Silver Meteor In Room Dining??

[blizzardboy85]

I've never traveled in a roomette before and I'm wondering, if I should not happen to feel extremely "social" during my journey, will the SCA bring a meal to my room upon request? Is it permissible to ask for this service? Of course I would expect to tip accordingly.

Thanks!

 

[wjh2]

The SCA should be able to handle the request. Just ask them ahead of time. It may be late before you get your meal because the dining car can get hectic, but it may be different. It just depends on the situation. Best of luck to you.

 

[the_traveler]

The SCA will bring the meal(s) to your room, upon request. However, don't expect it at a specific time (say 6:17)! (S)he must also be available to provide assistance to other passengers and/or station stops. This is especially true in the morning, as many want their rooms set for daytime use "while they have breakfast".

If at all possible, I would recommend having at least 1 meal in the Dining Car. It's an experience unique to train travel!

 

[blizzardboy85]

Thanks for the replies! I thought this was possiblel but just wanted to know for sure. I did take one trip in a sleeper with a friend and we ate in the dining car. Sometimes I'm in the mood to deal with new people, sometimes I'd just rather be alone. This upcoming trip I'm just looking forward to some "alone" time...lol Perhaps I will change my mind once I'm on the train and unwind a little I'm looking forward to the trip!

 

[mat123]

Wheelchair passengers eat in their rooms or at their seats, so this shouldn't be a problem for you either as "room service" is an advertised perk of having a sleeper. As I am a wheelchair passenger, we simply told our SCA around what time we wanted to place our order (like 6:15) and he came with a menu he checks off as he tabulates your meal. He can write down special requests as well. Make sure you ask for condiments, like salt, pepper, steak sauce, ketchup, etc. We usually had our meal in 20 to 30 minutes.

Three of the four SCAs came back with the food served on a tray, using cloth napkins as a makeshift tablecloth. The other SCA packed the food into a TO GO bag. The bag was actually just as nice as we had a place to toss all our dirty dishes and trash.

 

[blizzardboy85]

Thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to my trip on the Silver Meteor this coming Sunday

 

[KmH]

If you're in coach you can have a dining car or café/lounge meal brought to your seat too.

 

[shelzp]

I usually prefer to have my meals brought to the room. When I board I mention to the room attendant that I do ask for meals in the room and I say I'd rather give you the tip than them (dining car) anyway. I leave a tip on the tray after each meal. I used to include it with my end of trip tip but after reading here how others handle it I changed and things work out better that way. It is part of their job description but I think some attendants don't like it because when other passengers see them bringing food down the hall they start ordering as well without thinking about leaving a tip and it can turn into a lot of back and forth trips. Since they usually serve the handicapped room I just tell them to bring mine at the same time and they usually insist I can get it when I want it and to simply let them know. If you have a decent attendant (most are) they won't have a problem because they're used to doing this on every trip.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

If you're in coach you can have a dining car or café/lounge meal brought to your seat too.

I've never once seen an Amtrak coach attendant make an offer to bring food to my seat. Most of the time they don't even stick around long enough for me to make such a request. Usually they're just brushing by or barking orders. I suppose you could try to stop them but they certainly don't look or act like they're expecting any requests.