"Stranded" on a Caribbean Beach - First time? Free dining? Join us!

[SGMCO]

There has been talk about Bed Bugs at every WDW resort--it is always a good practice, no matter where you stay (Disney or elsewhere) to check the mattress and other surfaces before putting all of your belongings on those surfaces, because you could pick them up and bring them home. I usually bring a small flashlight with me, keep the bags outside until I've checked the room over.
You can find information online about how to look for and ID Bed bugs in hotels. It's just the world that we live in Now.

 

[smokeyblue]

Was hoping to do POR or POFQ, but CBR it is. My biggest concern is also the decor; it's just really not my style. I work as an assistant for renovation projects so I'm into the details. I would love to get one of the refurbished rooms, but I'm not going to let myself be disappointed regardless!

Hoping that Sept 27-Oct 4 is going to be a good time at CBR!

 

[Jfine]

For the busses, there's two entrances the busses can come through. One is a side entrance and then Jamaica is first. The other starts at Martinique, I believe. So it can vary. They all circle around though. . We also didn't notice any issue with the bus transportation.

 

[MagicEars]

There has been talk about Bed Bugs at every WDW resort--it is always a good practice, no matter where you stay (Disney or elsewhere) to check the mattress and other surfaces before putting all of your belongings on those surfaces, because you could pick them up and bring them home. I usually bring a small flashlight with me, keep the bags outside until I've checked the room over.
You can find information online about how to look for and ID Bed bugs in hotels. It's just the world that we live in Now.

Thank you for this info.

 

[RllngRckBrw]

We are so excited that free dining allowed us to upgrade and still save. We saved over $1000 and upgrades our hotel. We have never stayed anywhere other than values so we are extremely excited about the change. We will be there from oct 31 till Nov 9. This is our "dream trip" with a trip to MNSSHP, MVMCP, and F&W. Free dining was just the icing for us. I don't know much about CB resort or moderates in general but we can't be more excited than we are. Now I just have to work my magic to find a room closest to the food court that is not preferred.

 

[bama-mom]

We are refugees, too!

Originally booked at POR. When we found out it was excluded, we immediately moved to CBR Pirate room. Switched to preferred after some researching. When my TA called to get FD added on the 7th, all allotted rooms were gone and the best thing she could get was All Star Sports and NOT even for our requested dates! No offense to All Star lovers, but we were not staying there. Now we are back to CBR preferred room, but still no FD.

I am ticked off! I guess I just thought if we were already booked at CBR, we were a shoe-in for FD.

Didn't know much about CBR until the past few days...feeling a little better about staying there, but will really miss the queen beds at POR.

All I can do at this point is hope and pray some of the FD rooms come off hold soon and we can squeeze in!

 

[cramtoer]

We are refugees, too! Originally booked at POR. When we found out it was excluded, we immediately moved to CBR Pirate room. Switched to preferred after some researching. When my TA called to get FD added on the 7th, all allotted rooms were gone and the best thing she could get was All Star Sports and NOT even for our requested dates! No offense to All Star lovers, but we were not staying there. Now we are back to CBR preferred room, but still no FD. I am ticked off! I guess I just thought if we were already booked at CBR, we were a shoe-in for FD. Didn't know much about CBR until the past few days...feeling a little better about staying there, but will really miss the queen beds at POR. All I can do at this point is hope and pray some of the FD rooms come off hold soon and we can squeeze in!

Everyone that did not get their first choice of resort or room should call back frequently to check. Rooms are being cancelled or released from holds and may be available for your time frame.

 

[dansdad]

I am ticked off! I guess I just thought if we were already booked at CBR, we were a shoe-in for FD.

A bunch of people incorrectly thought the same thing. The problem is the resorts see those rooms as already sold and so they don't need to offer as many rooms with Free Dining. That's why POR and POFQ were excluded. No need to offer FD if the resort is at 80% capacity without it.

 

[nkereina]

Depending on when you check in, you may get a new room with 2 queens.

Is there any refurb schedule announced yet or is it just presumed it will start by the Fall?

A bunch of people incorrectly thought the same thing. The problem is the resorts see those rooms as already sold and so they don't need to offer as many rooms with Free Dining. That's why POR and POFQ were excluded. No need to offer FD if the resort is at 80% capacity without it.

This. Any promotion only has a certain number of rooms set aside for that particular promotion. If CBR has 2000 rooms, they may only allow 800 rooms to be sold under the free dining promo for example. So if you have a room booked already, it doesn't necessarily mean you're guaranteed to switch over to free dining. So don't fret about it, PPs

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm curious about order of bus stops as well. Is there any rhyme or reason??

If the buses use the side entrance, the first stop will be Jamaica, followed by Aruba, Barbados, Martinique, Old Port Royale, Trinidad North and lastly Trinidad South.

If they use the front entrance, the first stop will be Martinique, followed by Old Port Royale, Trinidad North, Trinidad South, Jamaica, Aruba and lastly Barbados.

I booked a few days ago using DisneyVisa and almost booked CSR because of the bed size, but booked CBR to save the extra $$$. A few hours later, I was researching CBR and came across a few sites talking of refurbishments. It seems almost certain they will be putting in queen beds and possibly even the "trundle" type beds like at POR so perfect for families of 5. Decor looks a little less Caribbean style and more jungle, but oh well...Now, I'll just be holding my breath hoping we get a refurbbed room for our trip in Oct.
Anyone else worried about busses and time it takes to get to MK?

I spoke directly to the resort manager who confirmed that they will be getting queen beds and new decor. No word on the trundle bed but there were pictures posted of a "mock" room about a year ago and it looks like a possible pull down/murphy bed in the dresser similar to those at Port Orleans.

 

[laura428]

I spoke directly to the resort manager who confirmed that they will be getting queen beds and new decor. No word on the trundle bed but there were pictures posted of a "mock" room about a year ago and it looks like a possible pull down/murphy bed in the dresser similar to those at Port Orleans.

Awesome! Did they give you any idea of when this was supposed to start? Finish? Any plans for which buildings would be completed first? Hoping we have a chance for queen-size beds for my poor DH's back at Christmas.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We are CBR lovers all the way and have stayed there nearly a dozen times over the years. A while back, a Diser asked me for tips/info on the resort and I found a couple of private messages that I had sent others who had asked the same type of questions. I thought that it might help those who have never stayed at the CBR if I posted the messages here. Here you go:

Many people talk about just how large the Caribbean Beach Resort is. Yes, it is a big resort but this means that the guests are distributed evenly throughout the resort and you won’t feel crowded. We have been at the resort when it was at full capacity and we would have never known it had I not been chatting with the castmember who told me at check in.

The resort is made up of 6 villages: Barbados, Martinique, Aruba, Jamaica, Trinidad North and Trinidad South. All buildings in the village of Trinidad South have been redone with a heavy pirate theme. All other rooms in the resort have a slight Nemo theme. I’ll talk more about the room details later.

During our June, 2006 and May, 2010 stays, we were assigned to Jamaica Building 41. Our upstairs rooms faced a beautiful courtyard. The walk to Old Port Royale was about 5 minutes and that was at a nice leisurely pace. The walk to the bus stop, the quiet pool and the laundry facilities took just 2 minutes. We especially liked crossing over the bridge and through the island to reach the main pool and food court.

During our June, 2007 and May, 2013 stays, we were placed in a non-preferred Martinique building. The walk to all CBR destinations took approximately the same amount of time as our walk from Jamaica.

Before our cruise in 2012, we were in Barbados 11 which was about a 7 1/2 minute walk. It was nice and quiet and we actually liked it. After the cruise, we were in Aruba which was about the same as our stay in Jamaica.

In August, 2008, we were assigned to one of the then new Nemo themed rooms. When I booked the trip, there were no standard room locations available and we had to pay for a preferred location. We were placed in Martinique 25 and, again, our walk was short and pleasant.

When we checked into the resort in August, 2009, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had been given a free upgrade to Martinique 26 even though we had paid for a standard location. Martinique 26 was the closest building to Old Port Royale meaning our walk was super short. As a matter of fact, we were so close to Old Port Royale that we used their bus stop instead of the Martinique bus stop.

There are four categories of rooms at the CBR.

Standard location rooms: These are located in the villages of Barbados, Jamaica, Aruba and some buildings in Martinique and Trinidad North.

King bed rooms: These are scattered throughout the resort but not in Trinidad South.

Water view rooms: Disney’s version of a water view room (at any resort) can mean you’ll either be looking at a swimming pool or a lake. They even consider it a water view if you have to look way over to one side so you can get a glimpse of the water. In my opinion, I’d save my money and not book a water view.

Pirate theme rooms: These are all found in the village of Trinidad South. Some complain about the walk from Trinidad South to Old Port Royale but I timed my walk and it was less than 7 minutes walking at a leisurely pace.

For what it's worth, my mother has traveled with us several times and she had no issues with walking from any location within the resort. By the way, she just turned 80.

The rooms at the CBR are a bit larger than the other moderates at 340 square feet. Believe me, when you start getting all of your people and all their luggage into the room, you’ll be glad you have the extra space.

Most rooms have two double beds but there are some that have a king size bed. There are no king size beds in the pirate themed rooms. As you may have heard, the resort is supposed to be undergoing a room refurb and the construction staging area has already started being set up. It was confirmed to me that they would be getting queen beds. Nobody knows for sure what the rooms refurb will be but we do know that permits have been filed.

The pirate themed rooms have beds that look like pirate ships, the dresser stacked crates, the nightstand is a barrel and the table is a compass. The privacy curtain has a large skull and cross bones on it. There is also a bench in the room. Even the carpet is themed to look like boards.

Part 2 coming up

 

[mickeystoontown]

Continued from previous post:

In the Nemo themed rooms (some still have the Nemo wallpaper boarder), the furniture is more traditional in style but includes the same pieces as the pirate themed rooms. Everything is bright and colorful with Nemo characters on the runner on the bed but the other bedding is the triple sheets that you'll see in the other resorts. The wallpaper border has Nemo characters on it as well. The privacy curtain is a light orange color. (Again, all of this may change after the refurb but we don't know for sure.)

In both type of rooms, there are two sinks in the sink/closet area. The closet has a long closet rod with about a dozen wooden hangers. I usually bring along more and just leave them there when we leave. There is a small safe in the closet area. It’s pretty slim but we have been able to store a portable DVD players, my son’s portable video game, a wallet, all of my husband’s epilepsy medications and a set of keys in the safe.

All rooms come with a hairdryer, iron, ironing board, refrigerator and coffeemaker at no extra charge.

The bathrooms are the typical hotel/motel bathroom size. The bathrooms in the pirate rooms have the Flying Dutchman etched into the shower wall. The bathrooms in the Nemo rooms have a pretty flower etched into the shower wall.

Mousekeeping has always been great. We have gotten several towel animals during each of our four stays. The trash was taken out and our floor vacuumed daily. We were always supplied with fresh towels, washcloths , shampoo and soap. They also replinished our coffee supply each morning. I tip our mousekeeper(s) by leaving an envelope on the nightstand.

I can honestly say that the CBR rooms are really quiet. As with just about all Disney resorts, you can occasionally hear the “power toilets” flushing next door but it’s not bad at all. We hardly ever heard our neighbors. If they were walking by and were talking loudly, we would hear them. Most times, it was just quiet.

Each village has their own quiet pool. During the hot months, they can become a bit crowded but that’s to be expected. That being said, we have also gone to the quiet pool and found ourselves all alone. Laundry facilities are located near each village quiet pool. You can swim and do laundry at the same time!

The while sandy beaches in each village are swept clean each night. It’s so nice and relaxing to just sit in a beach chair or laze in a hammock. Several of the beaches have small playgrounds for the kids to play on.

The walk around the promenade is very pretty. You can get a real feel of the resort by walking the 1.4 mile promenade. At one point, you will walk on wooden walkways through a wooded area. The flowering trees and bushes are everywhere. Plenty of picture taking opportunities along the way.

The main pool can get crowded in the Summer months but, like at all Disney resorts, that’s to be expected. The pool is now zero entry and has water slides for all ages. There is a play area just for kids which is really cool. There’s a slide and water tumbles out of a huge bucket. Really nice!

Also located near the main pool are two new hot tubs, a hair wrap station, umbrella tables and a pool bar.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a little tip I gave my mother when she traveled with us. From your resort village, find the sign that points you in the direction of the beach. Once you make it to the beach, you'll be on the promenade that goes all the way around the resort.

Part 3 coming up

 

[mickeystoontown]

Part 3:

From what's been reported, the moderate resorts no longer have watercraft rentals. Reports do say that the bicycles and surrey bikes. For the kids in your group, there’s a pirate adventure cruise at a price that won’t kill your pocketbook. The kids are taken out on the resort lake in a pontoon boat and they search for pirate treasure. Lunch is included in the pirate cruise price.

Old Port Royale houses the store, the food court, a Concierge desk and the arcade. The store is divided into two sections with one side selling Pirates of the Caribbean and tropical merchandise. They even sell coconut postcards that you can mail home to friends and family. The other side of the store sells the more traditional Disney merchandise such as snowglobes, t-shirts, purses, watches, hats, scrapbooking items, etc. One corner of the store has a small selection of over the counter meds., magazines, breads, baby food, drinks, chips, etc. I posted pictures on the CBR pic thread of some of the items for information purposes.

Old Port Royale is also where package pickup is located.

The arcade is not super large but it had plenty of games and room to keep up with the crowds.

The food court is set up in sections. You simply go to each station, order and get your food and then go to a central cashier. Easy to do.

The grab-n-go section has fresh made sandwiches, salads, yogurt, fresh fruit, pies, cakes, veggies and dip, lots of fresh baked breads and pastries and other items. At the pizza station, you will find pizzas, pastas, large deli type sandwiches and fresh tossed salads. Burger, chicken strips and hot dogs are served at another station. The kids’ chicken meal is served in a plastic sand pail with a shovel that the kids get to keep. Comes in real handy on the beaches. Yet another station has rotissiere chicken, roasted turkey, vegetables and hot sandwiches.

At breakfast, an assortment of breakfast meats, Mickey waffles, fresh fruit, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and omelets are served.

Shutters is the full service restaurant located on property. You check in at Old Port Royale.

The food court seating area is large and we have never had a problem finding a table. The self serve drink area goes in a circle with several drink stations. On the condiments bar, there are hot tea bags, honey, assorted jellies, parmesan cheese, hot pepper sauce and fixings for burgers. There are also a couple of microwaves and toasters available for use.

If you want to take your items to go, there is a table in the food court seating area that has tops for the plates/bowls and brown bags with handles to carry your items.

Hopefully, this will help out those who were like me when I was planning our first stay at the CBR.

The CBR does not share transportation with any other resort. Each village has their own bus stop which are covered. The bus stops have several benches, cola machines and newspaper machines. Buses have always ran efficiently during each of our four stays. The only time we have had a semi-long wait (less than 30 minutes) was for a morning bus to Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney. Should you encounter troubles with any bus at the CBR, simply pick up the phone at the bus stop. There’s a directory near the phone telling you which option to push for assistance. (also posted a pictures on the CBR pic thread)

Because the CBR is centrally located, it wont’ take you long to reach any Disney destination. Yes, the CBR buses do stop at each bus stop before heading out of the resort. But, it really doesn’t take as long as you would think to leave the resort. When we stayed in Jamaica, I timed our trip to Hollywood Studios. From the time we sat down on the bus, made our way around the resort, left the resort and pulled into Hollwood Studios bus stop, it took just 11 minutes. The drives to other parks were short and sweet too.

Even though we have a car at our disposal, we don’t drive it. We let Disney do the driving for us! One year, we did take our car to Hollywood Studios but only because we wanted to get there super early for Star Wars Weekend.

If you are in the resort and don’t want to walk to your village or to Old Port Royale, simply go to the nearest bus stop and wait for the Internal Shuttle bus. It makes stops at each village.

Whew! I think that's it. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away.

Lisa

P.S. I took tons of pictures of the resort which can be found on the CBR pic thread and in my trip report. The link is in my signature below and links to the individual post are in post two.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Awesome! Did they give you any idea of when this was supposed to start? Finish? Any plans for which buildings would be completed first? Hoping we have a chance for queen-size beds for my poor DH's back at Christmas.

From recent reports that have been made, the construction staging area is set up outside of the Jamaica village as we speak. Initially, it was to start "sometime in April" but it seems like it has just started. The manager told me that they would work in one village at a time, completing it before moving on to the next. She also assured me that they would keep the guests' inconvenience to a minimum. I believe that it took a year to complete the refurb at POR. I looked at the permit filed for the CBR refurb and I think that I am remembering correctly that it expires in May, 2015.

 

[111mom111]

I'm in too! We're a group of 14 staying Oct 1-6. Originally thinking POR (we've stayed at AKL, Poly, WLR, the tree houses at SSR, and POFQ), as we needed to be in the budget of a moderate. Then the free dining details were released, I did some research and decided on CSR. Well, as of 9:30 this morning, the allotment for free dining rooms was gone. So it was on to CBR, and after researching there, decided on water views hoping for Jamaica or Aruba. But when I booked all that was left were water view Pirate rooms. The boys in our group (12,11,10) will love it, but I'm concerned with how FAR the pirate building are from everything. Does anyone else have this concern, or has anyone stayed in the Pirate rooms before? Thanks. And no matter what, at least we're in Disney ������

My family is also staying in the Pirate room water view for the free dining promotion. I was a little concerned too, but after speaking to a co-worker who stayed in one I feel a lot better! My co-worker said the walk to OPR is about 10-15 minutes depending on location in Trinidad South walking at a normal pace, and a gorgeous walk! Also he said the internal bus system worked great for his family and was less of a walk then when he stayed at POR. I am actually excited about our trip! I showed my son some pictures online last night and his face lit up when he saw the pirate room!

 

[smidgy]

does anyone have a link to the thread that showed the location of the king rooms, handicapped roms and connecting rooms? thanks!

 

[mickeystoontown]

does anyone have a link to the thread that showed the location of the king rooms, handicapped roms and connecting rooms? thanks!

Just posted the answer to your question on the CBR fact thread. Hope that it helps.

 

[MSchaefer]

Thanks 111mom111! The more I read about the resort, the better I feel. I actually think now that I'm really going to love the resort

 

[iforry]

The more I read about the resort, the better I feel. I actually think now that I'm really going to love the resort

Me too! Thank you to all of the experts for your input and words of wisdom. I think we're going to be just fine.