GrandLuxe aka American Orient Express

I don't see another forum for this so I thought that the folks of this forum could help me out.

I was looking at the GrandLuxe / American Orient Express website contemplating taking my wife on one of thier journeys. Has anyone taken a trip on this train? If so, could you please expound on how your trip was, what the experience was like ans just some insight as to what the trip is all about. Is it worth the money? It seems that it is quite expensive but it also appears quite luxiuorius.

Thanks for the help ahead of time!!!

I rode one of the shorter GrandLuxe tours recently as a guest of the company, and loved it. The onboard cuisine was to die for. The train staff was excellent. The comfort was opulent.

But whether the cost will be worth the price tag to you, only you can decide. If you have money to burn, go right ahead. But if this is going to be a special treat for which you have to scrape up all your pennies, I'd do your due diligence. Some people have had a wonderful time, some have had a terrible time. (Just like on Amtrak.)

Try to find more people who have actually taken this train (TripAdvisor.com might help here.)

Ignore those who calumniate GrandLuxe but have never ridden it themselves.

I'll save you some trouble, from The Free Dictionary website:

ca·lum·ni·ate (k-lmn-t)

To make maliciously or knowingly false statements about. See Synonyms at malign.

Kind of like newspaper calumnists, eh?

I must say i was surprised that many on here seemed to want to label it a failure before it even started .

David Benton wrote:I must say i was surprised that many on here seemed to want to label it a failure before it even started .

Are you referring to the NEC-Florida service that was announced, launched, etc., only to not run a single mile in revenue service (the GrandLuxe behind Amtrak)? I would call that a failure in that the service was advertised and reservations were sold, but the service failed to operate as scheduled.

In general, GrandLuxe's services as stand-alone "cruise trains" have existed for years and will continue to run for the foreseeable future, so in general the word "failure" would be, to use the "word of the day", to calumniate.

Quick!!!!! Someone send an email to Bill O'Reilly including the word "calumniate"!!! Heavens knows that there is plenty of calumniation in the press!

Reminder: The original poster was asking about a regular GrandLuxe Limited tour, not one of the aborted GrandLuxe Express/Amtrak runs. The vinegar aerated in this forum on the subject a few months ago really is irrelevant to the question, which is: Am I going to have a good time or not on a summer GrandLuxe tour, and is it worth the dough?

Henry Kisor wrote:Reminder: The original poster was asking about a regular GrandLuxe Limited tour, not one of the aborted GrandLuxe Express/Amtrak runs. The vinegar aerated in this forum on the subject a few months ago really is irrelevant to the question, which is: Am I going to have a good time or not on a summer GrandLuxe tour, and is it worth the dough?

Not really. When a company fails at a project as spectacularly as Grandluxe did with Limited product all other offerings from the company are suspect. I did not run the numbers, but I think Limited operated less that 5% of the planned program, that is a near complete failure.

icgsteve wrote:When a company fails at a project as spectacularly as Grandluxe did with Limited product all other offerings from the company are suspect. I did not run the numbers, but I think Limited operated less that 5% of the planned program, that is a near complete failure.

The Lake Country Limited was an outstanding success story of Amtrak (tongue firmly in cheek), therefore does that mean all of Amtrak's operations are "suspect"?

Businesses experiment all the time, and many of these experiments don't pan out for one reason or another - it doesn't mean the company is suspect because of trying. Heck, does anyone remember Microsoft Bob? I don't see anyone calling Microsoft a failure... Or the Apple III or Apple Lisa. Or probably the most notable consumer product failure of all time in the United States...

Learning how to fail is an important part of being successful. I've had a few failures over the years in my business career and I must say that failure usually teaches me more than success. The key to being successful is to know why a project failed and how to not repeat the same mistakes over and over.

As I recall, speaking of the previous forum, a "former employee" who was outed, admitted to a variety of extremely unsettling experiences on board. Conditions including (but not limited to) non-working toilets, no air conditioning, dirty cabins, inexperienced wait staff, rough riding, and under-par food were discussed on this previous forum. The "former employee's" reply to a question regarding if monetary adjustments were returned to "a lot of passengers (who had) complained" (his words, not mine) of bad experiences, was that apparently these passengers felt that a casual dropping off of a complaint on a comment card was entirely secure and not suspect when they did not receive a response (nor a refund). Additionally, he claimed, apparently most of these same passengers decided not to follow-up their complaint(s) and request(s) at a later time after their "comment cards" were ignored. Sounds like a good time to me !

(musicmarine- Google the "Royal Canadian Pacific".)

The actual post from this "former employee" when I inquired if any monies were refunded as a result of bad experiences:
"3rdrail-

In some cases I have heard of the company refunding part of the cost or giving out partial vouchers on future trips. That is of course if the passenger has had a truly awful or terrible experience. In the most extreme cases, they will refund more of the cost. I dont think most people really follow up on their trip experiences with a call into corporate. They usually rely on the comment cards to convey their experience to the company, which may or may not get to upper management (especially the poor comments)."

Huh ??? For a couple's cost of $14,000 ???

A female passenger who "traveled the Grandluxe Rail Journey National Parks of the West in May 2007" stated:
"We asked to speak with one of the VPs on the train about our complaints, but he would not take the time for us. After the trip they did not respond to our letters asking for a partial refund for the time we were on the train or the Better Business Bureau."

I wonder if this lady would ride again ?

Moderator's Note:

Moved to Mr David Benton's Rail Travel and Trip Reports Forum

May I suggest that anyone wishing to travel on Grand Luxe, consider booking through a rail travel specialty agency, such as Accent on Travel or IRT Society. In fact the IRT Society has established an escrow account just for Grand Luxe bookings because there have been so many dropped trips and refund issues. When you book with these agents, the Grand Luxe has to pay attention to YOUR concerns because these agents book (or can refuse to book) so many trips.

I have just learned that Grandluxe will cease operations upon arrival of the train at Tacoma on August 28.

Passengers booked on subsequent planned tours have been notified by mail.

According to a report of the letter, the operator MAY not be able to refund any monies paid in advance by intending passengers.