Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ's Part II

[jeanadave]

I posted this earlier on the resorts board, but Safety Mom asked that I post it on these FAQ's. We loved CBR.

DH and I just got back last Sunday from a week's stay at CBR. Taking into account that it's been almost 20 years since I've been to Disney and then stayed off-site, we weren't really sure exactly what to expect, but this was our experience at CBR:

Checked in at 11:00 a.m. on Mother's Day (waited maybe five minutes to check in) and our room was ready. We thought our room was very nice, clean and roomy.

We had a couple of problems with the TV and the refrigerator when we first got there and maintenance was there in less than 15 minutes of our call to the front desk and got everything working properly.

Housekeeping was fabulous the entire week. We had the same person all week with the exception of one day and could not have asked for anyone to be more friendlier or helpful than she was – she was GREAT!!

We stayed in Aruba and it did not take but 6 or 7 minutes to walk over the bridge to the food court area. We split a couple of counterservice meals from the food court and the food wasn't necessarily great, but it certainly wasn't what I would call bad.

We didn't see any bugs or lizards in our room and no birds attacked us!! The grounds were gorgeous and we really enjoyed the "beach" area.

We were very close to the bus stop for our village (Bldg. 54). Our average wait for a bus to the parks was about 15 minutes, with the exception of the day we were going to Animal Kingdom (don't know what the problem was, but it was about a 40 minute wait). Our average wait coming from the parks back to CBR was about 10 minutes.

We did express check-out and there were no errors on our bill.

I've seen a lot of negative remarks about this resort, but our week there was wonderful!

 

[KimRaye]

Thanks for your report! 16 of us are leaving SOON for the CBR and I haven't been there in 15 years! I'm sooooo excited!

 

[gottaluvpooh]

We are going in Nov 2006 and would love to be in Martinique bld 26.
I have a specific room I would like as we were there before. Memories

When do I request it and what are my chances of getting the room we request. I have no problem paying the extra for the closer building.

thanks

 

[lrauers]

We were there last week in Martinique 2346, a 2nd story corner room, very quiet and convenient location. I booked through AAA and requested Jamaica from the beginning. I had the AAA agent confirm my Jamaica room request one week before and again 2 days before our trip. At check-in we were assigned Martinique, which I think was a better location. So, you can request
anything you like, you might get lucky but they do no not gaurantee specific room requests.

 

[KCS]

Our family was there last week, May 17-23 and loved, loved, loved it!!! This was our first trip to WDW. and our family agreed to stay at CBR. We love the islands themes, music, beaches etc. I was nervous because I had read some reviews about it being so big and spread out. When I booked, there were not any preferred rooms available, so I booked a water view room and requested Jamaica Bldg.
When we arrived we took Magical Express to CBR, very easy and very fast serivice. When we checked in at the Customs House, no wait to check in and our res agent, Veronica, was a treasure!!! She got us in Jamaica Bldg. 44, which was PERFECT,PERFECT, PERFECT, for our family. Our room was not ready at that time, which was fine, since we were starving, we just hopped on the bus and went over to Port Royale and had lunch. When we were through our room,, 4458, was ready. We just walked over the bridge to our bldg. Our room was on the second floor, right over the Jamaica pool, and right by the big playground on the beach. Our room was clean, and spacious and great with a private dressing area.
Every day we would just walk across the parking lot to the bus stop and hop a bus to whatever park we were going. We never had an extremly long wait for a bus.
I really thought our children would use the big pool at Port Royale more, but they only used it about 3 times and used the pool at Jamaica daily and loved it!!! My DD got her hairwrapped at PR, then we watched illuminations fireworks at Epcot from the beach. One night we ate outside by the big waterfountain, which DS loved, and it was a great atmosphere!
We utilized the food court and the shopping area regulary, as it was very convient.
We absolutley loved our stay at CBR. Everything was perfect for our family and we will definately reccomend it and go back again.

 

[safetymom]

Martinique 26 is a preferred location costing an extra $15 nightly.


KCS thank you for your review of CBR. It will help others when planning their CBR vacation.

 

[CleveRocks]

We are going in Nov 2006 and would love to be in Martinique bld 26.
I have a specific room I would like as we were there before. Memories

When do I request it and what are my chances of getting the room we request. I have no problem paying the extra for the closer building.

thanks

If you have your heart set on Martinique building #26, you'd be well-advised to reserve (that means PAY) now for "preferred location," as building #26 is one of CBR's 6 preferred location buildings. The reason I'm making sure you understand to actually reserve and pay for it in advance, rather than put in a non-guaranteed "request" and then wait until check-in time, is that preferred location rooms have been known to sell out. Obviously, they're going to give the rooms first to people who've paid for them in advance. The problem for you is, even if you book a preferred location room, there's no guarantee they'll put you in building #26 let alone a specific room. You could wind up where I was most recently, Trinidad North building #33.

Depending on the season, preferred location costs between $15-$20 extra per night.

 

[Atchley]

This post is great! I love to see others as excited about their vacation and just needing to know as much info as possible. I can't wait for vacation!

Okay now a couple of questions.
1. I have read about the coconut postcards and would love to send a couple to our families but was wondering about the cost of coconut and shipping. (Read a post awhile ago about this, but no one seemed to know the prices.)

2. I have seen in a couple of different pictures that there is Caribbean Beach Resort Merchandise for sale at the resort. What types of merchandise are there (keychains, T-shirts, magnets, beach towels, etc and if anyone has any pictures of such merchandise, Please post if possible.

Thanks for everyones help in advance!!

I can't wait!

 

[DisneyinJuly06]

I have faithfully gone through this post and have to say I am getting more excited by the day We will be staying at CBR 7/12-7/18 for the first time. I too am wondering about the coconut postcards and price. Also, does the OPR have a "general store" where you can purchase milk, bread, etc? We are flying down and I will be packing some breakfast essentials like pop tarts and granola bars for DS and DD, but DH likes to have a bowl of cereal or 2 to start his day. We are on the DDP so we figured brkfst in the room would be ideal most days. Thanks for your help and keep the great reviews coming

 

[Atchley]

I have faithfully gone through this post and have to say I am getting more excited by the day We will be staying at CBR 7/12-7/18 for the first time. I too am wondering about the coconut postcards and price. Also, does the OPR have a "general store" where you can purchase milk, bread, etc? We are flying down and I will be packing some breakfast essentials like pop tarts and granola bars for DS and DD, but DH likes to have a bowl of cereal or 2 to start his day. We are on the DDP so we figured brkfst in the room would be ideal most days. Thanks for your help and keep the great reviews coming

I have read on these posts that you can purchase milk and such items at the gift shops back by the register. They say it is cheaper to purchase it there than in the food court.

Excited to see someone else who is going that week! We will be at CBR from July 15-22. Hope to see you there!

Keep the Coconut postcard answers a coming!
Thanks!

 

[Hockeymommy]

We stayed there last year for th first time and will be staying there again this August. We saw the coconut postcards, they are so cute!!!! I don't have a picture but I think they were about $20 with postage. Very worth it. We wanted to get one last year but just forgot so this year it is a definite!!!

 

[PolyFish]

We stayed in the area "Jamaica"

 

[sugarplum]

This thread is great. Its so refreshing to see some positive reviews and information about CBR. Makes me exicted for my first trip to this resort! As a previous poster asked, does anyone know what kind of CBR merchandise is sold (sweatshirts, t-shirts, etc.)? Thanks in advance.

 

[safetymom]

Yes CBR has all that type of merchandise. Sweatshirts, t-shirts, hats, polo shirts, beach towels, mugs, glasses, etc.

 

[Amy&Dan]

We are currently booked at Pop for December but now CBR seems to be calling my name! I have a couple of things I am wondering about:

Has anyone ever used a rollaway there? Is there enough room for one of these to be left set up all the time and are they standard type hotel rollaways or more like cots? Also, what is the nightly cost?

Also, how much of a walk would you have to the foodcourt/main pool, if you were located in the furthest out building. I just don't know if I want to pay for preferred in addition to a rollaway charge.

Thanks so much!

 

[Beachwed04]

DH and I are taking our 8 and 4 yr. old for the first time this July 15-25th. We are getting so excited. I was so happy to find this resort. We all loved the theme

Anyway...I have seen in old old old posts that some have actually sent non-refridgerated groceries to themselves to the resort to arrive there in time for them at check in. I have thought about doing that for snacks for the kids and maybe bottled waters for us since we will not have a car with us to get to a store. Have any of you done this? Was it worth it?

thanks!
Beth

 

[KimRaye]

We're doing it next Friday, with refrigerated and non-refrig items through www.gardengrocer.com Anything you DON'T see on their site, they'll get for you if you mention it in the 'comments' section.

 

[scoutsmom99]

Beachwed04-

I have sent myself stuff ahead of time to CBR. It was cery easy I used UPS to send it you can figure out how long it will take by looking at UPS's Calculate Time and Cost section on thier webpage.

If you do send something make sure to label your box clearly also sometimes stickers can help make it stand out as well. Here is the info I include on my packages:

Guest Name
Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort
900 Cayman Way
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000
Hold For Arrival on XX/XX/XX
Reservation #______________

 

[Beachwed04]

Thanks for the info. The grocery delivery site is wonderful! I won't need too much food since we are doing the dining plan but wanted to have bottled water and some extra snacks for the kids. Thanks!

Beth

 

[JuneDisney]

Should I schedule delivery for the day before or the day of arrival. We are having bottled water from Staples delivered.