Highlandspring
Established Member
- Joined
- 14 Oct 2017
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- 2,777
That’s in the finest tradition of the sleeper going back years and years.a CS crewmember rapped on the door and barked ‘it’s vacate on arrival’.
That’s in the finest tradition of the sleeper going back years and years.a CS crewmember rapped on the door and barked ‘it’s vacate on arrival’.
That’s in the finest tradition of the sleeper going back years and years.
But it's not good enough in a premium market.
It'd be fine if it was still Bargain Berths and a Travelodge/Premier Inn on wheels.
That’s in the finest tradition of the sleeper going back years and years.
What is it delivering at the moment?
It'd be fine if it was still Bargain Berths and a Travelodge/Premier Inn on wheels.
I think they’d rather you paid a grand....As someone who's going to be travelling Crewe-Aberdeen and back a lot over the next few months, I'd quite like a non-premium product at non-premium prices.
Not worried about food, drink, service or decor. But a place where I can be horizontal for a few hours with paying £100+ would be grand.
Agreed.But it's not good enough in a premium market.
Yes but the attendants have been attempting to have the cabins vacated as soon as possible on arrival for decades. They’re not usually as unsubtle as shown in the post above but they have lots of ways of making it obvious they want you off ASAP...Really? They advertise that fact that you can vacate berths by such and such a time which is often well after the "arrival time" (at the terminal station of course).
What makes the sleeper an experience? A lounge car. A quiet drink or two as England passes by into the night. Breakfast in Scotland. Scenery. Ability to sleep. Arrive refreshed.
Well, exactly, and you're writing from direct experience.This. This is exactly what I experienced last month. It was perfect.
I don't use Travelodge but if someone was banging on my door in a Premier Inn I would be claiming the Good Night Guarantee refund.
Yes but the attendants have been attempting to have the cabins vacated as soon as possible on arrival for decades. They’re not usually as unsubtle as shown in the post above but they have lots of ways of making it obvious they want you off ASAP...
I might have misremembered this, but my recollection of the reasoning behind the lectern checkin was that:
Only the second of the three ideas worked in practice. Keycards are left in rooms rather than issued at the desk and staff were generally so distracted by whatever they were dealing with at the checkin point that anyone could stroll by unnoticed and find their way into any part of the train. So the system made security worse rather than better. The queues at Euston were shocking thereby killing off one of the great advantages of the train over flying - you don't have to shuffle forward in depressing queues.
Quite often I've had to remind the steward about my breakfast, i'm usually in the Accessible berth so right next door to the lounge car.
The excuses range from "Have you ordered sir?" to "First Class is served first sir!" (This would be ok if they did do it that way but in reality - i know i've been forgotten, and so do they!) not once could anybody be sensible and truthfull enough to say "Sorry, we forgot about you, it'll be there as soon as possible!"
I apologise to the language police for not using the past tense. English is not my first language.Check-in has gone back to the old/previous non-lectern approach I believe. So CS do "seem to have realised"...
Yep, last time I travelled (autumn 2015, so just after Serco took over) my breakfast ordered for 7:30 turned up at 6 and the door was being rattled by the steward ordering us off at 7. What should have been a gentle tube & stroll to the hotel for the booked 8am checkin (Ibis, not that pricy for an early checkin!) turned into sitting in a Costa nursing a coffee and waiting for 8:00 to come round. It’s crap service & the crew clearly just wanted to get home on a Saturday morning.Yes but the attendants have been attempting to have the cabins vacated as soon as possible on arrival for decades. They’re not usually as unsubtle as shown in the post above but they have lots of ways of making it obvious they want you off ASAP...
Yep, last time I travelled (autumn 2015, so just after Serco took over) my breakfast ordered for 7:30 turned up at 6 and the door was being rattled by the steward ordering us off at 7.
"This is a passenger announcement, this train will shortly be departing for the depot, would all remaining passengers please vacate the train" at 0755, followed by a quick walk down the carriages by the hosts, is surely all that is required ? It would give enough time for anyone who has seriously slept in to get off ?
It would, but then that wouldn't allow the crew to buzz off early, which is why they try their utmost to turf everyone out asap.
Unfortunately this is nothing new.Yep, last time I travelled (autumn 2015, so just after Serco took over) my breakfast ordered for 7:30 turned up at 6 and the door was being rattled by the steward ordering us off at 7. What should have been a gentle tube & stroll to the hotel for the booked 8am checkin (Ibis, not that pricy for an early checkin!) turned into sitting in a Costa nursing a coffee and waiting for 8:00 to come round. It’s crap service & the crew clearly just wanted to get home on a Saturday morning.
I've used the Riviera a number of times and have never had this sort of experience. I found the staff extremely helpful and polite, certainly not like they were attempting to rush the guests off the train.Incidentally it's not just a CS issue, I've had exactly the same on the Night Riviera where the attendant kept knocking on my berth door every 10 minutes after about quarter to six to "check you're still ok sir"