Question about family bedroom

[Yumacool]

My wife and I generally travel by roomette on overnight Amtrak trips, but are looking at a family bedroom for one later this year. What do you think of the practicality of this room for a husband and wife? It's larger than a roomette, but doesn't have as many amenities as a bedroom. Does a family bedroom include a table next to the window at which the two of us can sit across from each other (as in a roomette or bedroom)? Thanks...

 

[crescent-zephyr]

My wife and I generally travel by roomette on overnight Amtrak trips, but are looking at a family bedroom for one later this year. What do you think of the practicality of this room for a husband and wife? It's larger than a roomette, but doesn't have as many amenities as a bedroom. Does a family bedroom include a table next to the window at which the two of us can sit across from each other (as in a roomette or bedroom)? Thanks...

It does have the table. You’ll get windows on both sides of the train but they are smaller than in the roomettes and you’ll be on the lower level.

The family bedroom has the most room, the lower bed can easily sleep two

 

[niemi24s]

Pictures are sometimes worth a thousand words... amtrak family bedroom - Google Search ...but be aware some shown here are NOT of a Family Bedroom (FB). You may be disappointed with relaxed scenery viewing in a FB because its windows are about half the width of those in a Roomette and Bedroom. This means that to get the same horizontal field of view your eyes must be a about half the distance from the window. Put another way, with the same head position from the window your field of view is cut about in half in a FB. If you like gazing at the passing scenery, the Roomette and Bedroom are the best because of their wider windows. The Bedrooms also have an equally wide hallway window just outside their doors.

Another disadvantage I can see is the relatively large difference in the room dimensions measured in the direction of travel. In a Roomette, the two chairs with table in between have 78 to 80 inches of total space, but only 62" in the FB. As a result, knee space between the facing seats is a lot tighter in the FB.

By the way, windows in a Handicapped Bedroom are just as small as those in the Family Bedroom. If there's some flexibility in your travel dates, it's not uncommon to find Bedrooms cheaper than Family bedrooms if you can tolerate the tedium of searching on the Amtrak website.

You've not stated your intended route, but if you will I may have a list of all its sleeper fares for your information. Maybe. I've got lots of them.

 

[Yumacool]

Thanks for the responses thus far. I am considering several different trips and have not yet settled on one. When I checked out one of the routes last night, the Amtrak site said the roomette was $561, the Family Bedroom was $930 and the bedroom was $1300. I am, basically, wondering how, at this price, the Family Bedroom would work out. On our many roomette trips, both my wife and I enjoy sitting across from each other watching scenery through the window. It doesn't sound that this would be a doable thing, given the small size of the Family Bedroom windows. The huge difference in price between a roomette and a bedroom is sort of tough to swallow. Being that we'll be spending the vast majority of our time in the room, window size seems like a potentially big issue...

 

[Maglev]

There is not enough space to sit facing each other looking out the window in the Family Bedroom. On one side, there is only a seat facing one direction, and on the other side the two seats are too close for knee room. But the Family Bedroom feels very spacious, and it has the same two wider berths as a Bedroom. One person can sit by each window (but you're a long way from each other!) I prefer the Family Bedroom to a Roomette, but a Bedroom is the best way to travel for two.

 

[niemi24s]

The huge difference in price between a roomette and a bedroom is sort of tough to swallow.

I suspect that conclusion was based on your checking only a single travel date. If you have any flexibility in travel date, check every possible date within that range of dates. Surprise yourself. For the Sunset Limited over its whole route it's possible for a Family Bedroom or a Bedroom to be cheaper than a Roomette! Honest!!

The difference between the highest Bedroom and lowest Roomette fares on the Sunset limited for its entire route is $1453. On the other side of that coin, when Bedrooms are their cheapest and Roomettes their highest, a Roomette is $29 more than a Bedroom! But you may not find such possible oddity, but by diligently checking all the possible dates you'll probably find cheaper fares - perhaps MUCH cheaper.

And be cautioned that fares can change from day to day, so if you find a real bargain tonight, it may be gone tomorrow.

 

[joelkfla]

By the way, windows in a Handicapped Bedroom are just as small as those in the Family Bedroom.

Why is that, anyway? Does it have something to do with structural stability of the sidewalls, with both being at the ends and near the bottom of the car?

 

[jiml]

Here is a recent report of a family bedroom by airline reviewer Jeb Brooks. It may give you some insight:

 

[niemi24s]

Why is that, anyway? Does it have something to do with structural stability of the sidewalls, with both being at the ends and near the bottom of the car?

No idea.

 

[niemi24s]

Just for giggles and snorts, here's a listing of the one adult fares from Yuma to Houston:

• Roomette: . . . . . . $417, 514, 601, 790 and 914
• Family Bedroom: $658, 830, 990, 1169 and 1347
• Bedroom: . . . . . . $778, 993, 1194, 1410 and 1625

Those underlined are estimates. End points other than Houston would have different fares, but should follow a similar pattern. Just saying these are only the possibilities, some of which may never be offered. But you'll never know unless you look. And keep looking.

 

[Ringfinder]

My wife and I generally travel by roomette on overnight Amtrak trips, but are looking at a family bedroom for one later this year. What do you think of the practicality of this room for a husband and wife? It's larger than a roomette, but doesn't have as many amenities as a bedroom. Does a family bedroom include a table next to the window at which the two of us can sit across from each other (as in a roomette or bedroom)? Thanks...

<My suggestion is to get two Roomettes side by side on the bottom floor, that way you can see both sides of the train and lots more room for both of you, you can stretch out. The cost will be about the same as a Family Room and I think more comfortable. Oh, the Family room is on the bottom of the train also. It's so much quieter down on the bottom floor with much less traffic. Have Fun, and Be Safe!

 

[IndyLions]

The Family Bedroom is phenomenal for two adults and up to two children. Our best Amtrak memories as a family were in that bedroom.

Our first experience came shortly after the birth of our first daughter. My wife and I, along with our month old daughter were going to travel in a Roomette from Indy to Chicago on the Cardinal. In early ‘98 the Cardinal was running Superliners WAS-CHI. My wife was on maternity leave, and I was heading to Chicago for 10 days for a trade show. My wife decided to come up for the first three days during setup, to keep me company at the hotel in the evenings.

We arrived at the station in Indy and checked-in with the ticket agent. The agent was a gal who was very outgoing and friendly - and as new parents we showed off our new daughter as we checked in.

To our surprise, she immediately upgraded us to the Family Bedroom. What a great gesture! And from that point forward - for every family train trip in a Superliner - we booked the Family Bedroom. That included The City of New Orleans, Sunset Limited, Empire Builder, and Coast Starlight.

When our oldest was one, the kids’ lower bunk was an impromptu playpen on the Empire Builder from POR-CHI. We brought along one of those portable, adjustable “gates” to keep her from falling out - and she was happier than a bug on a rug. After we had two young children - the trip to Disney on the pre-Katrina Sunset Limited was another highlight.

 

[me_little_me]

<My suggestion is to get two Roomettes side by side on the bottom floor, that way you can see both sides of the train and lots more room for both of you, you can stretch out. The cost will be about the same as a Family Room and I think more comfortable. Oh, the Family room is on the bottom of the train also. It's so much quieter down on the bottom floor with much less traffic. Have Fun, and Be Safe!

Side by side?

 

[fdaley]

If you have any flexibility in travel date, check every possible date within that range of dates.

This is really the key to finding better prices for bedrooms and family rooms. Also, although it's commonly believed that the best prices are available to those who book earliest, I have often seen better sleeper prices appear in Amtrak's system 1-3 months before a travel date than the prices that were available 6-9 months ahead. If you wait till the last couple of weeks to book, you'll almost surely overpay. But it's ideal if you have a range of a few dates you're willing to travel and if you have the patience to keep checking and rechecking the prices available on those dates over many weeks, starting maybe four months in advance.

On the issue of which room type is best, I do think that if scenery viewing is a high priority, the family bedroom is not as good as a bedroom or roomette. The windows in the family room are smaller, and it's on the lower level, which to me never seems quite as good as the view from upstairs. It's also over wheels at one end of the car, so if you're on a rough stretch of track, like the SW Chief route in western Kansas, the ride can be pretty loud and rough.

On the plus side, the family room is wonderfully spacious, with more floor space than a bedroom, and it has the same wider beds as a bedroom. In either, the lower bunk can sleep two, which avoids someone having to put up with the tight Superliner clearances in the upper. Another option, sometimes cheaper than a bedroom or family room, is to get two roomettes across the hall from one other. You can sit together in one room by day, but you each get a lower bunk at night.

 

[me_little_me]

And think of the trip in its entirety. I found a few times that I could do better by paying less when I took a train a day or two earlier than what I would pay for hotel and food for those extra days. Of course, "your mileage may vary".

 

[niemi24s]

The only advantage I can see for a Family Bedroom is the orientation of the adult beds. Being 90° to the direction of travel, the body is less subject to the side-to-side lurching motions of the car if the track is in bad shape due to sun kinks - that feeling of being flung out of bed.

This shows the kneespace, seating and relative window sizes for the Superliner sleepers. The guides for the folding tables are about 15" wide.

Wife and I both prefer the Roomette for looking at the scenery. I can see where a Family Bedroom is a good choice for those with small children, but other than that, uh, . . . . . DW likes the Bedroom because of its toilet, but I'm not fond of its single window seat as it's been wobbly on its pedestal for us.