Caribbean Beach FAQ part V

[dansdad]

2. Is there free WiFi now in the rooms?

Yes there is.

3. Does the pool still close at 10pm?

When we were there in October, the main pool/hot tubs were open 24 hours. The lifeguards went off duty at 8PM so they closed the slides and the little tyke splash area then.

Sorry, we have never stayed in a preferred location so can't answer #1. However, we love Jamaica 45 if you don't want to pay for preferred.

 

[dansdad]

how far of a walk is it to OPR? from there? I am considering this resort and want to be super close to OPR. I like the looks of where Jamaica 45 (51 looks good too) is with the water and bridge, etc. vs. staying in one of the preferred buildings....... but what are the chances I would get the building I requested?

We have stayed in Jamaica 45 and it took me 4-5 minutes to get from our room to the food court in OPR. And that is walking at a leisurely pace taking everything in because it is a lovely walk.


I called the general reservation line 5-6 days prior to our arrival and gave them my 2 requests, Jamaica 45 and 2nd floor. When we got there, both were met.

 

[KTJAY]

We have stayed in Jamaica 45 and it took me 4-5 minutes to get from our room to the food court in OPR. And that is walking at a leisurely pace taking everything in because it is a lovely walk.


I called the general reservation line 5-6 days prior to our arrival and gave them my 2 requests, Jamaica 45 and 2nd floor. When we got there, both were met.

Hi-I'm considering requesting either Jamaica 45 or Martinique 22. Just wondering how the buses ran from Jamaica~did they go all the way around and then out? Or just Jamaica and Aruba and out sometimes?

 

[dansdad]

Hi-I'm considering requesting either Jamaica 45 or Martinique 22. Just wondering how the buses ran from Jamaica~did they go all the way around and then out? Or just Jamaica and Aruba and out sometimes?

It all depends on which park they are coming from/going to. The buses use 2 entrances. One of them, Jamaica is the first stop. The other one, Jamaica is right in the middle.


Really though, it is not an issue. People tend to act like the bus making a couple stops adds hours to the commute to the parks. When we were picked up first, we were leaving CBR in under 10 minutes. I know because I timed it one day. I was expecting something like 20 minutes or so because of the amount of complaints I saw here about the multiple bus stops in CBR.

 

[KTJAY]

It all depends on which park they are coming from/going to. The buses use 2 entrances. One of them, Jamaica is the first stop. The other one, Jamaica is right in the middle.


Really though, it is not an issue. People tend to act like the bus making a couple stops adds hours to the commute to the parks. When we were picked up first, we were leaving CBR in under 10 minutes. I know because I timed it one day. I was expecting something like 20 minutes or so because of the amount of complaints I saw here about the multiple bus stops in CBR.

Thanks for the info!! We were in Trinidad North in 2010 and loved it!! Going again in August but not staying preferred and I'm thinking we'll really like being across the lagoon in Jamaica or Aruba

 

[dansdad]

Thanks for the info!! We were in Trinidad North in 2010 and loved it!! Going again in August but not staying preferred and I'm thinking we'll really like being across the lagoon in Jamaica or Aruba

You're welcome. I really enjoyed the walk over the bridge to OPR as the sun was coming up! It is really beautiful. I would get up and out first and bring back breakfast for my wife and son every morning. She was thinking it was a burden for me, but I actually looked forward to it every morning!

Some shots from the bridge.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Some shots from the bridge.

Those are absolutely gorgeous!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

So I'll be by myself at CBR and I'll have a car. I will be totally fine with walking anywhere so I am not concerned about what building I am put in. But I would like a King sized bed (a request of course!). Does anyone know where the king sized bed rooms are or how many there are? Just wondering if my chances are any good at getting one.

And I've read differing reports of the wifi... I would prefer free wifi in my room but can pay. Is it available at all in the rooms? Wired internet access is fine as well! How about by the pool or food court?

Thank you!

 

[billlaurie]

A few questions for the experts:

1. What's your favorite preferred building?

2. Is there free WiFi now in the rooms?

3. Does the pool still close at 10pm?

We were there 3 weeks ago. There was WiFi in the rooms, though it cut out constantly, but it did give us enough time to check email or weather. The awesome pool was open 24 hours but the slides closed at 10. We asked for Jamaica 45 but did not get it. There was a large group of cheerleaders in Jamaica and Aruba, especially in the buildings closest to the main path. We were put in Jamaica 41 but asked to be moved because we were overwhelmed by the volume of cheerleaders and the noise. We were moved to Martinique 21, which was much quieter but we were disappointed not to get Jamaica 45. It was a much better location due to its proximity to OPR and the view. Though we were happy in Martinique 21, I'd ask again for Jamaica 45 and hope for no large groups! As far as a nonpreferred building in Martinique, I'd ask for 22, its right off the main path.

 

[dansdad]

So I'll be by myself at CBR and I'll have a car. I will be totally fine with walking anywhere so I am not concerned about what building I am put in. But I would like a King sized bed (a request of course!). Does anyone know where the king sized bed rooms are or how many there are? Just wondering if my chances are any good at getting one.

And I've read differing reports of the wifi... I would prefer free wifi in my room but can pay. Is it available at all in the rooms? Wired internet access is fine as well! How about by the pool or food court?

Thank you!

There are rooms with King Size beds in every building and in every village. They are "usually" the corner rooms. A room with a King bed is a Room Type and costs extra, just like a preferred location room. So it would take some pixie dust and you would get upgraded to a King.


The rooms, out at the pool and inside OPR has free WiFi. Neighbors of ours just got back from a stay at CBR, in Jamaica and they had a very good signal strength in their room and the common areas.

 

[safetymom]

A king bed is a bookable category at CBR. They aren't always corner rooms.

 

[billlaurie]

It all depends on which park they are coming from/going to. The buses use 2 entrances. One of them, Jamaica is the first stop. The other one, Jamaica is right in the middle.


Really though, it is not an issue. People tend to act like the bus making a couple stops adds hours to the commute to the parks. When we were picked up first, we were leaving CBR in under 10 minutes. I know because I timed it one day. I was expecting something like 20 minutes or so because of the amount of complaints I saw here about the multiple bus stops in CBR.

Agreed! I was worried about the length of time on the bus after initially reading this thread but it really wasn't an issue at all. We were in Martinique and always seemed to be one of the first stops, but it never took longer than 10 minutes to make the rest of the route.

 

[KTJAY]

You're welcome. I really enjoyed the walk over the bridge to OPR as the sun was coming up! It is really beautiful. I would get up and out first and bring back breakfast for my wife and son every morning. She was thinking it was a burden for me, but I actually looked forward to it every morning!

Some shots from the bridge.

Thanks so much for sharing your photos~they are gorgeous!! Definitely requesting Jamaica!! And if we don't end up there~ going for some photo ops
on the bridge!!

 

[imktdqt810]

DS will be 7...so he's not a baby. But I have a set of monitors I still use at the house from time to time when he is sick. I have paid for a perferred room and am hoping to get a room facing the beach/water. DS goes to bed early..so if DH and I want to go sit on a hammack will a baby monitor work? I'm not talking about going to the pool, or going to get drinks...more like some quiet adult time out of the room to chill on the beach. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

DS will be 7...so he's not a baby. But I have a set of monitors I still use at the house from time to time when he is sick. I have paid for a perferred room and am hoping to get a room facing the beach/water. DS goes to bed early..so if DH and I want to go sit on a hammack will a baby monitor work? I'm not talking about going to the pool, or going to get drinks...more like some quiet adult time out of the room to chill on the beach. Thanks for letting me know.

I'm not sure about the distance from the room to the beach. What if you don't get a beach view, and you get say a parking lot view, then I'm pretty sure it wouldn't. It might but I'd be prepared just incase it doesn't work so well.

 

[dansdad]

DS will be 7...so he's not a baby. But I have a set of monitors I still use at the house from time to time when he is sick. I have paid for a perferred room and am hoping to get a room facing the beach/water. DS goes to bed early..so if DH and I want to go sit on a hammack will a baby monitor work? I'm not talking about going to the pool, or going to get drinks...more like some quiet adult time out of the room to chill on the beach. Thanks for letting me know.

There are only a couple of room locations that I feel would be close enough to the beach for the monitor to work. Check out the map and you will see what I mean. Unless your monitor has good range.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/resortmaps/cbrmap.htm

 

[dansdad]

That's so much for sharing your photos~they are gorgeous!! Definitely requesting Jamaica!! And if we don't end up there~ going for some photo ops
on the bridge!!

You're welcome. It is a great photo op spot.

It was so cool when we were there, I wanted a picture of the family standing on the bridge. My wife and I were discussing who would go stand on the bridge with our son first and then switch it up. A CM from bell services was pushing a fully loaded cart of luggage and overheard our discussion. He stopped his cart, which had some good momentum, and offered to take our picture so all 3 of us could be on the bridge in the picture.

I know there are awesome CMs throughout all the resorts, but that is the kind of service we had for our entire stay at CBR.

 

[mgdisney]

dansdad - Gorgeous photos!!! Were headed down to WDW in 50 days to enjoy are first stay at this resort, and I can't wait to enjoy this view for myself!! Thanks for sharing your photos!

Glad you managed to get a pic with all your family!

 

[dansdad]

dansdad - Gorgeous photos!!! Were headed down to WDW in 50 days to enjoy are first stay at this resort, and I can't wait to enjoy this view for myself!! Thanks for sharing your photos!

Glad you managed to get a pic with all your family!

Thanks. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. I have some more pics in my mini review post here.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2826622

The pics start on page 2.

I wish we could go "home" this year, but alas 2013 it is.

 

[Lidian]

Just back from CBR, will try to do a better review later (with pictures), but wanted to comment:

We were in Aruba 51. The walk wasn't bad to OPR (out the building and across the bridge!), but we did feel the bus stop was further than we wished. However, the walk wasn't bad (and some days, the run ). We even looked to see if the Jamaica stop was closer (it wasn't).

We had good-strength WiFi in our room and at the pool. That said, I never had an issue connecting on my laptop, nor did DH have an issue with his iPhone 4. However, I never got it to connect on my iPhone 4S. It would recognize there was WiFi, but the "Terms" prompt would never pop up for my iPhone (and yes, I did everything I could to trouble-shoot the issue from my end, and I recognize this was an issue with MY phone and not common). After a few days of trying, I gave up and turned WiFi off.

For the most part, the bus waits weren't bad, some did hit the 25 minute mark -- but we were told at check-in buses run every 25 minutes (versus previous years statements of 20 minutes). Once on board, it really wasn't long until we were off to the park, regardless of which entrance the driver came through. The worst was when multiple buses were running at the same time (for various parks) and we'd have to wait on the street for 1-3 buses ahead of ours to hit the stop before we could pull in. The one day we encountered this, it was a long time from arriving to the stop until we arrived at the park ... but it was NOT normal and was still better than driving ourselves so we could relax at the end of the day. Most days, the buses were spread out, so we didn't have this issue.