PaxVobiscum
Established Member
Good to hear.
Is there widespread reports of there being chronic stock shortages and/or poor quality food on Caledonian Sleeper? Or are we just getting whipped up into a frenzy because someone said you might not get haggis if you board at Crewe at midnight one night?
We are well on our way to 4,000 posts in this thread and there hasn't been much mention, if any of stocks continually being exhausted or the quality being poor nor are there many posts about poor quality food. The Highland Breakfast seems to draw the most criticism and having tried it I understand why, however most of the posts on here have been quite complementary about CS's food offering and they certainly seem to get fairly regular compliments about the food on social media whilst there certainly isn't widespread complaints about it being rubbish.
Signing up high street names and partnering with celebrity chefs etc comes at serious expense and there is no guarantee that it will be a success (James Martin only helped VTEC/LNERs complaints go through the roof from what I understand) furthermore high street and station retailers are as likely to run out of stuff as CS are. High street retailers may be able to make good stuff in small places but they usually have decent sized storage places to keep all the ingredients etc until they are needed in the kitchen. It is simply unfair on CS to compare the two.
Yes they could team up with another retailer and get more stock enroute. The principal stations that CS call at/originate at are Inverness, Aberdeen, Fort William, Dundee, Perth, Stirling, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen Street, Carlisle, Preston, Crewe, London Euston. The only retailer that all these stations have in common with each other AFAIK is WH Smith which hardly the retailer of choice unless you want bag of Haribo and a packet of salt & vinegar. The four most likely restocking stations are Edinburgh, Carlisle, Preston and Crewe. With the exception of Edinburgh none of the other three exactly have and enticing range of eateries that CS could team up with. It's simply not as easy as ringing up the next station and saying chuck us another half dozen portions of X, Y and Z.
Rail gourmet or whoever could just use the same supplier as M&S and cut out the middle man.How about coming to a deal with M&S to provide food? Their ready meals are pretty decent and they seem to be moving into the rail station market in a big way.
How about coming to a deal with M&S to provide food? Their ready meals are pretty decent and they seem to be moving into the rail station market in a big way.
Fortunately the day to day operations seem to settled down after the recent failures, so there isn't much else for the regular posters to talk about!
There’s be a few comments on twitter about the Checkin system changing again, notably everyone who has commented has left from Edinburgh.
What changes have they made?
I believe you're actually greeted by a host now, who will hand you the breakfast card and tell you to fill it in by x time.
Received by text message a moment ago:
CALEDONIAN SLEEPER - 18.07.19 - INVERNESS TO LONDON EUSTON
We regret to inform you that due to a shortage of crew there will be no lounge car available on your service tonight.
Guests are advised to make provision for something to eat and drink prior to boarding. You are also welcome to take on refreshments to consume in your cabin. Please accept our apologies for any upset or discomfort caused as a result of this issue. Breakfast will be unaffected and the lounge car will be open for you in the morning.
Guest Service Centre
Disruption contact - 07718135745
<http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_maps/tocs/CS.aspx>
I believe you're actually greeted by a host now, who will hand you the breakfast card and tell you to fill it in by x time.
Yes, that’s absolutely right; it was changed in early July (I believe after constant complaints). The nonsensical system of queuing at one lectern has been replaced by exactly what you describe. The breakfast cards are still used as it’s much quicker for passengers to fill these in themselves at their leisure (although I think they like you to fill them in within 15 minutes of departure) than for the host to recite a list of options to the passenger outside the train (which the passenger checking-in conveniently forgets, as a small queue builds up behind them). This feels a lot more personal and I think that this is a positive change.
The lectern did seem a rather bizarre method of doing things.
'You are also welcome to take on refreshments to consume in your cabin.'
How do they mean? It's none of their business!
Some people might well think that this isn't allowed, particularly when it comes to alcoholic beverages.
Yes and CS seem not to have realised that the checkin and restaurant lectern queues are two of the most-disliked parts of the hotel "experience".I’m sure that was the rationale behind the lectern, but either way, it was a flawed system which needed changed. All the staff I know were pleased to see it go, together with the pointless ‘priority boarding’ for first class passengers (which was scrapped as it was simply impossible- there are very good reasons why passengers at Euston cannot board the down Highlander until 20:30). It led to tedious and slow-moving queuing at terminal stations, was very impersonal and crucially meant that first-time travellers were left to find everything out for themselves (and were not properly aware of the existence of dedicated hosts to help them). I get the impression that folk in head office were trying to make CS appear identical to a ‘hotel’, without properly understanding the specific needs of overnight train passengers.
Is that where the Inverness lounge car crew went?Geoff Marshall and the "All the Stations" team filming in the Aberdeen lounge car last night, and also the loco change at Edinburgh.
Yes and CS seem not to have realised that the checkin and restaurant lectern queues are two of the most-disliked parts of the hotel "experience".
At 07:25, I stopped a steward to ask where the breakfast was. At 07:35, the breakfast appeared, and I managed to get half the coffee drink before we were at Euston and a CS crewmember rapped on the door and barked ‘it’s vacate on arrival’.
Check-in has gone back to the old/previous non-lectern approach I believe. So CS do "seem to have realised"...Yes and CS seem not to have realised that the checkin and restaurant lectern queues are two of the most-disliked parts of the hotel "experience".
Check-in has gone back to the old/previous non-lectern approach I believe. So CS do "seem to have realised"...