Caribbean Beach FAQ Part IV

[GreyGooseCosmo]

Thanks greygoosecosmo. I understand now. I think I'm just worried that I won't like CBR because I didn't like POP. Projecting, ta-hee.

When I vacation, I try to relax in my "down time". I look for peaceful places to just "be". WDW is constant overstimulation, and I don't need that from my hotel too (like POP).

Everyone is different and has different needs from their vacation. However, the "over themed" resorts just aren't for me. If you're looking for a good, quiet, moderately priced resort that still has a bit of Disney "flair" ... CBR is a good choice.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We just returned from our trip to CBR. For the most part, we had great service!

We got a bit of pixie dust from the Concierge one day - snuck us into 1900 PF for dinner on about 3 hours' notice.

However - I need to pile on those that are SORELY disappointed with Mousekeeping. Our carpet was not vacuumed, and I found candy wrappers under the edge of the bed. I took my Clorox wipes to the toilet and sinks as a pre-emptive measure.

We didn't receive towel animals or any other "extras", but I did leave a tip each day. The beds were always made (although I know that the sheets were not changed for our entire trip), and we received new towels daily.

My only other complaint was bell services. As many of you know, luggage isn't allowed on the regular buses. This is fine, but it means you're at the mercy of the bell services staff when checking out and storing luggage. I called the night before and requested luggage pickup at 8:10 AM (as we had a 9:20 ADR at Chef Mickey's at the CR). After three phone calls (one of which yielded the information that our work order had already been closed, so why was I calling?) and more than an hour's wait, a rather salty gentleman showed up to take our bags. When I inquired on the third phone call if someone would find a way to get us to the CR on time, I was told "no, just take the bus to the MK and the monorail to the resort, and tell them bell services was late. They'll understand." I was too furious to do anything other than say "fine, I'll do that. Please send someone to get our bags immediately, or have a manager call. Either option will be fine."

It is quite sad that this is how our trip ended. It was otherwise OK, the room was a pleasant and quiet place to crash, and the resort was nice. However, Disney has other resorts to try ... and I plan to do just that next time.

Two times we stayed at the CBR, they had little cards with Jiminy Cricket on them that said if you want the sheets changed, put the card on the bed. This past trip, there were no cards so I pulled all the sheets off the bed and put them in a pile near the door. I didn't do this every day. Heck, I don't change my bedsheets but once a week at home so I don't expect Disney to do it either.

I would have called housekeeping as soon as I saw that the floor needed vacuuming and ask that they come around and clean. We have found that they are pretty quick to come to the room. One day, we came back to our room around 3:00 p.m. and it hadn't been cleaned yet. We called mousekeeping and, by the time we got back from shopping and eating at Old Port Royale, our room had been cleaned.

The only time we used bell services was when our daughter flew in two days after we drove in. She arrived via Magical Express and we immediately went to Hoop Dee Doo. When we got back, her bags were in the room. Other than that one time, we didn't use bell services.

I think that they should have at least called Chef Mickey's and let them know that you would be arriving late. Especially since it was their fault.

I am glad that you, otherwise, had a pleasant trip to Walt Disney World.

 

[disneydreamin247]

DBF decided he wants to switch from Pop to CBR for our trip in Nov/Dec. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I've only stayed value and deluxe. I think when I go in June I'm going to stop by CBR and tour it a bit.

 

[G&J's Mom]

Thanks greygoosecosmo. I understand now. I think I'm just worried that I won't like CBR because I didn't like POP. Projecting, ta-hee.

Hi There,

We weren't crazy about POP, but we LOVED CBR. There is really no comparison. I had always wanted to stay at CBR. I have also stayed at ASMo, POR and CSR for values and mods, and by far CBR was the best experience for us. We allowed ourselves a little down time to enjoy the resort, and to us it was so worth it. We have also stayed at a couple of other resorts and when the kids bug me to go back and I am hoping to do just that in October, they want CBR.

Have a great trip!

Denise

 

[Disneymomma41304]

I really think The CBR is one of the best hotels that Disney has. The pool is just amazing and I felt that way about the old pool-can't wait to see the new one (2 more weeks!!!). I just love the feel, the tropical music, the beach even the food court is better than most. Yes, its a bigger resort, but you dont have people on top of you and you have the option for space. Either way really your at Disney and how magical is that?? Good Luck!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

DBF decided he wants to switch from Pop to CBR for our trip in Nov/Dec. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I've only stayed value and deluxe. I think when I go in June I'm going to stop by CBR and tour it a bit.

That's a great idea. We are CBR lovers but knew that we may have family traveling with us in 2009 and they would need to stay in a value resort. So, we drove over to Pop to give it a look see.

I suggest that you walk around the CBR grounds so that you can see how lovely each village is. Watch how the buses come and go. Eat in the food court and shop in the store. That's the only way you can get a true feel for the resort.

 

[Dianatlol]

I can't wait... we always stayed at the POP, or All Stars, and I could not stand how busy it was... The pool was over crowded, kids were cussing, fighting, etc. I am looking forward to a bit more peace! LOL

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

I can't wait... we always stayed at the POP, or All Stars, and I could not stand how busy it was... The pool was over crowded, kids were cussing, fighting, etc. I am looking forward to a bit more peace! LOL

We've only used the pool in Dec. and at night, but I've NEVER seen kids cussing and fighting at the pool at CBR! I think I'd have to find a parent if I saw that!! My kids would be on that like crazy.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I can't wait... we always stayed at the POP, or All Stars, and I could not stand how busy it was... The pool was over crowded, kids were cussing, fighting, etc. I am looking forward to a bit more peace! LOL

That's the one thing we are soooo going to miss about the CBR.....peace and quiet.

 

[long4disney]

We had a great first trip to CBR. I posted another thread on our stay. I did forget to mention that we received a call from the Mousekeeping Manager to ask us if we had any problems with service and if we needed anything else. They wanted to make sure we were happy and had a clean room! Maybe they received many complaints about the cleaning, but we had a spotless room every day, with plenty of towels and soap/shampoo left. I really appreciated the phone call!

 

[mickeystoontown]

We had a great first trip to CBR. I posted another thread on our stay. I did forget to mention that we received a call from the Mousekeeping Manager to ask us if we had any problems with service and if we needed anything else. They wanted to make sure we were happy and had a clean room! Maybe they received many complaints about the cleaning, but we had a spotless room every day, with plenty of towels and soap/shampoo left. I really appreciated the phone call!

So glad you had a great time at the CBR. I'd love to read your post if you'll provide a link.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

We got back from CBR Tuesday evening. It was our 3rd stay there, we usually do POR or POFQ for moderates but needed a change!

We enjoyed our stay, the beaches and grounds are beautiful and relaxing.

The Minnesota High School baseball spring training had some rooms here, many were even near us in Barbodos, but I have to say they were QUIET! We never heard them at all from our room! They must have been tired. This is their program:
http://disneyworldsports.disney.go....SchoolBaseballSpringTrainingDetailPage&bhcp=1
I never knew some were in our building until I was talking to a mom on the monorail one day. I think families with young kids are MUCH louder walking by. I don't even remember hearing anyone walk by our corner room at ALL. Very peaceful. They must have used another exit.

We had an upper room, as requested. I had actually requested Jamaica or Aruba upper floor. They had us in Jamaica bottom floor, so they switched us.

I will say that the room on arrival did have a couple of minor cleaning issues, but nothing we felt the need to call about and it ruined nothing. Old soap and shampoo was left in the shower, a bag of carrots was left by the cups, no coffee was left, and a pen was IN our bed. We kind of laughed it off. Cleaning was much better after that day.

We rented a rollaway. Had to call twice to get that. They sent it to the wrong room the first time as they said it showed up as delivered. And we had someone's welcome basket in our room. We called and that was retrieved, and the rollaway delivered while we were out.

I may post some pictures later.

 

[long4disney]

So glad you had a great time at the CBR. I'd love to read your post if you'll provide a link.

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Here's a copy of the review I posted!

We enjoyed our stay at CBR from 3/25-4/1. We were in a pirate room with all the barrel furniture, the treasure chest, the compass table, and the crate style dresser was in with the flat screen t.v. The room was awesome!!! It was so clean, since everything is brand new. Mousekeeping was great. Our room was spotless every day!!!

The pirate beds were so comfortable. The mattress was wonderful and so were the pillows. My husband is 6'3" and didn't have any problems sleeping in the pirate bed.

We did noticed every day the big trucks in the parking lot loading tons of pirate barrel furniture, treasure chests and crate style dressers. I did talk to a family who had the pirate room booked, but it wasn't ready when the checked in so they just switched to a Nemo room and got a credit for what they paid extra for. Didn't hear of anyone else having problems getting in the pirate room or an upgrade to a deluxe resort.

Also, the walk from Trinidad South to OPR was only about 6-7 minutes for us. We could not believe the amount of discussion on these boards about the "long walk" from Trinidad South to OPR. When we got to OPR we all looked at each other and laughed. It was no big deal!

There were plenty of buses each day, no problems at all!

The pool was very nice, my daughter enjoyed the slides, and we liked having the quiet pool in our section to use as well for a quick "cool off".

The food court was good, no complaints, plenty of seating available.

We had a fantastic week, great weather, and could not believe the lack of spring break crowds that we were expecting. We did follow UG recommended park schedule and Tour Guide Mike, so that is probably why we avoided crowds. We even rode Toy Story Mania one evening with only a 20 minute wait, when it was posted outside as 50 minutes! We did find that hopping to Magic Kindgom in the evening was the best thing to do. While many people are watching both SpectroMagic parades and wishes, the rides were walk ons.

We would highly recommend CBR, especially the pirate rooms to everyone!

 

[lovethecastle]

CBR pics thread ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1845975&page=16

Many Thanks for posting the link.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

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We had a fantastic week, great weather, and could not believe the lack of spring break crowds that we were expecting.

We agree! We did TSM, got a FP for a second turn, GMR, RnR, Star Tours all before 10:30! We walked onto TSM at 9 and got a fp for 11:00 when we left.
MK was fairly mild on Monday compared to other visits. Of course we arrive at opening, use FP, and know the ropes.

 

[starlight_003]

We arrive in 15 days and staying at CBR in a pirate room. I am so glad you had a great time. I can't wait to stay here. Now only if time would fly.

 

[bentleygirl22]

we are staying at CBR sept 12-20 it will be our 1st stay there.. We have only stayed at POP in the past because every year we would ask the kids where they wanted to stay and they would yell POP, My kids love pop.. This year they asked us to go back to pop again..... But this year I get to pick .. so i picked CBR ..
I can't wait ....

Is there a TS meal there?? And is it good?

 

[disneydreamin247]

That's a great idea. We are CBR lovers but knew that we may have family traveling with us in 2009 and they would need to stay in a value resort. So, we drove over to Pop to give it a look see.

I suggest that you walk around the CBR grounds so that you can see how lovely each village is. Watch how the buses come and go. Eat in the food court and shop in the store. That's the only way you can get a true feel for the resort.

I have been thinking about trying CBR one of these days. That's actually how DBF picked it. He was looking at pictures here on the DIS with me and said he would really rather stay there. I meant to stop by on our last trip but never got the chance to. This time I'm definitely making time for it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

we are staying at CBR sept 12-20 it will be our 1st stay there.. We have only stayed at POP in the past because every year we would ask the kids where they wanted to stay and they would yell POP, My kids love pop.. This year they asked us to go back to pop again..... But this year I get to pick .. so i picked CBR ..
I can't wait ....

Is there a TS meal there?? And is it good?

There is a full service restaurant, Shutters, on the CBR grounds.

I have been thinking about trying CBR one of these days. That's actually how DBF picked it. He was looking at pictures here on the DIS with me and said he would really rather stay there. I meant to stop by on our last trip but never got the chance to. This time I'm definitely making time for it.

I have tons and tons of pics of the CBR. Just let me know if you want to see them. That might just help make your decision.

 

[disneydreamin247]

I have tons and tons of pics of the CBR. Just let me know if you want to see them. That might just help make your decision.

I think he already made the decision for me! But I would definitely love to see your pics!