Great Western Coffee Shop

I will be going West on the Golden Hind on 20/12/2013, the last Friday before Christmas.
Is it likely to be unusually busy ? or will most have already left London ?

I shall buy a first  class ticket and book a dining seat, so in theory it matters not how busy the rest of the train is, but in practice I do not want to fight for my seat, or find that first has been declassified, or that no dining  can be provided due to overcrowding.

And what about my return  to London on Monday January 6 , also liable to be busy ? I usually only buy a steerage ticket and hope to get into the Pullman.
If severe crowding is likely, perhaps I should  buy a first class ticket ? and hope they dont declassify it.

At least one respected member has cast doubt about the Pullman actually appearing on that day.

Advance tickets for the 19th are more expensive than the 20th so that might be a clue - also the ones for the 19th have gone up since last Friday.  So possibly more demand for the Thursday (which I am aiming for).  Traditionally Thursday is the busier of the two on a normal week.

As for the 6th, my confidence is increasing after a conversation last week. 

It was busy, but not exceptionally so, probably no worse than a normal Friday.
The restaurant was well patronised but not oversubscribed, with 2 vacant seats I think.

Hoping that my return on Monday January 6 goes as well.

Glad you had a good trip.

The 19:03 on Thursday had 24 taking dinner, however several who had reserved seats did not appear but it seems there may have been problems on the Underground.

One person I spoke to made the train with 60 seconds to spare after taking over an hour to get from Liverpool Street. 

To pick up on another thread, the recommended time from Liverpool St to Paddington is 55 minutes. More than enough in most circumstances, but you can see why fairly long connection times are given across London.

Yep - severe problems on the District/Circle lines on Thursday at that sort of time. Signal failure at Aldgate (??East)