Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ Part 3

[septbaby]

I am planning my February 2009 trip, it will be my first stay at CBR. I saw that there are standard view rooms, and rooms with better views that you have to pay for. Are the standard view rooms parking lot view rooms, or are the standard view rooms a little better than that? Thanks!

Are there views at CBR? The only view we had were of each other, the TV and the inside of our eyelids. When we wanted a view of CBR we opened the door and went for a walk. I don't think the view has the same impact as it would at say WL or AKL. You'll want to be out in the beauty of CBR, not peering down on it. You may have to be there to believe understand what I mean.

 

[hmillerbarilla]

We are doing the DCL Land and Sea vacation next week. We will be staying at CBR for 3 nights. I have a few questions:

1. Is the construction jst in certain areas or is it obvious throughout the whole resort?

2. Since we booked through DCL, is it just random as to which area we will be in? I'm guessing we don't get to pick but I just wanted to check.

The construction is just around the main pool. Safetymom has some great pics on the first post in this thread.

I'm sure you can make a request for a village or view when you're checking in. I've sometimes made my requests this late and been happy with the result. It doesn't hurt to ask!

 

[safetymom]

The only construction is by the pool. If you look at the pictures you can see where they are working.

 

[Me2Me]

Hi -

I've looked at the updated resort map at http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/CBMapFront.pdf

Could someone please clarify for me where the smoking area is? (I'm trying to avoid it.)

I'm looking at Jamaica 45 - is the smoking area right in the middle of the courtyard? Should I try to avoid the Jamaica 45 courtyard view if I don't want smoke?

me2me

 

[alan]

A very quick question - do the rooms at CBR have balconies?

regards,
/alan

 

[safetymom]

No. The doors open to the outside.

 

[budbeerlady]

Is there a suggested pool opening date beyond the generic september? I was really hoping it would be done when we go. DD will be good with any pool that is wet but I am really curious and want to see it.

 

[safetymom]

They have been saying Sep. 15, 2008 since the beginning. Keep checking the first post of this thread for updates.

 

[budbeerlady]

They have been saying Sep. 15, 2008 since the beginning. Keep checking the first post of this thread for updates.

Thanks!!!!! I was hoping maybe for the 1st of September.....

 

[Me2Me]

Hi -

I've looked at the updated resort map at http://www.wdwinfo.com/maps/CBMapFront.pdf

Could someone please clarify for me where the smoking area is? (I'm trying to avoid it.)

I'm looking at Jamaica 45 - is the smoking area right in the middle of the courtyard? Should I try to avoid the Jamaica 45 courtyard view if I don't want smoke?

me2me

can anyone help me out with this one? I have 2 in our party that don't do very well with smoke.

 

[camdensmom]

can anyone help me out with this one? I have 2 in our party that don't do very well with smoke.

We just returned yesterday from our stay at CBR. I'll do a full review soon. However, I felt I could best answer your question since we did in fact stay in Jamaica 45.

I didn't notice anyone smoking anywhere near the building. The rooms are separated from the courtyard by landscaping and a railing/walkway. Since there are no balconies and the windows don't open I wouldn't think smoke would be an issue.

My only complaint about the smoke was that you had to walk through the smoking area near the bar/fountain to get to the food court and there were ALWAYS people smoking out there.

The Jamaica buildings were a superb location and I would highly recommend them!

 

[duckyislost]

Hi,

I asked this stuff on another CBR thread, but never got an answer so I thought I'd bring it here to the experts.

On the Vacation planning DVD there is a shot of CBR with Spaceship earth behind one of the pink or purple buildings. Is it possible to take such a photo at CBR or is this a perspective they were only able to acheive with a helicopter?

I've heard you can see the Illuminations fireworks from CBR. Where is the best place to view and over which village do you see them?

Thanks! We can't wait to visit CBR in Sept. ! ~ducky

PS. Camdensmom - GO RED SOX! (sorry you didn't get to see a win - bummer!)

 

[jkjjhuddle]

OK.. question.

I am really stressing over my ressie at CBR and considered changing.

I have two boys ages 5 and 9, DH and myself.

We have only stayed on property at POFQ and that was just me and DH in 2005

We wanted to try something different and now I am scared I made the wrong decision.

DS5 has asthma -not over serious, but he does take medication each morning and will not take it with water. I would like to be near the food court so that is not a problem. We will have refillable mugs. We have paid for preferred rooms. So is there a certain building I should request?

My concern is the size of this resort and I have read some pretty bad review lately. Now, I realize that you will get good, bad and ugly reviews here.. everyone has a different opinion. I just need someone to tell us we will be fine here. LOL.. I know.. I worry way too much!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi,

I asked this stuff on another CBR thread, but never got an answer so I thought I'd bring it here to the experts.

On the Vacation planning DVD there is a shot of CBR with Spaceship earth behind one of the pink or purple buildings. Is it possible to take such a photo at CBR or is this a perspective they were only able to acheive with a helicopter?

I've heard you can see the Illuminations fireworks from CBR. Where is the best place to view and over which village do you see them?

Thanks! We can't wait to visit CBR in Sept. ! ~ducky

PS. Camdensmom - GO RED SOX! (sorry you didn't get to see a win - bummer!)

You can see the top of Spaceship Earth from some areas of the CBR. (You can also see part of Pop Century, the bowling pins, from parts of CBR.). We have watched some of the Epcot fireworks from the Martinique and Jamaica beaches. You can see them pretty well from just outside Old Port Royale.

 

[mickeystoontown]

OK.. question.

I am really stressing over my ressie at CBR and considered changing.

I have two boys ages 5 and 9, DH and myself.

We have only stayed on property at POFQ and that was just me and DH in 2005

We wanted to try something different and now I am scared I made the wrong decision.

DS5 has asthma -not over serious, but he does take medication each morning and will not take it with water. I would like to be near the food court so that is not a problem. We will have refillable mugs. We have paid for preferred rooms. So is there a certain building I should request?

My concern is the size of this resort and I have read some pretty bad review lately. Now, I realize that you will get good, bad and ugly reviews here.. everyone has a different opinion. I just need someone to tell us we will be fine here. LOL.. I know.. I worry way too much!

The preferred areas are quite close to Old Port Royale so you won't be too far from the food court no matter where you are in the preferred location area. Also, don't forget that your room has a complimentary refrigerator. There are lots of different drinks available in the food court....sodas, juices and juice boxes, milk, etc. You could always buy a few of those and put those in the refrigerator.

 

[hmillerbarilla]

OK.. question.

I am really stressing over my ressie at CBR and considered changing.

I have two boys ages 5 and 9, DH and myself.

We have only stayed on property at POFQ and that was just me and DH in 2005

We wanted to try something different and now I am scared I made the wrong decision.

DS5 has asthma -not over serious, but he does take medication each morning and will not take it with water. I would like to be near the food court so that is not a problem. We will have refillable mugs. We have paid for preferred rooms. So is there a certain building I should request?

My concern is the size of this resort and I have read some pretty bad review lately. Now, I realize that you will get good, bad and ugly reviews here.. everyone has a different opinion. I just need someone to tell us we will be fine here. LOL.. I know.. I worry way too much!

Please stop stressing! CBR is fantastic. The preferred rooms are close to the main shops & food and the resort is just beautiful. It isn't too much walking. You will all love it! We have been many, many times and have never had a bad experience.

I've also stayed at POFQ and like that as well. I think you will enjoy the CBR. Happy planning!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I guess I should write a little review of my stay at CBR a few weeks ago.

We were there the 11-15.

I really didn't care where the room was located bc I had a car.


We ended up in Trinidad South on the first floor. I would have rather had the 2nd floor but it was better when I had to carry my bags in since I wasn't flying on DME. We were facing the lake and pool which was a nice view.

The room was much larger than I thought it would be. We normally stay at a deluxe that has either bunk beds or a day bed bc of my growing 21 yr old brother, myself, mom, and dad. Since this trip was myself and parents, a larger room was not required.

The pool situation, basically I heard that when the main pool is open, the smaller pools are like "adult" quiet pools, they were far from quiet bc of the big pool being closed. I work with kids on a daily basis but I really think they needed guards at the pools. Kids were running all over the pool area on the deck w/o any parents around at all! They were splashed non stop in the pool and fighting and wow, I was shocked that parents who were there were letting their kids act like that. I was so scared that kids runnng and jumping into the pool would get hurt or worse

I have been to pools in all three categories of hotels, and i have never seen kids act that way with lifeguards around so I guess it does make a huge difference to have them.
Needless to say, we stayed clear of the pool during the day.

The port royale, we were impressed with the amount of food. We ate there every morning for breakfast and one night for dinner. We liked the quality and there was not a huge long wait to check out or to get the food. We thought there was plenty of seating even for busy times. We quickly learned that if you go very early or towards the end of breakfast time, its less busy. The gift shop was very nice and we bought some things as well. We did not buy anything from the bar outside but would have had the main pool been open.

my dad walked to port royale from our room twice and it took him about 10 minutes. we never took the internal bus bc we had a car. this trip we didn't go to the parks so I can't comment on how the buses were but with such a huge resort, I'm sure there are plenty and run often.

Check-in was easy and quick and DME arrived on time to pick up my parents when they flew home.

..overall..we all agreed we love our delxue hotels for the family of 4 and CBR was nice but we'll try and stay at POfq which we used to stay at when I was a child or try CSR bc we've never stayed there before. The room at CBR was huge and we liked that but we all agreed we'd never stay there unless we had a car or were in a building near the food/main pool.

 

[duckyislost]

You can see the top of Spaceship Earth from some areas of the CBR. (You can also see part of Pop Century, the bowling pins, from parts of CBR.). We have watched some of the Epcot fireworks from the Martinique and Jamaica beaches. You can see them pretty well from just outside Old Port Royale.

Thanks!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Thanks for the review TBL7...I'm planning on requesting Trinidad South 1st floor myself (we will have a car)...can you please give us a review of the room itself...was it clean? how was mousekeeping? was everything working? did it fell dated compared to say a Marriot room?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[jkjjhuddle]

Please stop stressing! CBR is fantastic. The preferred rooms are close to the main shops & food and the resort is just beautiful. It isn't too much walking. You will all love it! We have been many, many times and have never had a bad experience.

I've also stayed at POFQ and like that as well. I think you will enjoy the CBR. Happy planning!

Thanks!

CBR with the new pool will be nice for the boys. DH says that we will be happy no matter where we are and I think he is right. I just second guess everything wanting to make sure I get what is best for my family within my budget!

mickeystoontown, thanks for the reminder about the fridge.. I had totally forgotten about that as well!