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Fantastic update mate, shows exactly how the true experience is, but 4 hours ain't enough for me! And no breakfast is particularly stingy, but I do still love it!
I always carry BluTac with me. It would have solved your bright light button problem. I need a completely dark room and I usually place a small piece of it over the red light showing on the TV in the hotel room or ferry cabin. One thing I can't and won't do though is hide the green light of the smoke alarm which I don't feel is so problematic.
The original sleeper was equal to the current train, however it was usually £30 but with the possibility of sharing with a stranger. I’ve used the current trains but think only the Fortwilliam portion comes anywhere near value for money at 13 hours. However it is good to see the trains regularly full as it keeps the service alive. Nice review mate
I did the London to Fort William in October was definitely a great choice doing the full length journey. The beds were surprisingly comfortable. If the prices were lower, I would do the trip again and again loved it.
Hi Rog. Yes the sleeper cabins are expensive. Used to get the sleeper from Glasgow to Euston, Club Room. With the Senior Railcard, got a bit off! Now travel from Alnmouth to Kings X, during the day. Never had a great sleep, but the sleeper worth it, so you have a full day in London. Always enjoyed my coffee, bacon roll, fruit juice, before leaving the train! 😊 👍
Love your videos. I noticed that you were looking at somewhere to have breakfast. I go to the Double Six Cafe on Eversholt Street at the side of Euston station.
Appreciated your latest RU-vid, Roger. Some travel vloggers have, as you might expect, covered Cal Sleeper already. But your unique style has set this one apart from the others. I agree that more food ought to have been provided for in-cabin breakfast. I am sure all sleeping car (not couchette) travellers taking OEBB's Nighjet are served a full (cold) Continental Breakfast.
Thank you Alex - appreciate your support. I know it's a well worn topic but I was keen to have another go (one of my earliest videos was of the original trains over 6 years ago). No breakfast for the Classic Rooms does feel like penny pinching given the fares now. 😀
Years ago (in days of yore- remember them? circa 1980's ) I remember getting the "Night Rider" trains between London and Dundee. You basically got your seat and the seat opposite you as part of your booking. It was up to you to bring your own blanket etc. That was very uncomfortable and I never slept on those journeys. I then found "sleeper car journeys" and these were great as you got a bed complete with sheets/blankets and I was able to get a good sleep. These were two bed cabins (top/bottom bunks) and if there were two of you in your group then that was ok. However, if you were travelling alone you stood the risk of some-one from your same gender group being assigned the other bunk by the train operator. You didn't know until another traveler turned up at the cabin whether you were sharing or not. Many times I started my journey alone in the cabin with the train leaving the station only to be woken up by a fellow traveler a hundred miles down the line joining the train. Looking back I supposed it added to the fun of it.
I remember the "sharing with strangers" cabins from my days working in Big Corporate. Fortunately they usually sent us "First Class" which was basically the same cabin but without the random stranger!
Our good old Amtrak here in the US also offers a similar "roomette" cabin on the 9-hour night service from Omaha to Denver for about the same price (solo) but it comes with breakfast on board. I take that journey regularly in coach seating. I might do the roomette someday, but with points. And when I do it in the UK, I'll be sure to poke Daddy Rog's belly haha! Poke! - Red
We were happy to take the Sleeper from London to Edinburgh last September. Pricing seems like a deal for 2, we paid about 375 for the two of us, which was much cheaper than 2 plane tickets and a hotel. And......trains > planes
@@RogEdwardsTV I think the night riviera would also be more comfortable too as I’ve heard a lot of people complain that the seats on the daytime GWR class 800 high speed train used on that route are really hard and uncomfy.
@@RogEdwardsTV I enjoyed it, was food was good, the haggis and the breakfast in the club car, didn't get much sleep though was thankful for the 2 hours in lounge as needed to wait to see if could early check inn at Premier Inn London Euston which I did, will probably just stick to LNER in future though
I've watched other videos of the Caledonian Sleeper, and the experience gets mixed reviews. Some find the sounds and motions of the train keep them awake, and the cabin and/or shower water temperature is sometimes uncontrollable. But almost everyone is glad that they did it once. It would cost the railroad very little to provide a more complete breakfast to all sleeper classes. For what it costs, many people who take the Sleeper are expecting a more luxury experience than they get.
I think the marketing at the time they launched the new coaches went OTT on the luxury hotel angle and raised expectations very high. You’re right about the noises. I stayed in a Club Room a few years back and you could hear the waste water from the shower/toilet sloshing around under the cabin - that kept me awake. ☺️ Thanks for watching!
It very much feels like a budget hotel rather than something luxury. I enjoyed my experience and if I had to travel overnight I would absolutely do it again. But my expectations weren't very high thanks to the youtube videos. I slept well, washed up with lukewarm water in the shower, and had a small meal in the morning after landing in Edinburgh. Perfectly serviceable
I'm hoping to do the Sleeper later in 2024 myself as a "one-off", I'm very much an Airplane person when it comes to travel, but I would love to do this solely just to say I've done it.
I don’t really get the purpose of it between Edinburgh and Glasgow to London, when it’s such a quick journey, compared to coming from Aberdeen, Inverness or Fort William where it makes much more sense. I’m just not convinced about the sleeper with its price, though I do know it is popular, perhaps value when you have a cabin and bed, but not value if on the dreaded seats..
I only think the Lowland Sleeper made sense when the price was cheaper than a flight/train plus a hotel room. The company I worked for back in the 1990s used to send us on the sleeper for that reason. Doesn’t work now the prices are so high. ☺️
As I was going down to London there was one coming the other way. We would have passed each other during the night. This is the Lowland Sleeper. There is also a Highland Sleeper which serves London to and from Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William. 😀
How much would it cost to fly from Edinburgh, travel in from Heathrow and stay in a hotel in central London, it would be interesting to do as a comparison.
I guess you could come up with quite a wide range of costs depending upon when you fly and what type of hotel you choose. BA flights from EDI to LHR are very expensive at peak times. Thanks for watching. 😀
I think the lighting in the club car is far too bright......you want lighting that sets the body and mind up for sleep but thats really going to do the opposite.
Lower service standards during the pandemic and then they realise that they save time and money not changing the berth configurations - so now it’s the norm to leave them in twin mode. Shame. ☺️
