Cascade train from Portland to Vancouver BC (Corvallis, Newport: rental car, rental)

[rmalvern]

Hello, and greetings from a complete outsider, who lives in Wales UK. We have booked on the Amtrak Cascades direct from Portland to Vancouver BC in September: quite an adventure for us. Because the cost of this trip seems so low, compared with any similar distance in Europe, we have booked business class. Does anyone have advice about boarding or seat allocation? It seems you do not reserve a seat. Because we will go on a cruise in Vancouver, we will have quite a lot of baggage, but as this is a through train, that should be OK. We'll be leaving a rental car in the city, so will taxi to the station. We will be staying in Portland the night before, so timing should be quite relaxed.

[hamellr]

If you're flying directly into Portland and aren't staying long, you can get along without the rental car. The MAX goes from the Airport, and a branch stops right next to the train station.

You don't reserve seats on Amtrak like you guys do on UK trains, so it's first come, first served. You might want to contact Amtrak to find out what their baggage policy is, it's pretty liberal, but is subject to change on certain lines. I don't forsee any problems unless you have 10 bags for two people.

[Sprightly]

But the OP says they have quite a lot of baggage....I'd certainly want a rental car with a big trunk for that!

[DarkWolf]

Why not do some touring around the Northwest , Portland for 2 days , Seattle for 2 days and Vancouver for your cruise... All 3 cities have alot of offer and are too good to pass up.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by rmalvern

Hello, and greetings from a complete outsider, who lives in Wales UK. We have booked on the Amtrak Cascades direct from Portland to Vancouver BC in September: quite an adventure for us. Because the cost of this trip seems so low, compared with any similar distance in Europe, we have booked business class. Does anyone have advice about boarding or seat allocation? It seems you do not reserve a seat. Because we will go on a cruise in Vancouver, we will have quite a lot of baggage, but as this is a through train, that should be OK. We'll be leaving a rental car in the city, so will taxi to the station. We will be staying in Portland the night before, so timing should be quite relaxed.

When you go to board the train, you'll be directed to a specific car, depending on your destination. As for your luggage, I'd suggest you check it, for conveniences' sake.

Amtrak Cascades has a nice "before you board" page here (http://www.amtrakcascades.com/BeforeBoard.htm - broken link).

It should be a great trip. Two of my favorite things .... train travel and Alaskan cruising!

[xtimx]

I work for Amtrak so I'm able to answer your questions.

I can see you are going to be taking train 516 from Portland to Vancouver, BC. That train leaves Portland at 2:50. Check in for business class starts pretty early at the ticket counter. Business class cars have 2 seats on the water side (west side) and 1 seat on the east side. Ask for water side seats. If you get there early enough you should be able to get water side seats. Business class to Vancouver is worth it because you will be let off the train first to go through customs. This can save you a lot of time on a sold out train.

Amtrak is very lenient on baggage. You can check 3 bags per person. Just make sure they are no more than 50lbs each. You can carry on 2 bags per person. When you get to Vancouver the conductors and station baggage personnel will unload all the bags along a fence under a roof before they let people off the train. As you get off the train you walk by the bags and take whichever are yours, you then walk through customs the same as you would at an airport.
At Pacific Central Station in Vancouver the Science World skytrain (subway) station is directly across the street.

The Green and Yellow max lines stop right in front of the station. The Red and Blue lines stop like 5 blocks away.

[rmalvern]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my request. I feel much better, and getting a note from an Amtrak guy is very useful. What I did not say is that we are flying into San Francisco 6 days earlier, and have an amazingly good rental car deal through British Airways for a full-size car for £215 ($320) for a week, including drop-off and CDW etc. It's Avis too, not Thrifty (tried them, and not impressed!) We are not hanging around in San Francisco, having been there before, so hope to get to North California Redwoods and Oregon quickly, then go gently up the West Coast. Our planned stops so far include Ukiah (not too far on first day, with 8-hour jet lag), Arcata, Corvallis, Portland. Still one night free between Arcata and Corvallis.
The coast road does look quite spectacular.

[Nell Plotts]

I see you will be driving north on 101, the coast highway. Keep your one night 'free', just find a motel along the route when you want to stop but try to find one on the west side of the highway to give yourself the opportunity to walk on the beach (our beaches are public property).

You will be driving near the Redwood Forrest, stop there. North of Florence is the Sea Lion Caves, well worth a visit. Stop in Newport to see the aquarium.

The vistas are magnificent, watch out for sightseeing drivers who may not be paying attention to traffic.

[rmalvern]

Question for XTIMX, whose first response was so helpful: You suggest checking-in early (at Portland Amtrak), so how early should we get there? We could arrive 2-hours in advance if necessary, and perhaps grab a quick lunch locally having checked-in the bags. What I did not say is that, after the Vancouver cruise, we are then blowing all our frequent-flyer miles by going on to Hong Kong, where my daughter lives. So, we will have a lot of baggage, BUT well within the Amtrak limit

[Nell Plotts]

I don't know how far in advance the baggage room will accept your stuff. If it is 'same day' go to the station, print out your ticket & check it as soon in the day as possible, return your car, eat lunch (or get something to go) near there as the offerings at the train station are not up to Portand's standards. You want to be at the train station 30 minutes in advance of departure when you have no baggage to check.

The Coast Starlight from Seattle, enroute to Los Angeles, is scheduled to arrive at 11 am and it is usually on time. The noon Cascades to Seattle leaves at 12:15 pm. The baggage room may be a zoo so they may too be busy to accept your stuff from 10:15 to 11 am but I would give it a try in any case.

Most of the car rental companies have offices downtown. In my experience they do not work quickly. Tell us what rental company you are using, we can tell you where their office is downtown, and the 'gang' will share with you nearby places to eat.

In case you ae wondering we don't flag down taxis, we call them.