Please advise with the sleeper train booking!

Where are you starting and where are you going?

Vienna to Cologne.
I have booked a 2 person cabin and a 3 person cabin.
It cost more but at least it's private.

I wanted the 6 person couchette but it appeared that we might get a stranger aboard and that the top bunk might
present a danger of rolling off!

I think you could have gotten the whole couchette if you booked an extra person, but i think 2 cabins will be much more comfortable.

Thanks ! it does look that way.

Couchettes aren't very comfortable. I prefer sleepers. Now when booking a couchette you can however book a private compartment, that way you do not share with a stranger. Buying 6 tickets normally would work to, but there is no guarantee. A reservation lapses 15 minutes after departure and then the bed would become available again if not claimed.

Booking a double and a triple is the way to go. Do not worry about who the system assigns to which bed, as you can obviously just swap amongst yourselves. so the married couple can have the double. When you book several places together the system will usually try to assign you adjacent cabins, but that may not always be possible.

Thank you, Wengen!
That 15 minute rule is a sneaky thing and might spell disaster! Good to know. I love people but I don't want a stranger sleeping in my room all night 😊

Couchettes are not uncomfortable, but you can't lock the door.

One reason sleepers are better than couchettes is that the beds are slightly longer. Enough that it matters to me (I am of exactly average height for a male from the Low Countries). And having only 1 or 2 persons in a cabin in stead of 6 makes a big difference where it comes to actually being able to stow your stuff, move around etc...

I nowadays will only book sleepers. I might consider the new NJ minisuites though. But if I can't get a comfortable compartment on a night train I just take day time trains. I have on occasion just taken the first train after my business was finished, till about 11, then slept in a hotel near the railway station where this lands me, then take an early train the next day and continue...

(I am of exactly average height for a male from the Low Countries)

So that makes you 2 meters tall right? (6' 7") :-)