Caribbean Beach FAQ part V

[KellyNY]

I donot remember if I said it before on this thread but we found a good location on a parking lot between Jamaica and Aruba, where there is a "Aruba stop next" sign or something, right on Aruba 51 level. There is a sort of tree window there and you can see lower fireworks and hear music.

 

[noahdove]

I can't wait to hear the reviews of you that are going soon to CBR...that's where the 8 of us are staying in 6 months and a few days

 

[aubriee]

If it were me, I'd tell my husband at the airport when you fly out so that just in case he's bummed, he has time to get used to it on the flight!

Thanks for all your commments. I appreciate them. I'm sure he's probably going to be OK. You're right though, it might be better if I surprise him at our home airport going down, rather than wait until we're getting on the DME bus. That'd give him a couple of hours to get used to the idea.

Hey, we're in single digits now! Only 9 more days!

 

[Avonlady1001]

Hi, all!
We just got back from CBR & thought I'd add my thoughts. We checked in about 10am & our room was ready!! What a great surprise! We were in 23 Martinique. I think it's 2 bldgs away from preferred. Very short walk to the bus, which we loved! Quick walk to the food court & main pool. The room was spotless & beautiful. No towel animals or anything fun from housekeeping, but that's ok. Also, some days she didn't bother to replace the paper cups we had used, or give us clean glass ones...this kind of bothered me, but not enough to call & mention it. She vacuumed almost everyday (I know because each day my outlet cover was removed & not replaced.)

When we got there we were given a 2nd floor room. Usually I prefer upper floors, but w/ the stroller & sleeping 2 y/o...when we got to our room, he was sleep, so we carried the stroller up the stairs. LOL I knew then it wasn't going to work for us. We called down & were given a 1st floor. Took about 10 min & the CM brought us our new key. They were very accommodating.

The buses were very fast. Only one time did we wait more than 5 minutes, and it was BIG. We waited 40 min for a bus to DTD on our last day...then we had a horrible driver who'd stop the bus, get out of his seat, and go talk to parents if their kid stood up or put their feet on the seats! Took 80 min from the time we got to the bus stop til we got to DTD. Not cool. But that was the only incident, so I can't complain.

My biggest problem w/ the resort is it's sheer size. I'm used to POR, so I'm used to big, or so I thought. CBR is BIG!! The walking didn't bother me, my pet peeve was how long it took to go thru all 7 bus stops and finally get on the way to the parks. Martinique was either the 1st or 4th stop, depending. When we were first (great on busy days! I stood on a bus only once!) it took 12-17 minutes to round the resort picking up / dropping off. I tried to plan for this, but sometimes, leaving only an hour from the time we left the room to get to our ressie wasn't enough.

The pool was amazing, the kids LOVED it! There was nothing special about the food court...just typical. I did like it's layout. Overall, I really did like the resort, but I don't think I'll stay there again. I'm really glad I did though.

 

[mickeymyfavorite]

Hi, all!
We just got back from CBR & thought I'd add my thoughts. We checked in about 10am & our room was ready!! What a great surprise! We were in 23 Martinique. I think it's 2 bldgs away from preferred. Very short walk to the bus, which we loved! Quick walk to the food court & main pool. The room was spotless & beautiful. No towel animals or anything fun from housekeeping, but that's ok. Also, some days she didn't bother to replace the paper cups we had used, or give us clean glass ones...this kind of bothered me, but not enough to call & mention it. She vacuumed almost everyday (I know because each day my outlet cover was removed & not replaced.)

When we got there we were given a 2nd floor room. Usually I prefer upper floors, but w/ the stroller & sleeping 2 y/o...when we got to our room, he was sleep, so we carried the stroller up the stairs. LOL I knew then it wasn't going to work for us. We called down & were given a 1st floor. Took about 10 min & the CM brought us our new key. They were very accommodating.

The buses were very fast. Only one time did we wait more than 5 minutes, and it was BIG. We waited 40 min for a bus to DTD on our last day...then we had a horrible driver who'd stop the bus, get out of his seat, and go talk to parents if their kid stood up or put their feet on the seats! Took 80 min from the time we got to the bus stop til we got to DTD. Not cool. But that was the only incident, so I can't complain.

My biggest problem w/ the resort is it's sheer size. I'm used to POR, so I'm used to big, or so I thought. CBR is BIG!! The walking didn't bother me, my pet peeve was how long it took to go thru all 7 bus stops and finally get on the way to the parks. Martinique was either the 1st or 4th stop, depending. When we were first (great on busy days! I stood on a bus only once!) it took 12-17 minutes to round the resort picking up / dropping off. I tried to plan for this, but sometimes, leaving only an hour from the time we left the room to get to our ressie wasn't enough.

The pool was amazing, the kids LOVED it! There was nothing special about the food court...just typical. I did like it's layout. Overall, I really did like the resort, but I don't think I'll stay there again. I'm really glad I did though.

Hi neighbor! glad you had a good time!

 

[E&As Mom]

I figured I'd throw my "review" of CBR out here as well, as it was our 1st time staying @ this resort (stayed @ POR in Sept. 2008).

We had a GREAT experience at CBR. We were in Barbados Bldg. 14. It was literally a 5 minute walk from the Custom House check in to our room. It was about 1 minute to the quiet pool/ laundry facility, around 5 minutes to OPR and the main pool, and about 2 minutes to the Barbados bus stop.

I checked out the room as soon as we arrived. It was clean, cool, and we even had a towel animal waiting for us. Even though we hung our towels up to reuse, MouseKeeping changed out our towels for us each day. We received 2 more towel animals throughout the week, and had no complaints aobut the upkeep of our room. The theme of the room was great; it fit the overall resort theme very well... my girls loved the Nemo decor. We loved how colorful and bright/cheery the entire resort was.

We never waited any longer than 10 minutes for a bus either to or from any of the parks, which was a really great surprise. I was really impressed with how often the buses came. We were the 4th bus stop for most routes going to the parks (for EPCOT, AK, and HWS), and the 3rd and last pick up for a trip to the MK. Coming back to the resort from the parks, we were either the 3rd stop to drop off, or the very last. If the bus came in the main gate, we were the last bus stop (we usually got off @ the Martinique stop, and walked 5 minutes to Barbados). If the bus came in the side entrance, we were the 3 bus stop.

I know that a lot of folks complain about how big the resort is, but my family and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think it would be big if you were walking from each section to another section, and so forth, but I found it very easy to get around. It seemed quiet (which was wonderful after long days at the parks). The food court was decent... not great, but certainly not terrible. There was enough variety to make us happy, though, the 2 times we went to eat or get a snack.

My only "complaint" (and this isn't exactly a resort complaint), is the fact that at almost every major park, the CBR bus stop was soooo far away from the entrance/exit to the parks. I wish they mixed it up a little more; you'd think that the parks would mix it up a bit... maybe put it toward the front at one, towards the end @ another, etc. But... it wasn't terrible. Just wish it was more evened out.

Can't wait to go back in September 2011!

~Kelly

 

[jaymez428]

I will be going this january! Have stayed at POR, Pop!, Wilderness Lodge and All Star Music before and am hoping that CBR is just as fun as the others. Any recent photos from your trips?

 

[KellyNY]

My only "complaint" (and this isn't exactly a resort complaint), is the fact that at almost every major park, the CBR bus stop was soooo far away from the entrance/exit to the parks. I wish they mixed it up a little more; you'd think that the parks would mix it up a bit... maybe put it toward the front at one, towards the end @ another, etc. But... it wasn't terrible. Just wish it was more evened out.

Yes, we noticed too. CBR is always a far away stop. I understand that deluxes are closer stops but some values stops were closer then CBR, strange.

 

[Crazy Kanga]

Good morning!
This time tomorrow I will be on my way to CBR! Yay!!! I will be sure to take some pics and post a mini review when I get back!

 

[jeanylaser]

thanks! I really wanted to stay in CBR for Dec 2010! I hope the CBR has wheelchair excess?

 

[yankeefan46]

Hi CBR experts! We are going to be staying at CBR from December 3rd - December 12th. I've stayed at CBR once, a weekend trip about six years ago. My question is about the pool bar. We are going with a large group, and while the kids swim the adults like to grab some drinks and appetizers and just relax. Our last Grand Gathering we stayed at CSR and Siesta's pool bar was AWESOME! Can anyone tell me about CBR's pool bar? I've tried looking for info and a menu online, but can't find much of anything. I there a soda/powerade dispenser for refillable mugs at the bar? What kind of food do they offer? Thanks for any and all information!!!

 

[chrissyb2411]

Can anyone compare CBR to POR, specifically the busses and the walking? We stayed at POR 3 years ago in febuary. I don't remember what building we were in, I remember it was the mansions, and we were pretty much smack in the middle of the 2 bridges. I never thought the walk was terrible (except on checkout day when we were lugging too many suitcases and a cranky 2yo at 3 am ) And the busses were terrific! We never really waited, and we had a bus stop behind the building we were in, or could walk to the front to catch the main bus stop. The room was clean enough, though definatly had an old/ dirty feel to it, and some mold in the bathroom.

We are staying at CBR dec 11-18. I am not so much worried about the walking to the pools and the food court, 10 minutes is nothing to me. I would like to be somewhere close to a bus stop, so we are not lugging tired kids back every day. And in one of the more recently renevated rooms.

So, is cbr going to live up to POR in terms of bus service? And which building do I want to be in if my biggest concern is a good, close bus stop, and a newer room? I have been paging through these threads, and looking at maps, and it just makes me more confused, lol.

 

[CTPacky]

Sorry to report that the Banana Cabana, (pool bar) has no food except chips. You can not fill mugs there either. The good news is that it is located right outside the food court, so getting food and refills won't be much of a problem.

 

[utkscvol1]

So our neighbors left this am for CBR! Can't wait to see their pics! Maybe that will pacify me until we go!

 

[jeanylaser]

yeah me too!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Can anyone compare CBR to POR, specifically the busses and the walking? We stayed at POR 3 years ago in febuary. I don't remember what building we were in, I remember it was the mansions, and we were pretty much smack in the middle of the 2 bridges. I never thought the walk was terrible (except on checkout day when we were lugging too many suitcases and a cranky 2yo at 3 am ) And the busses were terrific! We never really waited, and we had a bus stop behind the building we were in, or could walk to the front to catch the main bus stop. The room was clean enough, though definatly had an old/ dirty feel to it, and some mold in the bathroom.

We are staying at CBR dec 11-18. I am not so much worried about the walking to the pools and the food court, 10 minutes is nothing to me. I would like to be somewhere close to a bus stop, so we are not lugging tired kids back every day. And in one of the more recently renevated rooms.

So, is cbr going to live up to POR in terms of bus service? And which building do I want to be in if my biggest concern is a good, close bus stop, and a newer room? I have been paging through these threads, and looking at maps, and it just makes me more confused, lol.

We have stayed at both and love both! Bus service was good at both, but overall a bit better at CBR. Here are the links to my reviews of both, telling all about the walks, the buses, etc.
CBR http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2074555
POR http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2333071

There is a bus stop in each village at CBR, so you are always close to at least one, if not two!

 

[jeanylaser]

thanks for the info! I think that CBR is perfect hotel for the Sanchez Family for Dec 2010!

 

[mcd2745]

Can anyone compare CBR to POR, specifically the busses and the walking? We stayed at POR 3 years ago in febuary. I don't remember what building we were in, I remember it was the mansions, and we were pretty much smack in the middle of the 2 bridges. I never thought the walk was terrible (except on checkout day when we were lugging too many suitcases and a cranky 2yo at 3 am ) And the busses were terrific! We never really waited, and we had a bus stop behind the building we were in, or could walk to the front to catch the main bus stop. The room was clean enough, though definatly had an old/ dirty feel to it, and some mold in the bathroom.

We are staying at CBR dec 11-18. I am not so much worried about the walking to the pools and the food court, 10 minutes is nothing to me. I would like to be somewhere close to a bus stop, so we are not lugging tired kids back every day. And in one of the more recently renevated rooms.

So, is cbr going to live up to POR in terms of bus service? And which building do I want to be in if my biggest concern is a good, close bus stop, and a newer room? I have been paging through these threads, and looking at maps, and it just makes me more confused, lol.

You can always put in a request to be close to bus stop. But most rooms are probably 3-4 minutes at the most from a bus stop.

 

[jeanylaser]

thanks for the good info!

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Where do you get a taxi from at CBR? Old Port Royal or the Custom House? We want to get one the last day of our stay to go to an early breakfast. We didn't want to waste time on the bus. Also, on our last day, if we decide to swim for a while, can we take the bus that goes around the resort from the pool area to get to the Custom House to get the Magical Express bus? Thanks!!