Originally Posted by
NoLaGent
Hi Amtrak forum!
I've never been here before and I did a quick search, but mods, please merge into whatever is appropriate if necessary!
Summary: My partner and I are taking a quick, spur of the moment trip from San Francisco up to Reno tomorrow (Tues) and back Thursday.
I haven't rode the rails in a VERY long time, and I'm not familiar with the room categories at all.
Needless to say, this is a very short trip (6.5 hours on the Zephyr each way), but I thought it might be kind of novel to do the family bedroom one way (double windows, right?) and the roomette back. The cost differential is minimal (+$100 and change one-way), but I thought I would ask the experts if there's something I'm not thinking of? Does the family room have any glaring disadvantages that I'm just not aware of?
Many thanks in advance for your input!
Upside: it's larger than a roomette.
Downsides: it's downstairs, which means less of a view and a climb up the stairs every time you want to visit the lounge or diner. Also, while you get a window off both sides of the train, the windows themselves are smaller than the normal windows upstairs.
Really, on that majestic route, there's no reason to spend much time anywhere other than in the Sightseer Lounge car, so I'd suggest forgoing a room altogether and planning on spending most of the trip between Reno and Roseville in front of those panoramic picture windows.