Empire Builder and/or California Zephyr in the Winter

I was going to do the Empire Builder a couple of weeks ago from Chicago to Issac Walton Inn. Had all my reservations made. Then I asked about meal service on board !   No dining car !! (Covid)  meals will be brought to my room, No lounge car!!  (Covid)  I was told I  had to stay in my room all the way there. (Could be different depending on conductor).  I cancelled the whole trip.   The rooms (lodges) everywhere where booked solid though November. 

This was my experience on the phone with Amtrak and Issac Walton Inn early August. Everyone I talked to was very nice and understanding. No problem cancelling.

Good luck on your decisions 

 Empire Builder destination, Glacier National Park face book information.   Access to the GTTS Road is from the West (Apgar) only.  Access to the east is via. Native American (Sioux) lands, closed.  Expecting heavy snow this weekend.  

Canadian board is closed, no access to Waterton, Prince of Wale, hotel. 

There is a lot of discussion about rental cars, or lack of.   

At the very least, back pack friendly supplies, for at least 3 days.  IMO, Mike CT. 

Just my opinion but, I wouldn't take a trip anywhere in the U.S. on Amtrak! Everything I've been reading, and hearing from friends that have used Amtrak in the west, is nightmarish. The customer service is absolutely terrible, and the food service is even worse, no mater whether there is a dinning car or not. Even complaining about the "non-attentive" or "arrogant" employees falls on deaf ears at Amtrak.

Thanks for the inputs. We've decided to put this off until Dec/Jan of 2021/22 -- assuming it returns to normal. I think I have decided on this route:

Spokane > Portland (or nearby station)
Portland > Seattle (train or fly, not sure)
Seattle > Whitefish (stay a few days)
Whitefish > Williston (if son is in town)
Williston > Chicago

This way we'll get to see the Columbia River gorge west bound. Then eastbound Seattle to Chicago.

On my two "recent" trips (2015, 2019) we had great service. Denver to SFO in the fall was really spectacular. San Antonio to Chicago was less dramatic scenery (to me, anyway) but much better "train ops scenery" and photography. I found the small town yards interesting. Some of the old depots were nice, like Henderson, Texas. Fort Worth was very interesting. Elevated rails in the St. Louis/Mississippi River was pretty amazing to me. 

The food was all passable -- nothing to write home about -- but still not bad at all. Our dining car service was better than I expected. I enjoyed talking shop with conductors and other staff and they were more than willing to share. If the experiences had been bad, I wouldn't be planning another trip.

Hot Water, didn't Amtrak just get a new big cheese, maybe a letter directly to him might get some attention, I thought I heard that he wanted to make things right and get it back to the way it used to be many moons ago.

@J. Motts posted:

Hot Water, didn't Amtrak just get a new big cheese,

Yes, but the previous head man, Mr. Anderson (sp) is still there as a "consultant" before he departs at the end of 2020, I think.

maybe a letter directly to him might get some attention,

A waste of time, in my opinion, as nobody seems to care about all the mounting complaints of "poor service".

I thought I heard that he wanted to make things right and get it back to the way it used to be many moons ago.

Somehow, I don't believe that.