A few questions on the Caribean Beach Resort

[mar915]

I have not stayed at a Disney resort but always on the property. I love the Dolphin but the price is avg. in June $294 a night secondary to a convention. So I wanted to see what people thought of this hotel.

The bus service: Do they have bus to all the parks and to Downtown Disney or do you have to switch any buses?

How convient is the bus service: Is there only one pickup in the whole hotel area and where is best to stay to be closer to the pickup area or are there several? I heard the hotel area is big.

What is the best location to be at if you can request it? I want a water view or what is the perferred location and does that have a water view?

How does it compare to the Dolphin? How are the pools?

Thanks

Mary

 

[BevS97]

I havent' stayed at the dolphin, but I think it's not as nice as the Dolphin but then again it will be half the price or less.
There are many bus stops, and you will almost certainly be near to one of them, there are also a number of small pools. I believe the preferred locatoin is near the center with the main pool and food court. There is a big lake in the middle of the resort, so a water view would get you in the middle facing the lake. We had a pool view which was very nice, but to be honest, the courtyards were nice too, the only think I would prefer not to have is a parking lot view.

Look at this map to choose an island,
http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/cbrmap.jpg

we were in Barbados Building 13 and it was a 10 minute walk to Old Port Royale, that was also the last bus stop and so often no seats were left. The first bus stop is Martinique

Bev

 

[rigsby25]

We were there in November. We were in building 24. That is really close to the bus stop. I think it was the Martinique. Buildings 25 & 26 are closer to the big pool, but we had requested a preferred or water view, and our water view was a view of the quiet pool. This was really nice. I thought the quiet pool was better than the big pool. It seemed warmer for some reason and it was "quiet". But the food court is by the big pool. I learned a tip recently and that is to request what you want, not what building or what view. That is because if you ask for building 24 and its sold out, they don't know how to make you happy. If you request "close to a bus stop", or "close to the food court" they can figure it out.

We have never stayed at the Swan or Dolphin, but we have stayed at the Contemporary, and we were all pleased with our room at the CBR.

 

[safetymom]

You might want to post your questions on the CBR FAQ for more answers.

As far as water view that can be very creative by Disney. Usually that means the side of the building facing the lake. You may or may not have a great view of the water. Personally I wouldn't waste the extra money for a water view.

Even the parking lot view is ok. There is so much landscaping it is hard to see the cars in the parking lot.

If you visit the FAQ's listed below you will learn lots about CBR. I also have lots of pictures of all areas of CBR.

 

[cobbler]

I do know there are 7 bus stops. We stayed at Martinique in 2000. I think we were kind of far from Old Port Royale but that type of thing doesn't bother me.

There is bussing to all the parks and downtown Disney.

 

[DisneyAngelXOXO]

We stayed at CBR in May 04. We were in Barbados, with a waterview room which we thought was a nice location. We had a lovely view of the lake and were very pleased with our view. Yes it was a 5-7 min walk to Port Royale, but that really didn't bother us. We were away from all the noise and traffic of those going to Port Royale or using the main pool. As for bus services, someone previously posted they Barbados was the last pick up, during our stay we were never last, most of the time we were the first or second. The bus pickup schedule seemed to change everyday though. This resort is very nice but if you don't like to walk then stay in a preferred building. No matter what building you stay in, ask if there is a corner room available, the rooms seem bigger IMHO.

 

[BevS97]

we were there in 2001 so the bus pickups may well have changed since then - we found they were entering the resort at Martinique and then driving round the resort in a circle ending at barbados - looking at the roads and the layout of the resort I would have thought this was the most logical way for them to still be doing it, but I guess if they have had complaints from the Barbados guests they may have come up with another system

 

[Minnie&Nana]

We stayed at CBR in May 04. This resort is very nice but if you don't like to walk then stay in a preferred building. No matter what building you stay in, ask if there is a corner room available, the rooms seem bigger IMHO.

Preferred building locations do cost extra, so take that into account when planning. Corner rooms are nice, but not any larger than any other room in CBR (or any other mod) - they sometimes feel larger due to the light and 2 large windows.

I booked CBR for June. Last time we stayed there was '95 and we'd stayed 5 times in a row. Needed a break and the resort was in need of refurbishment. We've always had a corner room and once had a lake view in Martinque. Some of Martinique is a very close walk to OPR (maybe 3 minutes for us in the lake view room), but we also had a "parking lot view" once which was lovely!

This time I did book a water view,which I normally would not do. The preferred rooms were sold out and my best chance of getting a room in Jamaica near the bridge was to book a water view. CBR CM suggested this as I have MS and it would be a difficult if too far a walk. I am a bit worried though and am considering switching to POFQ.

Remember,CBR has just 2 floors and no elevator. I don't think there's a bad view, but there could be a long, hot walk!

 

[rkmassa]

CBR is very spread out. Too many bus stops, too long of a walk to main pool-unless you pay for a preferred room. I would check into another moderate. We stayed at POR and loved it. There is a boat that goes directly to DTD. Very nice ride in the evening. Our walk to the main pool was very short. The grounds are beautiful. The sister resort POFQ looked nice too. The pool had great themeing.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i stayed at CBR last may and LOVED it! we were in jamaica and it was perfect..our room looked out into the courtyard and was a beautiful view..it probably took us 5 minutes to walk to the old port royale..id stay there again in a heartbeat