(Slighty OT) Getting There - Has anyone taken the AutoTrain??

[Tank814]

Hi,

My wife, infant son, and I are leaving for Florida on Sunday.

We're taking the AutoTrain.

Since we'll be in Miami for the holidays visiting w/ in-laws before our Wonder cruise on Jan 4th, we wanted to have our car.

The train station is not that far from us or from Port Canaveral once the cruise is over, so we figured that it's perfect.

My questions are..

 

1. We have booked a deluxe bedroom.. Anyone know if a small Pack & Play will fit once the bed is out?? Is there any open space once the bed is down? I've asked Amtrak, and they have no clue.

 

2. Has anyone had their dinner brought to their room?? Amtrak said it's up to the Car Attendant if they will do this, it's not guaranteed.

 

3. Are we crazy??

Since we're travelling with our 11 month old and my wife is also pregnant, we'd figured this would be easier than driving all the way to Fla. But I've been reading horror stories about the AutoTrain... Cars damaged, stuff stolen out of your car, sewage backed up on the train, etc.

 

Anyone that has any experience would be helpful..

 

Thanks in Advance,

Robert

[Capt_BJ]

I've used AT twice and IMHO a returning customer is the best recommendation. I found the service to be good, the food exceeded my expectations. I had a basic sleeper - traveling alone - so can't comment on "room service" or what will fit in a family sleeper.

 

Nothing was even missing from my car - actually it would be difficult to do. Your vehicle is not accessable while the train is in motion and the load / unload process is in plain view of everyone. Common sense about valuables applies. Ditto things in your room...

 

My accomodations were clean as were the 'facilities' ... at least as you'd expect facilites shared... On one trip the a/c in my car was a bit weaker than I'd prefer but 'stuff happens'.

[gometros]

Hi,

My wife, infant son, and I are leaving for Florida on Sunday.

We're taking the AutoTrain.

Since we'll be in Miami for the holidays visiting w/ in-laws before our Wonder cruise on Jan 4th, we wanted to have our car.

The train station is not that far from us or from Port Canaveral once the cruise is over, so we figured that it's perfect.

My questions are..

 

1. We have booked a deluxe bedroom.. Anyone know if a small Pack & Play will fit once the bed is out?? Is there any open space once the bed is down? I've asked Amtrak, and they have no clue.

 

2. Has anyone had their dinner brought to their room?? Amtrak said it's up to the Car Attendant if they will do this, it's not guaranteed.

 

3. Are we crazy??

Since we're travelling with our 11 month old and my wife is also pregnant, we'd figured this would be easier than driving all the way to Fla. But I've been reading horror stories about the AutoTrain... Cars damaged, stuff stolen out of your car, sewage backed up on the train, etc.

 

Anyone that has any experience would be helpful..

 

Thanks in Advance,

Robert

 

My wife and I traveled via Autotrain frequently, as she doesn't fly. While I admit I'd prefer to get to my vacation as quickly as possible, it's a fun way to travel. hen the kids were younger, it was far suitable than piling them into the car and having to listen to them squabble for 24 hours. The train gave them room to stretch their legs and more distractions with the evening movies in the lounge.

 

Even though we got an upgrade to a deluxe bedroom once, I can't recall it well enough to answer the question about the Pack & Play (I assume that's some kind of playpen? Hey, our kids are way past those days), but we did get room service once, when I had an accident the last day of the cruise and severely injured my knee.

 

We used to travel with a small TV/VCR combo (back before in the days before portable DVD players smaller than a pack of cards) and with an outlet in the room, we could sit and watch TV at night. During the day, it was fun to watch the scenery fly by.

 

The only downside to the train in the winter is it is susceptible to delays, but the same can be said for flying. We learned the hard way to make sure we took the train that arrived the day before the cruise, since on one trip, we were delayed around four hours and got into Sanford at 1:00, making it to Port Canaveral int he nick of time. We would drive down the night before the train left, stay at a Comfort Inn near the station and spend the day at WDW before the cruise.

[Tank814]

So, we took the AutoTrain Sunday and are now visting the in-laws before our cruise.

The train was great!! Our 11 month old loved it, he had his little face plastered to the window the whole trip.

What a relaxing way to get to Florida. Service was great, room was comfortable, food was edible.

 

Only one complaint, the bartender was a Steelers Fan!

 

Go Ravens!

 

Robert