Amtrak Everett to Vancouver Question

[mochi]

Has anyone taken Amtrak from the Everett, Washington station to Vancouver? We will be sailing a NB cruise next May out of Vancouver. One of the families that we are traveling with lives north of Seattle. My family is planning on flying into Seattle for a few days before the cruise, and then our two families need to make our way up to Vancouver for the cruise. There are 8 of us traveling. Taking Amtrak from the Everett station would be the most convenient for us. However, I have read that there are no preassigned seats on the train. If we get on at the Everett station, will we be able to find seats together? We would prefer not to drive down to the King Street station, as we would have to deal with morning commute traffic, and parking would be a problem (compared to free parking at the Everett station). Thanks!

[Urban trekker]

Are you talking the morning or evening train - this is a very popular train trip and is used by a fair number of cruisers - I have never gotten on in Everett and usually book the business class but I would be surprised if you would get 8 seats together - have you contacted the station master to see if 8 would qualify as a group and perhaps be put in at least the same car.

 

Hope this helps somewhat.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

[mochi]

Are you talking the morning or evening train - this is a very popular train trip and is used by a fair number of cruisers - I have never gotten on in Everett and usually book the business class but I would be surprised if you would get 8 seats together - have you contacted the station master to see if 8 would qualify as a group and perhaps be put in at least the same car.

 

Hope this helps somewhat.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

 

Hi Dennis,

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

We would be doing the morning train. Yes, I assumed this would be a popular trip, thus the concern about being seated together. I didn't know it was possible to book as a group. However, I just looked it up on Amtrak's website, and unfortunately, a group is 20 or more, so we wouldn't qualify. I like your suggestion about contacting the station master though and will try to do this on Monday.

[zephyr17]

Everett is my "home" Amtrak station and I go to Vancouver frequently.

 

The station staff would normally have little or nothing to do with seating, so I doubt that talking to the "stationmaster" will do anything (I doubt that they even have a "stationmaster" in Everett, just ticket agents and baggage handlers). Seating is the conductor on the train's responsibility and his is the final word. With that said, they do restrict some seats to couples or large groups, so you may be lucky. In any case, you can gather in the "dining" section of the Bistro if you'd like. Your group of 8 will be on the manifest as such if it was booked together on one reservation and the conductor will know he will have a group of 8 boarding in Everett. He may hold space for you if you are lucky, but there is no way to know.

 

Bottom line is there is no way to assure adjacent seating for a group of 8 in advance. If you had enough to block an entire car, you might be able to do something through Amtrak group reservations, but that would almost be like a charter.

Edited September 10, 2014 by zephyr17

[mochi]

Everett is my "home" Amtrak station and I go to Vancouver frequently.

 

The station staff would normally have little or nothing to do with seating, so I doubt that talking to the "stationmaster" will do anything (I doubt that they even have a "stationmaster" in Everett, just ticket agents and baggage handlers). Seating is the conductor on the train's responsibility and his is the final word. With that said, they do restrict some seats to couples or large groups, so you may be lucky. In any case, you can gather in the "dining" section of the Bistro if you'd like. Your group of 8 will be on the manifest as such if it was booked together on one reservation and the conductor will know he will have a group of 8 boarding in Everett. He may hold space for you if you are lucky, but there is no way to know.

 

Bottom line is there is no way to assure adjacent seating for a group of 8 in advance. If you had enough to block an entire car, you might be able to do something through Amtrak group reservations, but that would almost be like a charter.

 

Thanks for your reply, zephyr17!

 

I emailed Amtrak last weekend about seating arrangements for a group of 8, and their reply was "While Amtrak cannot guarantee seating together, we can personalize your reservation and request seating together. Please contact our Reservation Sales Desk..." So, it sounds like they would make a notation on it, and then it would be up to the conductor. But, with a full train, this may be difficult for the conductor to keep track of. In your travels, do you happen to remember if the train was packed on cruise sailing days? I would be happy if we could just be assured of being in the same railroad car together, but again, they can't guarantee this.

 

Our other option is taking the cruise line's transfer from SeaTac to Vancouver. Unfortunately, RCCL hasn't posted any information on this yet in regards to price and time. One of the drawbacks for us with this option is that we will have to make our way to the airport (backtracking 40 miles south), most likely during the morning rush hour.

 

I am also going to look into doing a one-way rental of a van large enough to carry all of us and our luggage.

[zephyr17]

Thanks for your reply, zephyr17!

 

I emailed Amtrak last weekend about seating arrangements for a group of 8, and their reply was "While Amtrak cannot guarantee seating together, we can personalize your reservation and request seating together. Please contact our Reservation Sales Desk..." So, it sounds like they would make a notation on it, and then it would be up to the conductor. But, with a full train, this may be difficult for the conductor to keep track of. In your travels, do you happen to remember if the train was packed on cruise sailing days? I would be happy if we could just be assured of being in the same railroad car together, but again, they can't guarantee this.

 

Our other option is taking the cruise line's transfer from SeaTac to Vancouver. Unfortunately, RCCL hasn't posted any information on this yet in regards to price and time. One of the drawbacks for us with this option is that we will have to make our way to the airport (backtracking 40 miles south), most likely during the morning rush hour.

 

I am also going to look into doing a one-way rental of a van large enough to carry all of us and our luggage.

Since you have one reservation, go ahead and have Amtrak note it. Seats are assigned before boarding in Seattle, so the conductor has an opportunity to organize the Seattle folks to leave space for people down the line, and there is only one stop between Seattle and Everett (Edmonds). A good conductor will note he has a large group boarding at a subsequent stop and will try to keep space open for you.

 

One important note is on the Cascades, other than at Seattle, the seating is Southwest style, you grab an open seat (one without a seat check above it, if there is a seat check it is claimed even if someone is not sitting in it at that moment). Conductors often do block sections of cars for couples, families and large groups only. They will often organize the boarding passengers and allow families and large groups to board before couples and couples before singles, especially if they know they have a full train.

 

Also remember that, unlike planes and buses, you are not confined to your seat and there are communal areas that you can gather. You can also just go and hang out in with people in another car, as long as you are polite and are not too bad about blocking the aisle.

 

The train is generally sold out or very close to it on cruise sailing days.

 

Also, if you choose Business Class, there are only 2 Business Class cars (and the Talgo cars used on the Cascades are smaller than most rail cars in any case) and they take more care in Business Class. Some conductors actually will assign seats for Business Class passengers for ALL stops before departing, not just the Seattle passengers, so instead of the open seating generally used, they will direct you to specific seats when you board. While no guarantee, my opinion is your chances of being seated together are much better in Business Class. In any case, there are only 2 cars so you couldn't be that far away from each other.

 

Much depends on the conductor, who is the "captain" of the train.

 

If you decide that the uncertainty around sitting together on Amtrak is too much, another option is Quick Coach. They stop at the Tulalip casino in Marysville, just north of Everett and directly serve the Vancouver cruise piers. However, note that with a large group boarding after everyone from the airport and downtown Seattle have already boarded you likely would be scattered through the bus anyway. And you'd be without the Bistro car and the more open spaces of the train.

Edited September 11, 2014 by zephyr17

[mochi]

Since you have one reservation, go ahead and have Amtrak note it. Seats are assigned before boarding in Seattle, so the conductor has an opportunity to organize the Seattle folks to leave space for people down the line, and there is only one stop between Seattle and Everett (Edmonds). A good conductor will note he has a large group boarding at a subsequent stop and will try to keep space open for you.

 

One important note is on the Cascades, other than at Seattle, the seating is Southwest style, you grab an open seat (one without a seat check above it, if there is a seat check it is claimed even if someone is not sitting in it at that moment). Conductors often do block sections of cars for couples, families and large groups only. They will often organize the boarding passengers and allow families and large groups to board before couples and couples before singles, especially if they know they have a full train.

 

Also remember that, unlike planes and buses, you are not confined to your seat and there are communal areas that you can gather. You can also just go and hang out in with people in another car, as long as you are polite and are not too bad about blocking the aisle.

 

The train is generally sold out or very close to it on cruise sailing days.

 

Also, if you choose Business Class, there are only 2 Business Class cars (and the Talgo cars used on the Cascades are smaller than most rail cars in any case) and they take more care in Business Class. Some conductors actually will assign seats for Business Class passengers for ALL stops before departing, not just the Seattle passengers, so instead of the open seating generally used, they will direct you to specific seats when you board. While no guarantee, my opinion is your chances of being seated together are much better in Business Class. In any case, there are only 2 cars so you couldn't be that far away from each other.

 

Much depends on the conductor, who is the "captain" of the train.

 

If you decide that the uncertainty around sitting together on Amtrak is too much, another option is Quick Coach. They stop at the Tulalip casino in Marysville, just north of Everett and directly serve the Vancouver cruise piers. However, note that with a large group boarding after everyone from the airport and downtown Seattle have already boarded you likely would be scattered through the bus anyway. And you'd be without the Bistro car and the more open spaces of the train.

 

Thanks, zephyr17! You have been such a great help.

 

I checked the business class seats, and they are currently $42, compared to the $20 Saver seats. Quick Coach is $43. At this price, we may be better off renting a van and driving ourselves up to Vancouver. If we could fit into a "normal" car, I would just go the rental route. The difficulty is in finding a one-way passenger van rental for an affordable price :(

[martincath]

Thanks, zephyr17! You have been such a great help.

 

I checked the business class seats, and they are currently $42, compared to the $20 Saver seats. Quick Coach is $43. At this price, we may be better off renting a van and driving ourselves up to Vancouver. If we could fit into a "normal" car, I would just go the rental route. The difficulty is in finding a one-way passenger van rental for an affordable price :(

I'm sure there must be at least ONE other person among your group of eight who can drive...? Two regular cars should be easy enough to find a one-way rental for - although I doubt you'd get a lower total price than the $20 saver seats on Amtrak. With a week on a cruise ship to be stuck together, a few hours sitting separately might build a buffer of tolerance;-)

[PRINCESS ELITE]

We regularly take the train from Edmonds to Vancouver to take the ships out of Vancouver. It is true what Zepyr17 said, the conductor has the final word.

We have had some really "on top of it" conductors, and also some others.

Usually they seat all the Seattle boarders in one/two specific cars, while holding other cars for boarders up the line.

Remember they unload the train from the back, not the front, so those that

get on first, get off first. Business car also gets preferential treatment. No one gets off until the baggage car (right behind the engine) gets unloaded with the suitcases all along the fence. You pick luggage up as you go past it to get in the immigration line which will be long on a sold out train.

That said, it is a very enjoyable ride as the train goes along the coast line until

into BC. Remember, you don't have to wait in line at the border (which can be long), nor do you have to deal with traffic either in the US, nor in Vancouver trying to get to the pier. We've done both train and rental car, dropping off in the city, and much prefer the train. $20.00 is a very good price.

[mochi]

I'm sure there must be at least ONE other person among your group of eight who can drive...? Two regular cars should be easy enough to find a one-way rental for - although I doubt you'd get a lower total price than the $20 saver seats on Amtrak. With a week on a cruise ship to be stuck together, a few hours sitting separately might build a buffer of tolerance;-)

 

Thanks for your reply martincath. We would really prefer not to drive 2 separate cars. Our kids really enjoy spending time with their cousins, and we only get together once a year. So, we would like to maximize our time together.

 

We regularly take the train from Edmonds to Vancouver to take the ships out of Vancouver. It is true what Zepyr17 said, the conductor has the final word.

We have had some really "on top of it" conductors, and also some others.

Usually they seat all the Seattle boarders in one/two specific cars, while holding other cars for boarders up the line.

Remember they unload the train from the back, not the front, so those that

get on first, get off first. Business car also gets preferential treatment. No one gets off until the baggage car (right behind the engine) gets unloaded with the suitcases all along the fence. You pick luggage up as you go past it to get in the immigration line which will be long on a sold out train.

That said, it is a very enjoyable ride as the train goes along the coast line until

into BC. Remember, you don't have to wait in line at the border (which can be long), nor do you have to deal with traffic either in the US, nor in Vancouver trying to get to the pier. We've done both train and rental car, dropping off in the city, and much prefer the train. $20.00 is a very good price.

 

Thanks, Princess Elite! Your post gives me hope that we could be seated together, or at least in the same railroad car. I didn't realize that they hold cars for others up the line. Since seats aren't assigned, I thought people just got to pick their own seats/cars when they boarded. The $20 saver fare, the beautiful scenery, not having to drive and deal with traffic, and not having to wait in line at the border all make Amtrak sound like the way to go.

[zephyr17]

Generally the conductors will direct you to a car. And they do tend to gather the Seattle passengers if they can, but a very full train can have most cars at least partly occupied out of Seattle. One Sunday in September a couple of years ago when I went up there were 3 cruises all leaving that same day. The train was almost full when it got to Everett where I got on.

[Langley Cruisers]

The difficulty is in finding a one-way passenger van rental for an affordable price :(

 

Yes, that may be a problem. I worked in a rental car agency for five years and we only rented cars, not passenger vans, one way. The thing is, each city is franchised; they own their own vehicles and when one car rents out and drops in another city, there is no revenue on that car until it is rented back "home". I can't imagine the difficulty, if at all the possibility of renting a passenger van to drop in another country, let alone a city. In British Columbia, for example, a large passenger van/bus requires a specific driver's license.

 

Have you actually found a one-way van rental and it is just too expensive?

 

.

[mochi]

Yes, that may be a problem. I worked in a rental car agency for five years and we only rented cars, not passenger vans, one way. The thing is, each city is franchised; they own their own vehicles and when one car rents out and drops in another city, there is no revenue on that car until it is rented back "home". I can't imagine the difficulty, if at all the possibility of renting a passenger van to drop in another country, let alone a city. In British Columbia, for example, a large passenger van/bus requires a specific driver's license.

 

Have you actually found a one-way van rental and it is just too expensive?

 

.

 

Hi Karen,

 

I did manage to find a one-way passenger van rental for under $200 (previous searches only yielded rentals in the $400 range). But now your explanation of car rental franchises has me worried. After I booked our reservation, I did another search, and they no longer show any available one-way van rentals. Did I get the only one? Since we are 8 months out from our cruise, I am concerned that when I go to pick up our van, it won't be available. :eek: Should I be worried? I hate to get there and find that we don't have a vehicle, and have to frantically scrounge for last minute transportation, which would undoubtedly be very expensive. Sorry, I tend to be a worrier.

[Langley Cruisers]

...Since we are 8 months out from our cruise, I am concerned that when I go to pick up our van, it won't be available. :eek: Should I be worried? I hate to get there and find that we don't have a vehicle...

 

Understood. I should think a phone call would help alleviate that concern? Call the actual office (not the Toll Free number, which is a reservation center somewhere) and see what they say.

[mochi]

Understood. I should think a phone call would help alleviate that concern? Call the actual office (not the Toll Free number, which is a reservation center somewhere) and see what they say.

 

Thanks, Karen. I'll give them a call on Monday.