Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ Part 3

[cwojchik]

There are general public magic your way discount going on right now for Sept 27-Dec (not sure on the exact end date). If you go to the discount section of this website, you will see it listed in red.

 

[who me?]

There are general public magic your way discount going on right now for Sept 27-Dec (not sure on the exact end date). If you go to the discount section of this website, you will see it listed in red.

thank you. so can I still book with Disney directly ?

 

[LuvsTinker]

We are going to be arriving at CBR around noon in Sept. with a preferred room and wondered what everyone's experience has been with early check-in.
Were you able to get a room before 3 p.m.?

We always arrive in the morning, and more times than not our room has been ready. There were a few times when it wasn't and we just headed into the parks and called the front desk later on to check on it.

 

[DJ Disney Kid]

thank you. so can I still book with Disney directly ?

Yes, just call up Disney today and tell them you'd like to apply a code to your reservation. Just make sure you have the right code. If you booked a package with room and park tickets, you will use the code for that. Some codes are for people who just book a room only and nothing else. Just match up the code with the type of reservation you made and give it to them. They will check and see if there is any availability left for that code and then apply it to your reservation ( if your resort is part of the offer, not every resort counts towards the codes ). You could save $100's of dollars!

 

[who me?]

Yes, just call up Disney today and tell them you'd like to apply a code to your reservation. Just make sure you have the right code. If you booked a package with room and park tickets, you will use the code for that. Some codes are for people who just book a room only and nothing else. Just match up the code with the type of reservation you made and give it to them. They will check and see if there is any availability left for that code and then apply it to your reservation ( if your resort is part of the offer, not every resort counts towards the codes ). You could save $100's of dollars!

Thank you Disney Kid ... I am having trouble, I clicked on 'discounts' and went down to the packages but it is asking for all my info including email address etc as if I am booking with them ... am in in the correct area ?

 

[gardengirlco]

Thank you Disney Kid ... I am having trouble, I clicked on 'discounts' and went down to the packages but it is asking for all my info including email address etc as if I am booking with them ... am in in the correct area ?

Here's a link to the discount info I think you're looking for:

http://www.mousesavers.com/packages.html#fall

You can also go to the special offer page on the Disney World web site in this link and click the "get started" button to try booking and see if the resort you want is available for your dates.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/special/offerDetail?id=FY09FallOfferPage

HTH!

 

[who me?]

thank you gardengirlco and dj disney kid ! I got the code but it was sold out already. I am really bummed out, they said I could try another resort but we have all gotten so excited about CBR I don't think I could break it to anyone that we were changing even if it means saving some $$ ... uggrr. what to do what to do. I am going to stay put and maybe try back in case someone cancels or whatever.

 

[karebear06]

I know this has probably been asked before, but which building should we request for the bus service? Which building is the last pick-up? In what order do they pick up and drop off? Do they change order during the day?

Thanks

 

[kaysmommie]

Does anyone know how the room refurbs are going. Are they completingall of martinique before moving to another secion of the resort. I can book CBR but they only have standard left and I really wanted a nemo room. i would of course have loved to book a preferred room. I wasn't sure how many building were done already and if getting a new room was a possiblity.
Thanks in advance.

 

[safetymom]

There are rooms in Martinique that are refurbished that aren't in preferred buildings.

 

[kaysmommie]

There are rooms in Martinique that are refurbished that aren't in preferred buildings.

Thanks Safetymom! Well maybe I will just take the standard and hope to get a Nemo room. Do you think I have a good chance if I request Martinique or a Nemo room? Maybe by then some other building will be done. We arrrive on October 4th.

 

[declansdad]

I know this has probably been asked before, but which building should we request for the bus service? Which building is the last pick-up? In what order do they pick up and drop off? Do they change order during the day?

Thanks

Depending on which way the bus enters, the first stops will be Jamaica or Martinique. We just got backed and there didn't seemed to be any rhyme or reason to which one you got, luck of the draw I guess. Each bus makes one complete loop before heading back out.

 

[NYPDwife]

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

I'm so excited right now, it's taking everything I have not to jump up and down at work!!! The code worked!!!!!

My original trip was to be 12/22-12/26 with 5-day Park Hopper & Basic Dining for 2 adults and 2 children and it was $2,333.34. Then I called up to add an extra day and that came to $2,668.42. Today I called to apply the code to my trip and it is now.....

$2,310.70!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!! It's cheaper than when I first started!!! I'm so happy, I'm so happy!!!

I wanted to make sure I'd still get CBR and the agent kept telling me he was checking to see if it was still available and I'm telling him "I checked online, it is, it is" and FINALLY it confirmed!! He said it probably took so long b/c Disney didn't want to lose money! LOL

I NEVER thought I'd be able to get some sort of discount for my holiday stay, I'm so, so, so, so happy right now!!

 

[NYPDwife]

thank you gardengirlco and dj disney kid ! I got the code but it was sold out already. I am really bummed out, they said I could try another resort but we have all gotten so excited about CBR I don't think I could break it to anyone that we were changing even if it means saving some $$ ... uggrr. what to do what to do. I am going to stay put and maybe try back in case someone cancels or whatever.

When i checked to see if I could apply it to my package, CBR was still available! Try it online first then speak to the agent. HTH.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

I'm so excited right now, it's taking everything I have not to jump up and down at work!!! The code worked!!!!!

My original trip was to be 12/22-12/26 with 5-day Park Hopper & Basic Dining for 2 adults and 2 children and it was $2,333.34. Then I called up to add an extra day and that came to $2,668.42. Today I called to apply the code to my trip and it is now.....

$2,310.70!!!!!!!!

OMG!!!! It's cheaper than when I first started!!! I'm so happy, I'm so happy!!!

I wanted to make sure I'd still get CBR and the agent kept telling me he was checking to see if it was still available and I'm telling him "I checked online, it is, it is" and FINALLY it confirmed!! He said it probably took so long b/c Disney didn't want to lose money! LOL

I NEVER thought I'd be able to get some sort of discount for my holiday stay, I'm so, so, so, so happy right now!!

Congrats on your discount!! That is awesome!! I am hoping for some sort of discount on my upcoming January stay!!

 

[Sandi]

Hi All:

We just returned from a 5 night stay at CBR. While we had a pleasant stay, CBR is not our resort of choice. Among the moderates, we rank them POFQ, POR, CBR, CSR. Those are just our personal opinions based on our needs and desires.

We asked for Jamaica or Aruba and were placed in Aruba Building 55. The room was nice and clean. The bedspreads and curtains were bright and looked fairly new. Carpet needs to be replaced, but didn't really impact our stay. Our housekeeping was very good for 2 days and mediocre for the rest of our stay -- just made the beds and emptied the trash. Some trash that we put in the bathroom receptable actually was on the floor when we returned one day and I threw it away again. We had a great challenge getting plastic liners for the ice bucket, so I washed the bucket and we used it that way. None of this really affected our enjoyment of the vacation, but it wasn't the work we've come to expect. (We left housekeeping tips each day, except for our check-out day.)

I felt the hike to Old Port Royale was too long to warrant getting refillable mugs. We only went to OPR to get "grab and go" once and to go to package pick up from shopping in the theme parks. The CMs at the gift shop were more concerned about their work schedules than they were about serving customers. Mildly annoying and hadn't found that at any other resort gift shop.

The layout of the resort -- with the Custom House doing registration and being the ME drop off and pick up and OPR being where shopping and food service is located -- is just plain inconvenient. At other moderates, one person can wait in line to check in and another can go get a soda and/or food with ease. Not so at CBR. DD13 and I handled it fine, but I felt bad for those with little kids and old folks.

We also found the transportation to be less than adequate. There were a few mornings where the buses would be completely full from the first few stops and then just race by the other stops. There were times that we waited in excess of 30 minutes at the village stop and also at Hollywood Studios. Of course, there were several times we lucked out with a wait of only a few minutes. However, those 30+ minute waits were really hard to take (and, yes, we really timed them because I know it is easy to think that hours have passed when you've only been waiting 15 minutes).

Good points included having a great welcoming staff. They were, without exception, attentive, responsive and enthusiastic. We also liked the quiet pool as it was large enough to accommodate the number of people wanting to use it while the feature pool is being re-done.

I'm glad we gave CBR a try after 10 years, but I don't believe we'll be back.

I wouldn't dissuade anyone from giving CBR a try. Room location probably means a lot and, for CBR, a preferred location is likely worth the extra money.

Also, if you are bothered by cigarette smoke, I suggest that you ask for a room that is not nearby a DSA. Our room opened out to a DSA courtyard and it was always smokey there. The smell did not enter our room, but there was no way to avoid the scent on our way to our room. We would just hold our breath and speedwalk around the courtyard. This wasn't enough for us to go to the effort of moving rooms, but might be for someone else (and I'm sure they'd have accommodated this request).

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi ya guys and gals!

We just got back from our third fantastic stay at the CBR. I took lots and lots of pictures but when I plugged my camera up to my computer somehow all of my pictures were lost!!!! I cried for a whole day. I'm gonna get a computer guy to look at my computer because those pictures had to be transferred in there somewhere.

I faxed a request for a room in Martinique 24 two days before we left. When we checked in, I was told that my request had been granted. We were assigned to Martinique room 2425 which is a downstairs corner room. The refurbished rooms are great! The carpet, bed headboard, table and bench are the same in the main room. The sink and closet area were the same except for the privacy curtain. The carpet did look like it had been thoroughly cleaned.

By the way, I noticed that the privacy curtain had a pattern on it so I pulled it shut to get a better look. It has characters from The Little Mermaid on it. I remember seeing Sebastian and I think Flounder was on it too. I know that there were clams, snails and bubbles. I was surprised to see those characters in the room. The curtain is orange and matches the bedskirts.

The beds are now on a box type frame and there's no more storing your luggage underneath. Our luggage is gradual in size so they all fit into the large one. I was able to stand the luggage on it's end between the dresser and bench.

For some odd reason, the bedspreads are super super long. They are fitted at the end corners but they are folded over twice on the pillow end. I had to pull the bedspread way down each night so that I wouldn't get hot with all that cover on me.

The bedspreads are really bright colors and have the Nemo characters on them. They also have several hidden Mickeys.

The bench had new padding and material on it. The new dresser had ample storage. There were four drawers on the left and one more at the top right. Underneath the right drawer was the refrigerator. By the way, our fridge worked extremely well. My husband always turns them as cold as they will go. It was too cold and actually froze some small milk cartons we had at the very back of the fridge.

There wasn't a large mirror in the bedroom part of the room. I don't know if it was because we had a corner room and two windows or not. The other rooms we had, the mirror hung on the wall near the table and chairs.

The curtains in the bedroom are a pretty ocean blue color and have a wavy look to them. I tried to take pictures of them but they didn't show the pattern well. I can't talk about the pictures too much or I'll start crying again!

My husband does construction work and he said the bathtub looked like it had been refinished/resurfaced. It had to look really hard to see what he was talking about but when I did, I could see a small gouge about an inch or so long. He said they resurface/recoat them and it was all covered up. You couldn't even feel it.

I don't know if they were there before or not but there was a small clothesline above our bathtub. Like I say, it could have been in our other rooms and I just didn't notice before.

When I asked the castmembers about the pirate rooms and the rumor of the suites, they just said they would be working on the pirate rooms soon and they were already booking the rooms. They did say that there would be an additional for the pirate rooms. I couldn't get any real comments on the rumored suites.

My husband and I took pictures of the pool construction. (Again, can't talk about the pictures too much or I'll boo hoo all day again) The first couple of days, there were workers in the pool itself (sans water) and it looked like they were putting the finishing touches on it. There were lots of workers doing painting around the area.

There was still a lot of scaffolding around the tall sections of the fort but I never saw workers up there.

The last day, I went by and snuck a peak through the webbing surrounding the pool. I was super duper surprised to see the pool full of water! I don't know if they were going to be leaving it in or if it was just a test.

I asked several CBR castmembers when the pool would be opening and they said September or possibly October. This is definitely not what's been posted on these boards but you can never tell as I have found that everybody working for Disney has a different story.

Oh yeah, I noticed that the toilets were the turbo toilets this time around. I don't remember them being that way last year. I also noticed that we heard our next door neighbors shower running in the morning. You couldn't hear it when you were in the bedroom but you could hear it if you were in the bathroom.

We didn't, however, hear any of our neighbors talking or their televisions. Our room was at the corner of the Martinique pool and we never heard any of the guests who were using the pool.

We did get six towel animals during our stay. The first two days, we didn't get any. I left our mousekeeper a note that it was our son's birthday and we still didn't get any. The next day, I put a note on our mousekeeping envelope (that I made) and asked for a towel animal. We got three. The next day was our wedding anniversary and we get three more! One of them was two swans kissing.

The buses were efficient again. My husband did have a bit of bad luck one day. My son and I went to the Animal Kingdom without him (they say women take too long to get ready in the morning). Our bus to the Animal Kingdom came in about 15 minutes. He got to the bus stop about 12:00 and had to wait 35 minutes before a bus came. When we got back to our resort that evening, we noticed a castmember at a couple of the bus stops actually timing the buses. I guess somebody complained. Other than that one time, we never had a problem.

I timed several of our bus rides. Our morning commute to Hollywood Studios was just 9 minutes. Our morning commute to Epcot was 13 minutes. Our morning commute to Animal Kingdom was 22 and that included going through Blizzard Beach. I can't find my note on the Magic Kingdom but I am thinking it was about 30 minutes. Our mid-day commute to Downtown Disney, I forgot to time but it was about 30 minutes and that included going to Typhoon Lagoon. Our evening commutes were about the same as morning. We did have to wait a bit in the evenings for a bus but it was never ever longer than 15 or 20 minutes. Most times, it was less than that.

The store has a promotion going on right now. You purchase $40.00 in the store and you could buy a canvas tote bag for $10.00 . The bag is an offsite/tan color with black stripes on the handle and Walt Disney World written in black.

At Epcot, they had a promotion where you spend X amount of dollars and you get a watch for $15.00. At World of Disney in Downtown Disney, they had a promotion if you spend $60.00, you could purchase a rolling duffel bag for $20.00.

I am going to continue to try to retrieve my pictures from my computer and I have my fingers crossed that I find them somewhere.

If anybody has any questions, just ask away and I'll do my best to answer.

Ooohhh one more thing, many people think that the sailboats are just for looks and not for rental but I saw somebody rent one during our stay. The wind was blowing pretty good and they were sailing away.

Oh yeah, another thing....they had family activities daily (and throughout the day) on the island. Games, hoola hoop contests, etc.

Now, I'm finished.

 

[safetymom]

I am sorry to hear about your pictures. Don't do anything with the memory card. Lexar makes a great photo recovery program and you should be able to get them all back.

The pirate rooms won't be available until late January.

I have a stay scheduled for Sept. and of course I will be posting pictures of the room.

Yes they had the clothsline above the tub before.

 

[OneBadApple]

mickeystoontown, thanks for you wonderful review of CBR. It makes feel good about the decision to stay there again this year. I'm so sorry about your pictures, I would be devastated too.

Did you get a feel for how many buildings were already converted to Nemo? Did you see any buildings closed for the refurb?

 

[mickeystoontown]

I am sorry to hear about your pictures. Don't do anything with the memory card. Lexar makes a great photo recovery program and you should be able to get them all back.

The pirate rooms won't be available until late January.

I have a stay scheduled for Sept. and of course I will be posting pictures of the room.

Yes they had the clothsline above the tub before.

For some reason my camera didn't store the pictures on the memory card. They were stored in the camera itself. The camera says there are no pictures in the internal memory. They have got to be on my computer somewhere.