Steam Dreams Rail Co Reviews 33

My husband and I paid £350 each for the steam train pullman dining experience from Shoeburyness to York on 23rd September 2023. The staff gave us a warm and friendly welcome on board and we were delighted with the table setting and general look and feel of our carriage. In fact our whole day was awesome in terms of the journey and our time in York. The problems came with the food offering. When booking were asked whether we were vegetarian, pescatarian etc. Great, as I don't eat meat but my husband does. This was confirm by our waiter almost immediately. The menu on our table did not include the vegetarian option for breakfast and neither the vegetarian or fish option for main course. I guess we non meat eaters still don't really count as real diners. I opted for the secret veggie full English which I only knew about because I overheard another diner order it. When our breakfast arrived it was very cold, the mushroom was actually chilled. They went back. Came back a little warmer but not warm enough. My husband ate his but I didn't want mine so changed it for the smoked salmon, poached egg on toast. Cold egg, I mean stone cold, cold toast...at this point I gave in and said I'd just leave it. Hannah the lead steward came to the rescue and made me a fresh full English served piping hot. Sadly the whole process was repeated for the evening meal on return journey. The meat eaters had beef served with a jus and two condiments. The fish eaters had a dry piece of steamed? cod with floppy grey skin, no sauce, no condiments all served with cold dry veg. Hannah again came to rescue and produced the cod dish with a lovely butter,cream and white sauce. I didn't eat any veg as this was stone cold by then. If you cater for non meat eaters, include them in the menu, if you offer hot food, serve it hot. If you can't do this because of the logistics of catering on a train, don't offer it!! I made a big fuss but at the price we paid I expect things to be excellent. Hannah and all the team were superb and we did receive some free drinks as compensation....shame about the food. Would not do this again.

We've read a number of reviews of the experiences that others have had with this company, some of which have shown various levels of disappointment. In our case, the trip was for my wife's 60th birthday last year, which got postponed owing to the rail strike. Finally, along with two close friends, we took the return trip (London to Weymouth) 12 months later and had a really memorable day. We were welcomed on board and shortly into the journey we were each served with a glass of bellini along with a very appetising breakfast. Teas and coffees were served throughout the journey and at around midday we were served with pastries. The staff were very attentive, but not over attentive so it was a nice balance. After reaching Weymouth, with a couple of stops in between allowing you to stretch your legs, we had a few hours there to explore and when we reboarded the train for the return leg, we had a three course dinner along with champagne. We couldn't fault the experience in any way, the staff were very good and something we'll dearly remember.

I have travelled with this Company on many previous occasions. The most recent was Pullman class on the afternoon cream tea tour from Portsmouth. Punctuality was good, the on-train staff were excellent, the train was great (the loo was exceptional), drinks were fine but the cream tea was ONE scone served on a huge plate with some runny raspberry jam (which you couldn't keep on the scone) and cream. Compared with similar afternoon trips by the same Company in the past this was very poor and simply wasn't worth the £100 per person over the standard fare. Not planning to repeat the experience.

I have taken two trips with the Steam Dreams Rail Co, one to Sailsbury in 2021 and the other yesterday to Oxford. On both occasions I have really enjoyed my experience and would highly recommend.

The service we received from the staff on our trip to Oxford yesterday was impeccable; all friendly and very attentive. The food & drink was also very good and kept flowing for the during of the journey so you never went without. We had a 10/10 experience and would advise anyone considering booking to go ahead!

These people didn’t even bother to reply to our review, absolutely awful, disgraceful behaviour, didn’t even offer us compensation, not as much as a box of chocolates. Between the four of us that went on this freezing cold train, it cost us £800, total rip off!

This dreadful company obviously hasn't improved since we took a trip from London to Edinburgh a few years back. The air from the under seat heating alternated between scalding hot and freezing. The catering was pedestrian and the service slow and graceless. Passing through Durham we were unable to see the cathedral as one of the executives blocked the view with his fat backside and refused to move. An expensive scam for anoraks only. We left the train early at Newcastle. We took them to the small claims court and got our money back.

I travelled from London to Bath Christmas market on Monday 5th December and Southend to Chichester Christmas Market in Pullman Dining.

Steam Dreams were acquired by Locomotive Services this year. Locomotive Services introduced some changes beginning with the Christmas program. Changes have been made to the Pullman Dining offering, which is obviously going to take a little while to bring all staff up to speed on and iron out any remaining issues. However, it is also clear that constructive feedback is being taken on board and acted on quickly to make the offering even better, as I noticed improvements between the Bath trip and the Chichester trip, despite them being just 4 days apart. It is for this reason that the overall rating has dropped to 4 stars, but I fully expect to be able to give a 5 star rating some time in 2023. These trips are not cheap, but are better quality than other companies.

Booked a trip from Shoebury to Portsmouth, arranged car park in Shoebury and and pre booked venues in Portsmouth, only to be informed 11 hours from start, trip would be cancelled!
Really disappointed and would never recommend this company to anyone. A real cowboy outfit.

You’ll pay for a romantic steam journey that is exchanged for a grubby old diesel locomotive - query this and the terms & conditions will be thrown at you. Zero regard for the passenger experience here.

You won’t see a single diesel train within the propaganda, I mean promotional material.

Worst still was the lack of integrity in dragging us along in the belief that a steam locomotive would be available for the return leg of our journey. This was never going to materialise so it highlights a lack of ethical, moral or decent conduct within this company. Ask yourself if you want to part with hard earned cash in a company that conducts itself in this way.

We had a great evening on the Steam Dreams train for dinner from Victoria Station round trip
The food was lovely and the staff very friendly and attentive. Would recommend and will go again

Hostess friendly and welcoming. However..

Other on board staff grumpy and sitting around. Poor communication.

Booked a day trip with this company, it was supposed to be pulled by a steam engine, my main reason for booking, just had an email to say that the loco is not available and the train will be pulled by a diesel, wonder if this is a one off and just bad luck or a regular occurrence. The train journey is tomorrow and they have told me today.