Amtrak Cascades fro Seattle to Vancouver

[lanabanana]

This info is super helpful, as we arrive VAC on the Millennium 9/15 and are spending two nights post cruise, then taking the train very early on 9/17 to Seattle, for two more nights before we fly home. Not a seasoned Amtrak traveler,  so all of this discussion is relevant to me! Thanks!

[martincath]

7 hours ago, lanabanana said:

... then taking the train very early on 9/17 to Seattle...

Since Southbound procedures haven't been talked about in this thread yet, note that you will be Precleared by US CBP on-site at the station, so Amtrak's normal 'come an hour early if you want to check bags' becomes 'be at least an hour early because if you cut it too fine CBP may not let you board!'

 

Seats are also allocated at this time - so if you want to be on the good side (right) you also need to beat at least half the other pax, so I'd be aiming for ~90mins pre-departure (~5am) if you want to be certain of getting on your preferred side.

 

You do still stop at the border - CBP don't even trust their own staff! - and a few agents board and walk the train; most often this is just a 'hold up your passport next to your head and they walk right past' thing for US/Canadian citizens, with a random extra question or two directed to folks from elsewhere, but there might be a dog onboard and I always see dogs walking the outside of the train. Usually it's a 10 mins or less stop.

 

 

[gregma60]

Well, the train ride was sure interesting! Lol.  We entered between the first and second coach cars.  The first they had connected backwards, so all seats faced the rear.  I don't do well traveling backwards, so on to the second car.  Looked like there was a large group.  Every one had a single rider sitting be the window and a bag on the aisle seat.  Requests to sit together or at least move the bag went unnoticed, or ignored. The third car was mainly doubles with a few singles of young riders with headphones and phones or games.  They wouldn't acknowledge anyone's request to sit.  The fourth and last coach car was set half the seats facing the rear of the train and half facing forward.  I wad able to find a very nice young man who not only acknowledged me, but helped me with my bag.  Wife was finally able to to get someone to move their backpack so she could've sit at least in the same car.  

There were many requests over the speakers requesting singles to double up and let others sit. We were delayed 15 minutes trying to get everyone seated.  I guess even on the business class car most of the double seats were filled with singles who didn't want to move for couples. 

 

Train was delayed another 45 minutes due to a break in the line in Canada.  We had to creep through being watched to make sure we would make it.  Overall was a nice relaxing ride!

 

Customs when we got to Vancouver was a breeze!  We were a total of 2 hours late once it was all done with and we were in our taxi. 

 

-gregma

[Catlover54]

8 hours ago, gregma60 said:

Well, the train ride was sure interesting! Lol.  We entered between the first and second coach cars.  The first they had connected backwards, so all seats faced the rear.  I don't do well traveling backwards, so on to the second car.  Looked like there was a large group.  Every one had a single rider sitting be the window and a bag on the aisle seat.  Requests to sit together or at least move the bag went unnoticed, or ignored. The third car was mainly doubles with a few singles of young riders with headphones and phones or games.  They wouldn't acknowledge anyone's request to sit.  The fourth and last coach car was set half the seats facing the rear of the train and half facing forward.  I wad able to find a very nice young man who not only acknowledged me, but helped me with my bag.  Wife was finally able to to get someone to move their backpack so she could've sit at least in the same car.  

There were many requests over the speakers requesting singles to double up and let others sit. We were delayed 15 minutes trying to get everyone seated.  I guess even on the business class car most of the double seats were filled with singles who didn't want to move for couples. 

 

Train was delayed another 45 minutes due to a break in the line in Canada.  We had to creep through being watched to make sure we would make it.  Overall was a nice relaxing ride!

 

Customs when we got to Vancouver was a breeze!  We were a total of 2 hours late once it was all done with and we were in our taxi. 

 

-gregma

 

Sad. As someone who sometimes travels solo, even though I really don't like having large men spilling into my already tight seat when I travel as a group, I know I am not entitled to block seats next to me, be it on a bus, boat or train, and even more so if the vehicle is full. Staff know that too.  Were there any around to enlist their help to get seated where pax rudely refused to move their bags so humans could sit?  

 

 I don't think staff are required to make sure couples sit together, so they likely wouldn't be willing to cause commotion and force a solo to move to a new seat.  But they  would almost certainly have made a solo give up her second seat  -- after all, she only paid for one (unless she was saving it for someone she was traveling with who had also paid, who was delayed, getting a drink, in the toilet, or whatever). 

 

When I was young I spent quite a few years living in a country where we had no car and took streetcars, trains and buses everywhere. It would have been unheard of and the height of incivility for people to refuse to move their bag so that someone could sit.  It was also an era where younger healthy looking people would get up from their seats and give them to ladies of any age, children, and men who looked old or weak.  

[GTJ]

18 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

Were there any around to enlist their help to get seated where pax rudely refused to move their bags so humans could sit?

Many times the trainmen will do just that. I have an advantage in being from New York and not having inhibitions about admonishing such seat hogs, but those who are more kindly than me should not have to face this problem. I will note, however, that sometimes people do buy an extra seat for themselves--I have done this on occasion--so one may need to take that into consideration.

 

18 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

I don't think staff are required to make sure couples sit together, so they likely wouldn't be willing to cause commotion and force a solo to move to a new seat. But they  would almost certainly have made a solo give up her second seat  -- after all, she only paid for one (unless she was saving it for someone she was traveling with who had also paid, who was delayed, getting a drink, in the toilet, or whatever).

On some trains there are adjacent seats set aside for couples and families, but that can raise its own issues. It may mean that every single person boarding the train at an intermediate station is given a leftover aisle seat, and only couples and families are privileged to get a window seat . . . even though all paid the same rates of fare. As to "saving" seats: that's really a non-issue. Every occupied seat has a seat check above, so boarding passengers will know that a seat is "occupied," even if the passenger is temporarily in the café car, washroom, or whatever, simply by looking at the seat checks before demanding an apparent solo passenger to remove "their" stuff from the temporarily vacant but occupied adjacent seat.

 

18 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

When I was young I spent quite a few years living in a country where we had no car and took streetcars, trains and buses everywhere. It would have been unheard of and the height of incivility for people to refuse to move their bag so that someone could sit.  It was also an era where younger healthy looking people would get up from their seats and give them to ladies of any age, children, and men who looked old or weak.  

You're not alone in yearning for those days. I would add, however, that not all disabilities are visible, so those young men and women should also be prepared to give a seat to someone with a non-visible disability. We live in New York City, have no car, and we ride trains and buses everywhere. For all its faults, however, there are many young people who continue to make these offerings, and so kudos to them.

[disneyochem]

12 hours ago, GTJ said:

Many times the trainmen will do just that. I have an advantage in being from New York and not having inhibitions about admonishing such seat hogs, but those who are more kindly than me should not have to face this problem. I will note, however, that sometimes people do buy an extra seat for themselves--I have done this on occasion--so one may need to take that into consideration.

 

Yes, when I’m traveling alone in coach, I always buy two seats on the train.  I like the ability to spread out and not worry about infringing on others.

 

On a crowded train though I’m constantly having to defend my empty seat!  Sometimes the conductor will support me as well!

[Catlover54]

3 hours ago, disneyochem said:

Yes, when I’m traveling alone in coach, I always buy two seats on the train.  I like the ability to spread out and not worry about infringing on others.

 

On a crowded train though I’m constantly having to defend my empty seat!  Sometimes the conductor will support me as well!

 

I did not know you could do this on scenic train routes but why not? I would love to be able to do this on some of the short-routing puddle-jumping plane flights in Europe (or even in the U.S.) where if you want a non-stop you have to fly economy and the economy seats are designed for those with the physique of prima ballerinas.

 

But I would think that if a solo bought two seats and someone asked him to move his stuff, the solo would then say "Sorry, I paid for both seats", or something similar, instead of just saying "NO" and/or pretending he did not hear.

 

[GTJ]

4 hours ago, disneyochem said:

Yes, when I’m traveling alone in coach, I always buy two seats on the train. * * * On a crowded train though I’m constantly having to defend my empty seat!  Sometimes the conductor will support me as well!

 

18 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

But I would think that if a solo bought two seats and someone asked him to move his stuff, the solo would then say "Sorry, I paid for both seats", or something similar, instead of just saying "NO" and/or pretending he did not hear.

 

When lifting tickets and two seats have been purchased, the conductor should place two seat checks, or mark a single seat check as being for two, above the seats. Neither the passenger who had so purchased two seats, nor boarding passengers seeking a place to sit, should have to engage in uncomfortable discussion when the seats are so clearly marked as occupied or not. The issue is more problematic when traveling by bus, where occupied seats are rarely (if ever) marked.

 

There is an opposing argument made by some that the purchase of a ticket merely entitles the ticket holder to transportation, but not to occupy any particular quantity of seating and, when a train is crowded, any seat at all. Under this theory, it does not matter how many tickets have been purchased, a passenger may occupy only the seat for himself or herself, that it would be unfair that some people can afford to buy more than one seat and therefore should not be allowed, and that it is for the communal good that everyone share and share alike. I don't think this is a good argument, but it is an argument made by some people.

[Ferry_Watcher]

We traveled to Vancouver via Amtrak in May '23 in Business Class.  The car held only 14 seats, with the 4 single seats on the west/left side. (waterside/shoreside).  We were the last to board (at a station past Seattle), and the only 2 seats that were available faced backwards.  The train was completely sold out.  

Here is a photo of the Business Class train car.