliner II Diner hard product suggests that Coach passengers won;t be given access to that car, and their pre-ordered food will be served to them through the Cafe car perhaps. The exact setup under those circumstances is a matter of speculation. Only time will tell.

Also, given how often the menu has changed and the many ways in which Flexible Dining appears to be different from Contemporary Dining, it seems to reasonably expect that things will change a few more times, hopefully for the better, before things settle down.

 

[LookingGlassTie]

No. Both Meteor and Star will have Flexible Dining in the Viewliner II Diners used as Sleeper Lounges. Meteor gets Flexible Dining on 10/1/19 and Star gets it in early 2020.

Ohh ok, got it.

 

[crescent-zephyr]

For the record... I was traveling in Coach on the Cardinal years ago (but during the current non-diner half of a Cafe' model) and enjoyed a nice French Toast Breakfast on the way to Chicago. I guess I'm one of those coach passengers that "never eats in the diner."

 

[pennyk]

Sorry to take it away from the Cardinal (again), but this is basically taking the reduced meal service they instituted on the Lake Shore Limited and now downgrading the Silver Meteor to the same service level. Not happy.

There is a lengthy discussion about the new meal service on eastern trains here:
https://discuss.amtraktrains.com/threads/more-diners-cut-effective-october-1.75614/

 

[Dakota 400]

With the news about the "improved" dining car service available to Sleeping Car passengers on the Cardinal, I am tempted to try this on the Cardinal regardless of the train's arrival/departure times from Cincinnati in 2020. The Lunch/Dinner "new" menu really doesn't appeal very well. How can one go from Steak to a lesser beef choice and be pleased? How can one go to a microwaved Breakfast Sandwich after enjoying Railroad French Toast and the freshly prepared eggs and think: WOW! I am so glad that I chose Amtrak to get from here to there?

 

[jiml]

When could you get a steak on the Cardinal?

 

[Dakota 400]

When could you get a steak on the Cardinal?

Of course not. But, I have on the Silver Meteor, Empire Builder, etc. and that is the expected dining cuisine that I think I ought to expect when I book "First Class, as defined by Amtrak".

 

[Thirdrail7]

When could you get a steak on the Cardinal?

Prior to the Cardinal becoming Diner Lite.

 

[Willbridge]

So...back to the Cardinal...will this mean coach passenger's will no longer have the same choices as sleeper passenger's, as in the other 'flexible dining' trains?

Aside from ruining the experience for coach passengers, the same question applies to Business Class. And, there are people in Business Class on the Cardinal who would have bought sleeper space had it been available. I have met them. If they "experience" the fat, sugar and wrapper waste of Amtrak lounge food they may think that's all there is.

 

[jiml]

Of course not. But, I have on the Silver Meteor, Empire Builder, etc. and that is the expected dining cuisine that I think I ought to expect when I book "First Class, as defined by Amtrak".

You're not wrong, and I quite like Amtrak's steak - so much so that I've had it more than once on the same trip. However, I've also been on 3 iterations of the Cardinal over the years - Heritage, Superliner and the current two years ago - and have never seen a steak. Based on my last trip the proposed new menu looks like gourmet fare.

 

[jis]

Of course not. But, I have on the Silver Meteor, Empire Builder, etc. and that is the expected dining cuisine that I think I ought to expect when I book "First Class, as defined by Amtrak".

Amtrak has generally stopped using the phrase “First Class” in reference to its Sleeper offering for quite a while now, notwithstanding the sometimes steep fare.