Caribbean Beach FAQ Part IV

[KimRaye]

Enjoy these years- they are some of the best. My princesses are now 18 and 19 but they turned into the little girls they once were as soon as a CM called them "princess" at the DME desk. It worked on my wife too, so then I had 3 little girls to look out for!

So cute!

Hi,

I just switched from the Pop Century to CBR. My DF and I will also be getting married with an Escape at the Wedding Pavillion on 3 Aug 10.

I have not stayed here before - I guess I also need to change my signature!

Very excited

As you should be!! Congrats!!! You will enjoy the relaxation that CBR offers!

 

[sandymandr]

This is another "it's probably been answered here somewhere before here, but I can't find it" question - how much is it to do a load of laundry at CBR? I am one of two co-planners for our 16-person grand gathering, and I have some folks that are detail oriented. I'd like to head off a few questions when I mention that there are plenty of laundry facilities at the hotel.

Thanks to all the CBR experts who post so regularly here - it's a great source of information for those of us trying this resort for the first time!

I just had this discussion on another thread, $2 each for the washer and dryer, so $4 total. Machines take quarters, but there are change machines in the laundry. Laundries are located by the quiet pools. And one more tip, apparently lots of people recommend the Purex 3 in 1 sheets because they are easy to pack and work well. I just got mine packed yesterday!!! Have fun!

 

[*Dreamin'Dad*]

From CBR today.

Arrived Sat around 2:30. Online check in at counter, about 3 mins max. Great experience and room was ready. Requested and received Jamaica 1st floor. We are in building 42 facing garden. It is quite tropical and it has been very quiet. Resort is fairly booked but not crouded.
Our biggest compliment, plenty of storage for all our stuff. With 3 long haired beauties, this is important and helps the room feel big and clean.
Pools are great and heated! Very nice for kids wanted to swim no matter the temps and it has been cool, but very nice. No sweating and wearing shorts each day with jackets in the mornings and evenings.
Grounds are very nice and this is a good moderate. I would say thus far the only thing we like better at CSR is the queen beds, but not a big deal.
Parks are packed with one exception, daylight savings. We were at MK for rope drop on Sunday and it was obvious many either slept in or forgot clocks. We hit all the majors everywhere 2-3 times before we saw crouds around 1:00pm. It was great!
Walk from Jamaica 42 to main building/pool - stroll about 10-12 mins. On a mission walk - 7 mins or less.

More later........

 

[mickeystoontown]

From CBR today.

Arrived Sat around 2:30. Online check in at counter, about 3 mins max. Great experience and room was ready. Requested and received Jamaica 1st floor. We are in building 42 facing garden. It is quite tropical and it has been very quiet. Resort is fairly booked but not crouded.
Our biggest compliment, plenty of storage for all our stuff. With 3 long haired beauties, this is important and helps the room feel big and clean.
Pools are great and heated! Very nice for kids wanted to swim no matter the temps and it has been cool, but very nice. No sweating and wearing shorts each day with jackets in the mornings and evenings.
Grounds are very nice and this is a good moderate. I would say thus far the only thing we like better at CSR is the queen beds, but not a big deal.
Parks are packed with one exception, daylight savings. We were at MK for rope drop on Sunday and it was obvious many either slept in or forgot clocks. We hit all the majors everywhere 2-3 times before we saw crouds around 1:00pm. It was great!
Walk from Jamaica 42 to main building/pool - stroll about 10-12 mins. On a mission walk - 7 mins or less.

More later........

Thanks for taking the time to check in with the Disboards. We have stayed in the Jamaica section before and it was just beautiful.

Glad to hear that everything is going well.

 

[sandymandr]

Hi! I know this is probably posted here, somewhere....but I leave in 2 days. My niece has just been diagnosed with atypical absence seizures and her doc said to cut carbs out completely. Her mom has cut soda completely out, but said if there is a diet drink that she likes she can have it in DW as a treat. So, what kind of diet sodas are available for refillable mugs? She doesn't like diet coke. And do they have anything else that is low sugar / carbs? Poor little girl, having to give up carbs at 7 yo the week before going to DW!! BTW, she is responding great to meds Thanks for your help!

 

[CJK]

Hi! I know this is probably posted here, somewhere....but I leave in 2 days. My niece has just been diagnosed with atypical absence seizures and her doc said to cut carbs out completely. Her mom has cut soda completely out, but said if there is a diet drink that she likes she can have it in DW as a treat. So, what kind of diet sodas are available for refillable mugs? She doesn't like diet coke. And do they have anything else that is low sugar / carbs? Poor little girl, having to give up carbs at 7 yo the week before going to DW!! BTW, she is responding great to meds Thanks for your help!

I know that they have coke zero which I really like (and I don't like diet coke). There's also a light lemonade which has something like 5 calories. I'm not sure if there's a diet sprite or not.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The last time we stayed at the CBR we drove from NJ. These next two times we will be also staying at CBR, flying in and using ME. My question is how does it work with the ME??

How long does it take to get your luggage to your rooms on arrival day??? We arrive at 8:25 am. How long does it take to get to the hotel???

Our next trip it's just DH and I so we plan on going to the parks early on departure day since our flight doesn't leave until 8:50 pm. I know check out is 11 am so we will check out before we hit the parks. How does this work with our luggage? Does the front desk hold it for us???

Any help is appreciated!

 

[sandymandr]

I know that they have coke zero which I really like (and I don't like diet coke). There's also a light lemonade which has something like 5 calories. I'm not sure if there's a diet sprite or not.

Thanks!

 

[pktbMouse]

From CBR today.

Arrived Sat around 2:30. Online check in at counter, about 3 mins max. Great experience and room was ready. Requested and received Jamaica 1st floor. We are in building 42 facing garden. It is quite tropical and it has been very quiet. Resort is fairly booked but not crouded.
Our biggest compliment, plenty of storage for all our stuff. With 3 long haired beauties, this is important and helps the room feel big and clean.
Pools are great and heated! Very nice for kids wanted to swim no matter the temps and it has been cool, but very nice. No sweating and wearing shorts each day with jackets in the mornings and evenings.
Grounds are very nice and this is a good moderate. I would say thus far the only thing we like better at CSR is the queen beds, but not a big deal.
Parks are packed with one exception, daylight savings. We were at MK for rope drop on Sunday and it was obvious many either slept in or forgot clocks. We hit all the majors everywhere 2-3 times before we saw crouds around 1:00pm. It was great!
Walk from Jamaica 42 to main building/pool - stroll about 10-12 mins. On a mission walk - 7 mins or less.

More later........

More...tell me more...I have only 7 weeks to go and Im so excited...this will be our first trip to CBR!! Please keep us updated on how things are going...have a great vacation!

 

[Leafs Fan]

Hey everyone, fresh back from 10 days at the CBR ! Excellent trip.

So here is my take or update on what we found:


We arrived at CBR at about 9:20 on the friday night and went right to Port Royale for dinner. Magical express from the airport was great and the bus was waiting for us. Two pieces of our luggage arrived at our room by 10 pm and the remaining two were around midnight. No big issue there. We had ordered from Gardengrocer.com and it was waiting for us upon arrival. Bell Services took us, our carryons and food order directly to our room.

Rooms are a nice size. The finding nemo theme is no big deal. Its a wallpaper boarder around the top of the room and two nemo bedspreads-thats it. It was out of our 8 year old daughters mind in about 5 minutes. We ended up in Jamaica 44 which is right beside the bridge to Port Royal. Perfect spot as the walking over to the other side was minimal. Beach is groomed everyday with a kids playground on each beach along with loungers and hammicks.

Laundry is located in the pool area of each building. Wash and dry loads are $2 each using quarters. Soap for one load is $1 along with bounce which does two loads at $1. There is a change machine in the laundry for $1, 2, 5 bills and spits out quarters. Check the lint screen in the botton of the door on the dryers as people were not cleaning them out and complained of damp loads. I did have to put some loads on twice and there were not overloaded. You need your room key to get into the laundry room.

Try and request a room away from the centre courtyard as this is the smoking area for each building. Not an issue but it is where everyone concgregates at night and the sound echos so 4 people can sound pretty loud to these rooms once the cocktails come out.

Fridge is a good size bar fridge and holds a lot. We had one die but it was replaced with a brand new unit the next day. The TV swivels on the dresser allowing you to view it anywhere in the room and has inputs for video games etc. When you turn it on it automatically goes to a Disney info channel. Channels start at 2 and go up. Duplicates of the channels with typed words are higher up so you dont try and turn the typing off with the remote as it wont work. Flat screens were being installed as we left.

Internet cable in the room is a male ethernet and ours reached just barely over the table. I had brought along an extension cable which made it easy. Rates are 9.95 per 24 hours from the time you start. You must leave a credit card with CBR on file as it is charged to your room. Upon checkout you have the option of how you will pay it off. I grabbed it around 2 pm each day so I got two days out of it. To use, plug the cable in, fire up your web browser and follow the instructions. Takes 2 minutes and you are live.

Caribbean Cay Island in the middle of the bridge is nice. Its a small Island that breaks up the bridge going over to Port Royale. Has some benches in unigue spots with some private seating areas and sand areas for kids to play. Private seating areas are locked off at night.

The food court-pretty good food. We ate at Shutters twice (need reservations) and the steak was excellent. The rest of the food court had pretty good food as well. Make sure you take your refillable mugs they give you as you can use them for pop, juice or coffee.

How it works-grab all your food, drinks, sides and deserts ahead of time and then go and pay or use your dining card then head for the seating areas. Refillable mugs can be filled in the seating area. During breakfast hours, Shutters restaurant area is open for table use only from the food court seating area. While there, grab milk or creamers for your room. Room coffee is not bad but they give you powdered cream. You can also get the food to go in containers if you want to take it back to your room. Eating outside on the patio can be a challenge with the aggessive birds.

Gift shop is nice. Disney prices are the same at all the stores. You can use your dining card snack option in there as well. Rain ponchos are $8.00 each and cheap plastic if you think you will need one. Umbrellas are $10 for a single person small foldable one.They do sell liquour, beer pints and a whole wall of pharmacy items like allergy pills, cold and cough etc.

Pirate theme pool is nice but can be busy. Open 24 hours but lifeguard and features of pool like slide and fountains shut down at 8 pm. Hot tub looks clean but I go in my own only as I noticed some people were not getting out for bathroom breaks when they should have based on how much pop etc they were drinking if you get my meaning. They supply towels at this pool but take your own to your building pools.

Buses-dont think we ever waiting more than 5 minutes for a bus to any park. Internal shuttle bus was a bit more slower in regards to waiting but once you know their routine you can hop a park bus to an internal stop.

Dining plan-we took the Deluxe plan and we are a family of big eaters and there was too much food for us. On the deluxe you get anything off the menu at the sitdown table service including an appetizer, entree and desert. Big portions so you get pretty stuffed. As well you get two snacks a day which can be water, ice cream etc. Works in the food court and the parks. Look for the little dining card symbol on the menus of the park carts (small symbols so look close). Next time I would not take the Deluxe plan as we had some snacks left over and 12 meals as we got there late Friday so we missed some meals on the plan and of course the last day we missed a few as well. Table service restuarants-make as many reservations as you can before you leave as you can always cancel or not show up. You can also add reservations from your room phone or by the concierge in Port Royale.

All of our meals were excellent except for one-the garden grill in epcot. Food was horrible and manager did not seem to care but washed our bill. Mama Mias or whatever it was called in Hollywood studios was excellent. Along with the Coral reef in Epcot. They sat us right by the aquarium glass so you could see the sharks etc. Tony's Town grill in MGK was great along with the crystal palace. Meals for 4 people were roughly $120.00 based on what the plan provided in food. Tips are suggested on the bill at 18 and 20 %.

Overall the resort was excellent and quiet. You would not know you were in Florida if you just stayed on the resort. Staff are very friendly and will help you anyway they can. Rooms are nice size and we had connecting for the kids. Guranteed connecting when you mention the kids. Maids were cleaning rooms about 10 am or so. We did a park a day with a rest day in between at CBR. Boats are a little expensive and go slow due to the size of the lake. Plus a safety boat follows you from a distance behine when you go out. Bikes are $20 per hour and $25 or something for a double surrey bike that holds four adults and two kids up front. I would certainly go back there again in a heart beat.

Sorry for the long winded post but it pretty much covers it all and I hope it answers a lot of the questions above.

Have Fun !

 

[shmedly123]

The last time we stayed at the CBR we drove from NJ. These next two times we will be also staying at CBR, flying in and using ME. My question is how does it work with the ME??

How long does it take to get your luggage to your rooms on arrival day??? We arrive at 8:25 am. How long does it take to get to the hotel???

Our next trip it's just DH and I so we plan on going to the parks early on departure day since our flight doesn't leave until 8:50 pm. I know check out is 11 am so we will check out before we hit the parks. How does this work with our luggage? Does the front desk hold it for us???

Any help is appreciated!

If you arrive at 8:25 then you will probably be loaded onto the ME bus by around 9ish and be at your hotel by 10. Your luggage will probably be dropped off sometime around noon.

when you check out you can have bell services hold your luggage until you are ready to leave. Just remember that if you are planning on going to the MK on the last day to allow extra time to get back to the hotel as the MK bus usually takes the longest from CBR.

Have a great trip!

 

[DONnDAISY]

Thanks LEAFDAD.....We will be at CBR on March 23rd. We had thought about changing because of bad reviews of the bus service. Hoping that the crowds won't be bad.....but probably everyone wants to get away to some WARMER weather.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Thanks for the excellent review Leafs Fan! Glad you had a nice time at CBR and WDW!

 

[disneymomma1978]

Thanks LEAFS FAN, your report was detailed and exactly what I was looking for!! We are going to CBR for 10 days 11/28-12/7/10 so your report was very helpful, thanks!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

If you arrive at 8:25 then you will probably be loaded onto the ME bus by around 9ish and be at your hotel by 10. Your luggage will probably be dropped off sometime around noon.

when you check out you can have bell services hold your luggage until you are ready to leave. Just remember that if you are planning on going to the MK on the last day to allow extra time to get back to the hotel as the MK bus usually takes the longest from CBR.

Have a great trip!

Thank you! We leave from NJ at 6:10 am. A bit early but without the kids it won't be bad adn we get to have the WHOOOLEEE day at Disney! We can not wait!!!

 

[Lorettainny]

Hello,

is there room for items under the beds at CBR or do they have those wooden bottoms?

Thanks.

 

[dis_guy]

Thanks, Leafs Fan!

You nicely sum up my feelings about the CBR! I think we'll go back in November!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hello,

is there room for items under the beds at CBR or do they have those wooden bottoms?

Thanks.

When they refurbed the rooms, they did away with the under the bed storage.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Thanks for the report. We're thinking about staying here when we go in January. All the infor here has been so helpful.

 

[fleurbie]

Thank you for the report, really looking fordward to going now only 35 sleeps to go