Mercury Januray 2011 arrive via Amtrak question

[lablvr]

Does anyone know the reliability of Amtrak to be somewhat on time in January weather in Baltimore? Surely I don't have to worry too much if stated train arrival is 11:12 AM and sail off is 4:00PM....do I??? (Coming in from GA)

[Trainer]

That the trains are notoriously unreliable. They frequently are sidetracked (literally) for freight trains that have priority. Also any car-train accident along the way will delay you for hours. I have no personal history on recent East Coast trains but Amtrak is not to be counted on, from everything I hear. If it were me, I would fly! or drive....

[CruisingChick]

Amtrak is horrible for reliability. Especially if the weather is bad.

 

They do not own any of the tracks so as the other poster mentioned they do not have priority on them.

 

My son has been using Amtrak to come home from college for the past 3 years for Winter Break and Spring Break. He's in Syracuse. Let me tell you most of the trips have been delayed. On one really bad trip, it took him 11 hours to get from Syracuse, NY to Yonkers, NY that's more than double what it should take.

 

If you have to take Amtrak go the day before the cruise. Good luck.

[Lois R]

Amtrak is horrible for reliability. Especially if the weather is bad.

 

They do not own any of the tracks so as the other poster mentioned they do not have priority on them.

 

My son has been using Amtrak to come home from college for the past 3 years for Winter Break and Spring Break. He's in Syracuse. Let me tell you most of the trips have been delayed. On one really bad trip, it took him 11 hours to get from Syracuse, NY to Yonkers, NY that's more than double what it should take.

 

If you have to take Amtrak go the day before the cruise. Good luck.

 

Hi:) do you think this is an "East Coast Problem"?:confused: The reason I ask

is I have taken Amtrak from Seattle up to Vancouver 2 or 3 times

and it has been on time, smooth and I never ran into any problems.

Just curious!

[madelinerose]

Hi:) do you think this is an "East Coast Problem"?:confused: Just curious!

 

Hey, Lois. I'm not Cruising Chick, but we use Amtrak from Baltimore to DC and Manhattan frequently and we haven't been delayed more than 10-15 minutes. ;)

[Lois R]

Hi Karen, thanks:)

[madelinerose]

Hi Karen, thanks:)

 

Let me amend my post. Yes, on Holidays, Spring Break and especially during inclement weather (remember the recent "b" word"), Amtrak is a total zoo. ;)

[tompeter]

The OP is talking about a 12 hour journey overnight in January. All it would take is a frozen switch to delay the train 2-3 hours and then the ship is gone... I would come up a day early on this long a trip, same as if I were flying.

[jgnova]

I'm going to play the voice of doom here, based on stories I heard on our 12/21/09 cruise from Baltimore. That sailing left the Monday after a major blizzard wiped out the east coast. We live in the DC area and had our own challenges getting to the ship (read my review for details).

 

But we had been following the travels of many people on the roll call and there were many challenges. Ironically, the people who had the most problems were those who had planned to come in on Saturday. All flights were canceled and they were offered new bookings on Monday or Tuesday. All I can say, based on that experience, is that you better have travel insurance with all kinds of options so you can make alternate arrangements. And check the weather forecasts and adjust your travel plans accordingly. Some people who drove in from as far as Canada and Michigan came in on Friday to beat the weather.

 

j

[c-legs]

Hi,

Take the same train....a day earlier !! If it's on time, you'll have lots of times to enjoy Baltimore and its water front...although it could be cold at that time.

If it's delayed due to any reason ( and weather is a BIG factor at that time of the year......), then you just arrive later...without sweating blood and tears over potentially missing the ship.

Cheers

Smooth Sails

[drfaust]

Hi:) do you think this is an "East Coast Problem"?:confused: The reason I ask

is I have taken Amtrak from Seattle up to Vancouver 2 or 3 times

and it has been on time, smooth and I never ran into any problems.

Just curious!

 

For a while my partner was taking Amtrak Cascades service between Seattle and Portland about once a week for work. It should be a 4 hour trip. Most of the time it was within 30 minutes, but about 30% of the time it was EXTREMELY late -- up to 5 hours late on a 4 hour trip. NOT a good ratio. So, I wouldn't put all of my eggs in the Amtrak basket if I were you.

[CruisingChick]

Lois,

 

I'm not sure if it's an East Coast problem, but that's all we have experience with.

 

I also forgot to mention my son was taking Amtrak to Boston from Stamford to visit friends up there. The train getting into Stamford from where ever it was coming from was 5 hours late! This was in May so there was no bad weather.

 

Unless you take an Amtrak Acela train between Boston - New York - DC your chances on Amtrak are better you being late than on time.

 

The OP really should take the train a day earlier - especially since it's in the winter.

 

Anne Maria

[dmwnc1959]

It appears you are taking the CRESCENT up from Georgia? Best advice is to ride up the day before if your schedule allows. There are several hotels downtown that run b/t $99-159 a night, the latter offering complimentary shuttle to and from the ship and may offer the same to and from the hotel from the AMTRAK station.

 

Holiday Inn Express

1701 RUSSELL ST.

BALTIMORE , MD 21230

1-410-727-1818

 

Dont forget this last winter there was a train stuck outside Alexandria VA for 5 hours because of a frozen switch.

[TravelerThom]

Amtrak is horrible for reliability. Especially if the weather is bad.

 

They do not own any of the tracks so as the other poster mentioned they do not have priority on them...

Hey, Lois. I'm not Cruising Chick, but we use Amtrak from Baltimore to DC and Manhattan frequently and we haven't been delayed more than 10-15 minutes. ;)

Amtrak owns most of its track within the Northeast Corridor [the entire route from Washington to New York, and most from New York to Boston], plus it owns the Keystone Corridor from Harrisburg to Philadelphia. It is true that they do not own track south of Washington, DC, and I am not here to defend their reliability.

 

Thom

[CruisingChick]

They don't own the tracks in the northeast that go from Niagra Falls to NYC Penn Station or Toronto, Ontario to Penn Station - all the lines west of the Hudson.

[madelinerose]

Does anyone know the reliability of Amtrak to be somewhat on time in January weather in Baltimore? Surely I don't have to worry too much if stated train arrival is 11:12 AM and sail off is 4:00PM....do I??? (Coming in from GA)

 

January weather in Baltimore is as unpredictable as it gets. Come in a day early or get a much, much earlier train. ;)

[dmwnc1959]

They don't own the tracks in the northeast that go from Niagra Falls to NYC Penn Station or Toronto, Ontario to Penn Station - all the lines west of the Hudson.

 

None of these lines you mention are in AMTRAK's Northeast Corridor

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Corridor

[Going Coastal]

I am a fan of Amtrak and have enjoyed most of its routes from coast to coast and North/South. It is a wonderful way to travel.

However, I have always said that it is great for pleasure but not to get where you need to be at a certain time.

Go early or go another way, if you don't want to be a nerous wreck.

Best wishes.

[LeftcoastBC]

Hi:) do you think this is an "East Coast Problem"?:confused: The reason I ask

is I have taken Amtrak from Seattle up to Vancouver 2 or 3 times

and it has been on time, smooth and I never ran into any problems.

Just curious!

 

Amtrak north of Seattle to and from Vancouver is an entirely different animal than South of Seattle.

 

Very reliable north of Seattle and the opposite south on the Coastal. Likely due to the hours they travel to and from Vancouver and the limited freight using the line into and out of Canada. Freight comes first over here also.

 

Prior to boarding a 2 hour late train in Oakland for the journey north I had asked the ticket guy if there was one tip about train travel he could give me it was pretty simple. "Throw away your watch"

 

Between Seattle and Vancouver you can wear your watch. :) (Except for the odd mud slide in the spring.)

[Smartie Pants]

I would go the day before. Just to be safe. Yes we did have major travel problems in MD. The ship arrived on-time and departed on-time for each cruise. And was not missing too many passengers. Penn Station is not real far from the terminal, but it is in the heart of the city which will not help matters if the train is late. And fair warning... they do close the cruise terminal gates early and if you arrive a few minutes to late, you will have to catch the ship at the next foreign port of call.

FYI...get to the terminal earlier because they usually start embarkation earlier than stated in your documents. If you follow the cruise line instructions, they want you to arrive at the busiest time of the day.