So I rode the Coast Starlight from Seattle to Emeryville on the 22nd/23rd. If you ask my wife how the trip was you'll get a much different answer than asking me. My summary of the ride:
As Seattle is the origin I fully expected an on time departure and the train pulled into the station and then out on the road exactly on time. Bedroom E was clean and cozy except for two things: The bathroom door wouldn't stay latched but that was easily fixed by placing a suitcase in front of it. We used the public bathroom down the hall anyway most of the time. The bigger problem and disappointment was the single seat. It was very well worn to the point of slanting downwards yet I managed to sit in it for hours at a time and be more comfortable than on an airline or even typical Amtrak coach seat. Having the large couch is nice I suppose but I think I like the layout of a roomette better and also think lying parallel to the tracks at night rather than perpendicular might be better. I'm actually curious about what others think of that issue - parallel vs perpendicular.
Hanging out here for so many years has tempered and educated my expectations so I knew to stick with the burger for lunch and the steak for dinner. My wife, not one to follow advice easily, went in a different direction. Somewhere between the "chef" who designed the menu and the galley where it is cooked there is a lot lost in translation on both the Thai curry bbq pulled pork on a croissant for lunch and the Asian inspired vegetarian noodle bowl for dinner. With late seatings for both meals (we were in the third car so last to be asked for seating times) the kitchen seemed to be out of a good number of choices as well. We had lunch with a lovely elderly woman who rode in from Coeur d'Alene on the Builder and she suggested getting off the train at Portland for a Polish Dog in the station waiting room. Great suggestion and my wife's lunch was saved. Very nice station in Portland with a newsstand/snack bar. Why doesn't Seattle have any type of amenities?
Our attendant throughout was very nice and helpful as were the crew of the diner. The gentleman running the Parlor Car had a bit of an attitude chasing people away from the tables as they were for "dinner service only" even though clearly no one was interested in his leg of lamb. (Well, I was but there was nothing on that menu for my wife.)
Scenery throughout the first day and into the night was really something to behold especially at dinner time as we rode pretty high up into the mountains with steep ascents above and just as steep descents below. At one point during dinner we slowed to a crawl and were informed of a broken rail ahead but that a crew was already on sight making repairs. I don't think we ever came to a full stop for more than a minute or two as a result but we did lose about a half hour at least. We had earlier lost time between Seattle and Portland but that was easily made up by cutting the Portland stop short and departing that station on time. This later delay was only compounded through the night. We stopped somewhere in the middle of the night for quite a while. Crew change? Fuel? I don't know. We arrived in Sacramento the following morning about a half hour delayed which allowed for a leisurely breakfast of really good French Toast. Unfortunately we sat in Sacramento for close to an hour without any explanation. Arrival in Emeryville was about two hours late I think but we didn't have much planned for the day and were able to get a cab to our hotel right away where early check in was available.
Overall the ride was very pleasant, I was impressed with the ride quality - quiet and smooth and the overall condition of the train was excellent. Biggest problems for my wife were the food and too light blankets; biggest problems for me was the seat and the pillows which even when doubled up gave the feeling of sleeping with my head below my body. Also, using a CPAP machine is much easier in a roomette - the stairs to the upper bunk (as a shelf) and outlet placement are just much more convenient than trying to find a place to put it and plug it in in the bedroom.
In the end, I would definitely travel by Superliner again in either a roomette or bedroom and am looking forward to an opportunity to ride a Viewliner II as well. (The toilet in the original Viewliner scares/disgusts me.)
Slightly off topic but my whole vacation was planned around this leg of the trip and transit in general proved to be the highlight including: air, light rail, monorail, Amtrak, BART, Muni Streetcar, Cable Car, airport people mover, JFK Airtrain and NYC Subway.