Orlando or Savannah to NYC and Washington??

[Disneymom2hann]

Hi!

This is my first post although we're not new to Amtrak. We (me, husband, and our soon to be 13 year old) have taken several trips on Amtrak over the years. We live in a part of Florida no longer serviced by trains due to the storm so we haven't taken as many trips as of late.

For Christmas this year, we'd like to head up the Northeast after a few days at Disney (a Christmas tradition for us that my 13 year old just can't miss). Here are our plans and I'm open to suggestions.

Christmas Eve - drive to Savannah and take the Meteor (two roomettes) to NYC - We're choosing to drive to Savannah for three reasons - the cost is a little less, the drive home to Florida is also less for us from Savannah, and we'd like to take the Palmetto on the journey back.

12/25 - Arrive in NYC

12/27 - Take a regional train from NYC to DC

12/30 - Take the Palmetto Business class to Savannah, spending the night before going home.

I realize this doesn't do either NYC or DC justice. It's a compromise as my husband strongly would prefer DC and the almost 13 year old would prefer NYC although she's interested in the Smithsonian in DC. We have never been to either place although we've visited other large cities (Chicago, San Antonio, Atlanta, New Orleans).

I think we're sure of our plans (and booking actually) but I have a few questions.

1) What meals will we get given that the Meteor leaves SAV at 8:00 pm and gets into NYC (if on time) at 11:30 am? I'm assuming only breakfast would be included.

2) Is business class worth it on the Palmetto? I'm thinking so as we're a pretty wired family and will have at least one if not laptop computers with us. Also, we had a really negative experience in coach a few years ago that we don't care to repeat.

Anything I'm forgetting?

Thanks.

 

[AlanB]

You might be able to get dinner out of Savanah, but it would be a very late one and if the train were running late, you could miss out. So I probably wouldn't bet on it. Breakfast will definately be included and if the train is more than 2 hours late, then you might get lunch.

The biggest bit of advice that I could give you is to book ASAP! Traveling on Christmas eve might not be quite as bad as any of the 7 days right before that, but still there will be a fair amount of people traveling. The return on the Palmetto is likely to be packed. So again book ASAP to get the best prices. Every day you wait can see the prices go up higher.

And that packed nature of the train is probably as good as any reason to go with Business Class. At least there is a bit more room between the seats and probably it will be a bit quieter.

 

[SUNSETLIMITED02]

Hi!
This is my first post although we're not new to Amtrak. We (me, husband, and our soon to be 13 year old) have taken several trips on Amtrak over the years. We live in a part of Florida no longer serviced by trains due to the storm so we haven't taken as many trips as of late.

For Christmas this year, we'd like to head up the Northeast after a few days at Disney (a Christmas tradition for us that my 13 year old just can't miss). Here are our plans and I'm open to suggestions.

Christmas Eve - drive to Savannah and take the Meteor (two roomettes) to NYC - We're choosing to drive to Savannah for three reasons - the cost is a little less, the drive home to Florida is also less for us from Savannah, and we'd like to take the Palmetto on the journey back.

12/25 - Arrive in NYC

12/27 - Take a regional train from NYC to DC

12/30 - Take the Palmetto Business class to Savannah, spending the night before going home.

I realize this doesn't do either NYC or DC justice. It's a compromise as my husband strongly would prefer DC and the almost 13 year old would prefer NYC although she's interested in the Smithsonian in DC. We have never been to either place although we've visited other large cities (Chicago, San Antonio, Atlanta, New Orleans).

I think we're sure of our plans (and booking actually) but I have a few questions.

1) What meals will we get given that the Meteor leaves SAV at 8:00 pm and gets into NYC (if on time) at 11:30 am? I'm assuming only breakfast would be included.

2) Is business class worth it on the Palmetto? I'm thinking so as we're a pretty wired family and will have at least one if not laptop computers with us. Also, we had a really negative experience in coach a few years ago that we don't care to repeat.

Anything I'm forgetting?

Thanks.

Was your train that no longer serves that part of Florida the Sunset Limited?

 

[Green Maned Lion]

Yes, it would be the Sunset Limited.

Disneymom, you are making a text book, taylor made case for Amtrak's Premiere Auto Train! Trust me, it is one hell of a train. The drive from DC to NYC is pretty painless, as painless drives go in the north east. But if you do this, don't stay in NYC, stay in Newark. There is a pretty nice Hilton right at the Gateway center with Pedestrian Bridge Access to Newark Pennsylvania Station, one of my favourite stations.

You can take NJT or PATH to Hoboken Terminal, and take a ferry to the World Financial Center in NYC. You can take the PATH to the World Trade Center (an interesting ride, let me tell you) you can take PATH to Journal Square and change to the other PATH train and get off on Christopher Street + Hudson (approx), or 7th/8th avenues and 9th, 14th, 23rd, or 33rd streets. Or you can take any NJTransit NEC or NJCL train into New York Pennsylvania Station. From NYP, you can catch the A/C/E/1/2/3 subways.

I spend RailFan days bouncing between NYP, NWK, HOB, WTC and WFC. Newark Pennsylvania and the former Erie-Lackawanna/Delaware Lackawanna & Western Hoboken terminal are absolutely beautiful stations- EXPLORE THEM! Another grand station is Grand Central Terminal. Take the A-train (and make sure you sing the whole way too, if you like Ella and the Duke!) to 42nd and connect to the S Shuttle to go to Grand Central Terminal.

 

[Disneymom2hann]

Yes, it would be the Sunset Limited.
Disneymom, you are making a text book, taylor made case for Amtrak's Premiere Auto Train! Trust me, it is one hell of a train. The drive from DC to NYC is pretty painless, as painless drives go in the north east. But if you do this, don't stay in NYC, stay in Newark. There is a pretty nice Hilton right at the Gateway center with Pedestrian Bridge Access to Newark Pennsylvania Station, one of my favourite stations.

You can take NJT or PATH to Hoboken Terminal, and take a ferry to the World Financial Center in NYC. You can take the PATH to the World Trade Center (an interesting ride, let me tell you) you can take PATH to Journal Square and change to the other PATH train and get off on Christopher Street + Hudson (approx), or 7th/8th avenues and 9th, 14th, 23rd, or 33rd streets. Or you can take any NJTransit NEC or NJCL train into New York Pennsylvania Station. From NYP, you can catch the A/C/E/1/2/3 subways.

I spend RailFan days bouncing between NYP, NWK, HOB, WTC and WFC. Newark Pennsylvania and the former Erie-Lackawanna/Delaware Lackawanna & Western Hoboken terminal are absolutely beautiful stations- EXPLORE THEM! Another grand station is Grand Central Terminal. Take the A-train (and make sure you sing the whole way too, if you like Ella and the Duke!) to 42nd and connect to the S Shuttle to go to Grand Central Terminal.

Thanks. That's a great suggestion. We looked into it and because our SUV is a green monster - an Envoy extended length - we would pay almost $500 for the car, plus gas back and forth to NYC, plus lots of parking as we want to stay downtown in both places. So it doesn't make sense this trip. However, it probably will make sense for future trips so I appreciate the suggestion!

 

[Disneymom2hann]

Oh - and I wanted to add - it is the Sunset. We live within miles of its route in Florida. It's a major issue to have to drive to New Orleans to take it and we tentatively have our next trip scheduled on the Sunset (spring 2009 to California - we love to travel). Fortunately, we have family in New Orleans and they've gotten used to picking us up at the station. I've been using that station since I was a kid going back and forth to boarding school. One of the saddest moments for me during Katrina was when it was turned essentially into a jail. It wasn't the saddest as we lost my dad in the aftermath, but it was a pretty tough moment. The good news is I've been back a couple of times since then and the station is back to its usual okay condition - not great - but not too bad either.

Our favorite train trip of all was the Sunset to San Antonio. The train was really late both ways but we had a blast. It was our first sleeper experience and we loved every minute of it.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

You might do a one-way car rental from home to Orlando. And if you are heading North from Disney, you could take the Meteor or the Star right from Orlando.

Depending on how far out on the Florida panhandle you live, one of the Crescent stations might also be an option on the return trip, or perhaps JAX on the Star or Meteor, with a one-way rental car from there to home.

 

[NativeSon5859]

Oh - and I wanted to add - it is the Sunset. We live within miles of its route in Florida. It's a major issue to have to drive to New Orleans to take it and we tentatively have our next trip scheduled on the Sunset (spring 2009 to California - we love to travel). Fortunately, we have family in New Orleans and they've gotten used to picking us up at the station. I've been using that station since I was a kid going back and forth to boarding school. One of the saddest moments for me during Katrina was when it was turned essentially into a jail. It wasn't the saddest as we lost my dad in the aftermath, but it was a pretty tough moment. The good news is I've been back a couple of times since then and the station is back to its usual okay condition - not great - but not too bad either.
Our favorite train trip of all was the Sunset to San Antonio. The train was really late both ways but we had a blast. It was our first sleeper experience and we loved every minute of it.

Might I suggest to check out my Save The Sunset campaign and spread the word to the good folks in your community. We need to have the public step up and show Amtrak that people want to see this restored. I'll be driving from New Orleans to Jacksonville some time this month or next, stopping at all the cities which lost service along the way to spread the word of my cause. Click on the link below if you're interested.