Was just got back from our trip and we used Amtrak to go from Philadelphia to Orlando as usual. I just wanted to post this thread in case anyone else wants to do this since things are a little different on the East coast Florida routes right now. This only applies non-Autotrain routes, Autotrain is an entirely different thing.
In the past there were two routes that went from New York City to Orlando, the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor. The Meteor has still not returned from the pandemic shut downs, so currently they are running a longer Silver Star to make up the capacity. Current rumor is that the Meteor will be back in September, but even the staff on the train didn't know for sure. The Silver Star is using the same route and timetable as before, but this is causing a bit of a problem. The combined train is longer then normal which means it doesn't "fit" in some of the stations, especially the ones in the south. This means that during these stops they need to reposition the train once or twice so everyone can get on/off. This slows things down a bit. The train staff said that they have been struggling to stay on time a lot recently. We were an hour late into Orlando and three hours late back into Philly.
A while back Amtrak changed the way meals were handled on the Star. In the past, if you had a sleeper on either route you would get your meals included. A couple years ago they removed this from the Star, and only had a café car where you can buy food, but the room price was also lowered to offset this a bit. Now that they are running the combined train, things have gone back to the old way, meals from the dining car included if you have a sleeper. The dinning car is also restricted to just sleeper passengers, coach passengers can use the café car. You are currently free to eat in either the dining car or your room. The food they are currently serving is pre-made and heated up when you order it. It's not a good as the previous meals, but still not a bad meal.
The most exciting change for me is that Amtrak has started to roll out their new Viewliner cars. The trains on this route are running with the new dining cars and have started to roll out the new sleepers. Not every sleeper on these routes is upgraded yet, we got a new sleeper on the way down, but an old one on the way back.
Besides an overall cosmetic refresh there are some other changes in the cars. We used a roomette so can't comment on changes to the bedrooms. The biggest change is that removal of the toilets from the rooms. There are now two restroom in the car, instead of the in-room toilets. Even if you get an old sleeper you walk to one of the new cars to use the restroom there. The cars also still have a shower. The area where the toilet was provides a welcome new area for storage, and larger steps to get to the top bunk.
The sink has remained and is a little nicer then the old ones.
The storage area up on the wall remains but is a couple inches shallower then the old ones. Our suitcases wouldn't stick out this much on the old cars, although this didn't pose a problem.
You can't see it in this picture but they have added an additional electrical outlet for the other seat, so both seats now have easy access to an outlet, this was a much needed addition.
Here is a look at the new dining car.
In the past there were two routes that went from New York City to Orlando, the Silver Star and the Silver Meteor. The Meteor has still not returned from the pandemic shut downs, so currently they are running a longer Silver Star to make up the capacity. Current rumor is that the Meteor will be back in September, but even the staff on the train didn't know for sure. The Silver Star is using the same route and timetable as before, but this is causing a bit of a problem. The combined train is longer then normal which means it doesn't "fit" in some of the stations, especially the ones in the south. This means that during these stops they need to reposition the train once or twice so everyone can get on/off. This slows things down a bit. The train staff said that they have been struggling to stay on time a lot recently. We were an hour late into Orlando and three hours late back into Philly.
A while back Amtrak changed the way meals were handled on the Star. In the past, if you had a sleeper on either route you would get your meals included. A couple years ago they removed this from the Star, and only had a café car where you can buy food, but the room price was also lowered to offset this a bit. Now that they are running the combined train, things have gone back to the old way, meals from the dining car included if you have a sleeper. The dinning car is also restricted to just sleeper passengers, coach passengers can use the café car. You are currently free to eat in either the dining car or your room. The food they are currently serving is pre-made and heated up when you order it. It's not a good as the previous meals, but still not a bad meal.
The most exciting change for me is that Amtrak has started to roll out their new Viewliner cars. The trains on this route are running with the new dining cars and have started to roll out the new sleepers. Not every sleeper on these routes is upgraded yet, we got a new sleeper on the way down, but an old one on the way back.
Besides an overall cosmetic refresh there are some other changes in the cars. We used a roomette so can't comment on changes to the bedrooms. The biggest change is that removal of the toilets from the rooms. There are now two restroom in the car, instead of the in-room toilets. Even if you get an old sleeper you walk to one of the new cars to use the restroom there. The cars also still have a shower. The area where the toilet was provides a welcome new area for storage, and larger steps to get to the top bunk.
The sink has remained and is a little nicer then the old ones.
The storage area up on the wall remains but is a couple inches shallower then the old ones. Our suitcases wouldn't stick out this much on the old cars, although this didn't pose a problem.
You can't see it in this picture but they have added an additional electrical outlet for the other seat, so both seats now have easy access to an outlet, this was a much needed addition.
Here is a look at the new dining car.