Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ Part 3

[Lovin' Lorne]

We just got back from a seven day stay at the CBR. It was VERY nice. We couldn't believe how quiet it was. We were in the Trinidad North section, second floor, room 3356. It was an inside view, over looking several little pathways. There were a ton of cheerleaders staying there at the same time, and they were all over in Jamaica, which was across the lake from us. They seemed on the whole like a very well behaved group of young ladies. The second to last night we were there, a huge group of Hispanic teens hit, and all I could think of was the dreaded "Brazilian Tourists". But if they were, they were also very well behaved, both at the resort and as they made their way through the MK the next day.

The front desk staff was very helpful. We had a lovely lady check us in and she was very efficent. She was actually from the concereige staff, so we were able to get a lot of stuff booked with her right then and there, as opposed to needing to go back to visit them later. The maid did a great job keeping us supplied with towels and towel animals, as well as organizing our toiletries on the bathroom counter! The only complaint I had was the food court. It seemed horribly disorganized and compared to the others, seemed to have a very poor selection of food. In fact, we ate very few meals there because it just wasn't worth the hassle. The wait times were ridiculous, even when the place was empty, (which it was a lot), and the people at the counters must have all been new hires. Not that there's anything wrong with being new, but they also must have received zero training. They also didn't have any ice cream, except for a little soft serve machine shoved in a corner. Now maybe ice cream isn't important to everyone, but it sure is to us! Every other resort we visited had an ice cream station in their food court, so I wonder what happened here.

All in all, I'd stay there again, but hubby was really turned off by the FC. Enough so that he's not sure he'd stay there again unless he got a good deal on the $$$.

 

[freemore]

I had to laugh when you mentioned the cheerleaders : ) We could hear them across the lake also and they sure can yell loud. We were glad they only cheered for a little while, and very glad they weren't staying at our village. DH said his encounters with the food court workers was not impressive. He thought maybe they were new because they didn't seem to know what they were doing. One night at the Broiler they ran out of 4 of the 5 items they offerred and didn't know enough to restock or tell someone to restock. This was on our last night and we didn't have that problem before. He did find some ice cream Mickey Ears though. there was a long line of people at check in also but they were training people and there was a supervisor standing behind each of the persons checking people in so I assumed that was the case there, but we only had to wait maybe 15 minutes or so. There was a man in front of us who was very beligerant and yelling at the staff and insisting that they get more help there. I couldn't help but smile about that knowing that was the first line he would be in at Disney and he wasn't going to have a very good time with his attitude : ) I saw him later and he was grumping about it and I told him "you have to go with the flow." We really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere at CBR and was pleasantly surprised by everything and it is very beautiful there.

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

I'm glad to hear we weren't the only one who had a problem with the food court. We were starting to think it was just us!

The place where we had the most problems was at the deli section, right before you got to Shutters. They were so s l o w. I don't know if they were under staffed or what. Maybe they were too hung up on making everything to order? Great when you're a sit down, but not so great when you're not. Would it have killed them to have had maybe 5 Turkey BLT's waiting at a time? Oh and I agree with your hubby about the Broiler. I was waiting in line for a hot dog. I must have stood there for 10 minutes and the line never moved. Hubby came back to meet me with his meatball sub, and his line had been longer than my mine. That's when I moved over to the deli, which had the shortest line of all. By the time I got my stuff, his sub was cold. And it was steaming when he first joined me!

 

[Gymbomom]

We have booked CBR 9/18-9/28. We have convinced our friends who usually stay value to bump up to a mod. My only "fear" is that the pool will not be done by the 15th. Although it seems that Disney is very cautious about their dates and it always seems they are done before they think they will be. But, I know rain can make a difference in building outside.

What do ya'll think, keep it and take our chances that it will open on time? Or, should we book another resort?

**I will add that swimming is important to us. We always go in Dec/Jan. this will be the first time it will be great weather for us to swim.

 

[safetymom]

I would book the resort. Just keep checking the first post of this thread for updates. You will know in plenty of time if there are delays.

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Ditto. CBR is fantastic.

Ditto Ditto Double your Ditto. We love CBR and that's after staying at BC, Poly and POR. It's all relative to your expectations and attitude. Tip well and smile.

 

[mallons]

thanks for pictures of the slide we were wondering what they were going to do,, our son loved the slide last year...

 

[mksc3400]

I also am laughing about the comments regarding the cheerleaders! We just returned from a week staying at the CBR and we kept joking about the invasion of the cheerleaders. On Friday and Saturday afternoon they were practicing outside and boy they can yell really loud. They weren't staying in our section of the resort - we were in Martinique Bldg 2241 but their voices really carried over that lake! Good Grief, we were thankful that we couldn't hear them inside our room since my kids were napping. But I will say that while we had limited interaction with the cheerleaders, they were very well behaved and polite.

We did stay away from the food court since as the previous posts mentioned the service was so slow and the workers seem disorganized and confused. We had one lunch there when we first arrived and didn't feel the need to return again other than filling up our drink mugs. We ate most of our meals in the parks since my kids really were interested in doing all the character meals.

We had a rental car so I can't really comment too much on the bus service but it seemed like everytime we were getting into our car to drive to a park, we would see a bus picking up guests at the bus stop to go to that same park. It became a running joke with my husband and I that we really could have just left the car parked in the lot since a bus was always there. We enjoyed the flexability of having a rental car since we had meals planned at other resorts but from our observations the buses seemed to run very frequently.

 

[mksc3400]

I know it's a long way to my trip in Dec., but I was just reading some negative comments about CBR.

SafetyMom, (or anyone else for that matter) I know that you rave about this hotel, but have you ever encountered a room here with dirty sheets, shower, carpet or bedspreads? Rude people in the food court or CM's at the front desk?

I'm not very picky, I mean, I'll stay at a Motel 6 for one night if I have to, but that's usually at the rate of $60 or less.

I know that maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I don't want to show up at CBR a few days before Christmas to find a dirty bed. This Christmas is supposed to be special b/c we're spending it at Disney.

Can you calm my fears?

We just returned from a 5 night stay at the CBR - it was our first stay at this resort. I was very apprehensive going into the trip because I had read scathing reviews online about the CBR - everything from filty rooms to people catching head lice. I actually tried to change our reservation to a Deluxe because I was so freaked out. Well I had no reason to worry - I was very pleased with the condition of our room at CBR. Clean sheets, clean bathroom and no bed bugs. I actually did a check of both mattresses before I would let my family or any luggage come into the room because I was being such a worry wart. The mousekeeping came every day and definitely wiped down the bathrooms and swept the floors. And while the room itself had a bit of dated decor and the curtains and bedspreads definitely need to be replaced, it was perfectly fine and I was pleasantly surprised.

We stayed in the Martinique - Bldg 22. We were in 2241 which was a corner room that looked out over the beach/lake as well as the quiet Martinique pool. It was a very quick walk to the food court to get drinks, snacks, etc.. I wouldn't recommend the food court for too many meals unless they overhaul their food court system. The lines moved very slowly and the workers seemed confused and a bit disorganized. However seating was plentiful - both outside and inside.

The check in process was quick and smooth and the staff was very friendly and helpful. In fact everyone we met who worked at the resort was happy, polite and friendly.

We rented a car so I can't comment too much on the bus system. We had lots of reservations for meals at other resorts at it seemed easier to be able to drive directly to the resorts as opposed to trying to navigate the bus system. However we did observe tons of buses traveling around the resort.

While I think we are going to try one of the monorail resorts for our next trip, I would not have a problem recommending the CBR to any of my friends or family members.

Have a great vacation!

 

[stephensmum]

Thanks for your report. We are staying at the CBR in August, did the main pool being out of use cause you any problems & is there a bar lounge at CBR.

 

[Lovin' Lorne]

Thanks for your report. We are staying at the CBR in August, did the main pool being out of use cause you any problems & is there a bar lounge at CBR.

It didn't cause us any problems. Of course we're not pool people, so that might have had something to do with it. All the new pool would have meant to us was more pictures! As far as the construction goes, we were there for 7days and I honestly can say that I don't ever recall seeing ANY construction activity at all. Either they weren't working on it at the time, or they are very quite while doing it. My guess is for the latter. I'm sure they do the majority of the work between 10 and 6, while most people are out and about so they don't cause too much disruption.

They do have a pool-side bar, and it was up and running. I honestly don't remember if there was an inside bar and lounge like they have at POR though. Maybe someone else can help you out with that one.

 

[mksc3400]

I only remember seeing the outside bar area. I don't believe that there was an inside lounge/bar. On Sunday night there were people sitting outside at the bar and eating at the tables. There was a band playing as well - I can't remember the name of the singer but he performed lots of familiar songs. While I was walking through, he was singing Jimmy Buffett, Neil Young, James Taylor, REM, etc..

You can also buy beer and wine at the grab & go market and the gift shop at the resort. However it is pretty expensive. A six pack of domestic beer (cans) was about $13.50. We did buy a bottle of Kendall Jackson for about $18.50 which wasn't awful but cleary still marked up.

There were lots of people swimming in the pools last week as the weather was really terrific. Our room was right outside of the Martinique pool and while lots of kids were swimming, it was never crowded and never noisy. My kids are little and still nap in the afternoon so I was a little concerned about the pool getting too loud but it was never a problem. Thankfully the invasion of cheerleaders seemed to be congregating at other pools which were further away from our area. There were no slides or amenities at the pool but I understand that some of the other village pools had kiddie slides installed during the rehab of the main pool.

 

[safetymom]

Banana Cabana is the outside bar.

 

[lilyv]

Been working on spending a couple of days with DD, at first offsite was going to be the option....but with a code we're going to CBR!!

I booked preferred location due to reading the CBR threads.

She's so excited. Safetymom-your information is great-love all the pictures from you and others! Such a help!!!

 

[safetymom]

I am glad to hear you find this thread useful.

 

[jkjjhuddle]

I am getting ready to book.. and we are pretty sure this is where we want to be for our trip at the end of October.

I would really like a nice view with a decent place within the resort. I will have my 2 boys 5 and 9.

I stayed at POFQ in 05 and had a view of the parking lot.

so what do you recomend as far as buidings??

 

[mickeystoontown]

If you don't want to pay for a preferred room, I would suggest you request a courtyard view.


Here was our view from our room in one of the Martinique buildings:

 

[jkjjhuddle]

beautiful view....

 

[snomofinn]

Safetymom, I was wondering if you've been to CBR lately? Iam wondering how the construction is going. We'll be there in 3 weeks.

 

[auroraarielella]

Slides have been installed at Jamaica and Barbados pools. Lifeguards will be on duty.This will be while the main pool is closed.

We just checked out on Tuesday, 2/19, and were in Aruba 51 and the slide was NOT at Jamaica when my children were swimming on Monday 2/18 in the evening. Did they put it in right after I left? Just my luck!

They had a lifeguard chair in Jamaica that was never manned, to my knowledge.