doc7austin
On Moderation
How ? How do you cool the meal, esp. for the first service of the day from Amsterdam ?
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Eurostar Plus is becoming worse
- Thread starter lkoroes
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I was merely confirming what you wrote:
I'm not saying they have to provide meals between Amsterdam and Brussels, but rather that they should inform passengers from Amsterdam/Rotterdam that meals will only be served after Brussels.
johncrossley
Established Member
If fares can be reduced by cutting the unnecessary food then I would be more likely to use the service.
If cheapness of fares is what you want, then travel in the Standard Class where no food is served and the cost of food has no bearing on the price of the ticket.
Trainbike46
Established Member
Also worth considering booking in advance, or using Eurostar SNAP if travelling in less than 2 weeks.
johncrossley
Established Member
But I am prepared to pay extra for a better seat.
Aren't seats the same now with the refurbs?
johncrossley
Established Member
Isn't it 2+1 seating in Eurostar Plus? That's what I mean by "better seat".
Yes, it's 2+1 in Plus
If you’re offering multiple services a day from a destination I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a consistent service with other destinations.
I don’t think this means an extra meal, just food and service taking place within a reasonable time from departure.
I don’t think this means an extra meal, just food and service taking place within a reasonable time from departure.
ThisIsSurbiton
Member
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2017
- Messages
- 456
Indeed, an unpleasant surprise from Cologne recently! Like others I'd consider Plus (in Blue) after breakfast, if the extra isn't too much. I really prefer the German way of doing it, the food offering on the ICE is so much better and those who don't want it don't have to pay. Even if the tables wouldn't work on Eurostar, the style and range of food might.
Difficult to do this on Amsterdam-based workings without having a dedicated catering base, but ought to be possible on afternoon departures - or is the food loaded during the Brussels stop?
BTW i'm sure Thalys used to offer food in their middle class, though it was difficult to know what was offered.
It just seems odd to me to commit to a service with multiple departures a day without establishing a catering base. UK TOC's manage it on routes with a handful of services - you can't imagine LNER telling first class passengers they'd only get nuts between Edinburgh and Aberdeen for example.
They don't need Amsterdam-based crews to get catering to work - Brussels-based crew can overnight there if necessary; this already happens with Belgian/French train crew in London and vice versa.
The food itself can be left chilled overnight on the train; the likes of BA do that to serve breakfast on their aircraft that stay overnight at outstations. You don't even need a fridge, just an insulated coolbox with ice will do.
What is comes down to is that Eurostar are cheapskates and they know that people will book anyway, regardless of the poor service, because people prefer taking the train than flying.
Experienced Eurostar Plus for the first time today. Was impressed by the cheerful and attentive staff. Breakfast wasn't huge, but then it is a French company and the French really don't expect much from breakfast except the coffee! Eurostar is really only the equivalent of a short-haul airline and you will get very little different in Business Class on one of those.
It’s hard to compare as short haul flights don’t offer a ‘premium economy’ option which Plus is perhaps equivalent to, but on BA Business Class you’ll get a full English on a short haul morning flight.
m0ffy
Member
Quite. The Plus seat is far nicer than row 1 on an Embraer.
Quite, Baguette butter and coffee is the simple way, we just want the coffee to be decent, which last year when I took it was the worst tasting one I've ever had
Trainbike46
Established Member
Technically speaking Eurostar isn't a French company (sorry for pedantry!)
Eurostar Blue services are operated by (UK-based) Eurostar International Ltd
Eurostar Red services are operated by (Belgium-based) THI Factory SA
Both are fully owned by Eurostar Group, which is also based in Belgium
So Eurostar is really a Belgian/British company, with a large dose of SNCF influence
As I understand it, SNCF has the controlling share in Eurostar Group.
It seems reasonable to me to describe it as a French company, regardles of where it has chosen to put the head offices.
Trainbike46
Established Member
approximately 55%, hence the "large dose of SNCF influence"
Generally companies are described as being based where their headquarters is. But as I said in my post, it was maybe somewhat too pedantic!
Fine - but the comment you were contradicting wasn't talking about where it was based.
While true about them being mainly French-owned, they serve the Netherlands, Brussels, the UK, Germany. I wouldn't particularly expect Hagelslag on the Netherlands routes or haggis on the UK services, but I do feel the current menu of a pastry or a yoghurt is a bit limited.
I had the same returning from Amsterdam on Friday last week - looking at the menus it's not supposed to be fudge and small desserts/cakes are still the planned dish, I wonder if there's just been a mis-supply of the Brussels-catered meals for this week.
Flying Snail
Established Member
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- 12 Dec 2006
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Not business class, I presume.
It it was they'd have unwrapped the Twix and put in on a plate for you.
this was from Paris. I bet it’s cost cutting. The bread roll will be next!
