When Privacy is Needed.

I really like the Viewliner sleepers. I like the convenience of having a sink and a toilet right there in the room. I like the spacious feeling you get from the extra height in each roomette. And, in particular, I really like the upper berth which is more comfortable than its counterpart in the Superliners.
 
Plus—and this is a big deal for me—the upper berth comes with its own window. As regular readers probably know, I always ask the Viewliner car attendant to prepare the upper berth for me. When I am settled down for the night on that comfortable mattress while the train rolls through towns and over grade crossings, I am one happy camper.
 
   I received a letter from a regular reader the other day, asking if there is any protocol for use of the toilet in a Viewliner roomette when the room is being shared with another passenger, be it one’s spouse or sibling or child.
 
The truth is, I’ve never had to confront that issue. When my wife and I travel together, we’re either in a bedroom or I book two roomettes. Nevertheless, the issue is perfectly valid:
 
When two people travel together in a Viewliner roomette, and one insists on privacy when using the en suite facilities, what does the other person do?
 
Thinking about my past experiences on trains with Viewliner equipment, there seemed to be plenty of couples in roomettes and I must assume that they had all come to some understanding on this issue. Once or twice I have seen husbands standing rather sheepishly in the corridor with the roomette door closed and curtain drawn with the wife inside. More commonly, however, the husband emerges and goes off to the lounge car to make some small purchase in order to give his wife a few minutes of privacy.
 
Ideally, this should be discussed ahead of time with both parties agreeing on a solution so it won’t become an on-board issue.