Caribbean Beach Resort FAQ's Part II

[robin714]

and no the pool is not supposed to be closed. They are doing construction on the walkways around the pool getting ready for the major refurbishment in January. So, I won't expect a normal pool day at that pool during my stay.

 

[agnes!]

Btw, let's all try to be nice if/when we call. I know I'm upset, but I am glad that at least I found out about this before check-in . In all likelihood, whomever we get to talk to had nothing to do with the scheduling.

agnes!

 

[deelam]

I called again. I was told that there will be major construction work around the pool area during my stay 10/29-11/3. The pool will be open, but construction will be in the area. I tried to transfer my package to a deluxe resort again, but they said because I am so close to my date, I can't get the same deal.

I think I am going to call a supervisor and complain. If I weren't planning allot of pool time, it wouldn't be a big deal. But I actualy am planning to hang by the pool during the day and do the Halloween party at night. It really does affect my plans.

 

[deelam]

Btw, let's all try to be nice if/when we call. I know I'm upset, but I am glad that at least I found out about this before check-in . In all likelihood, whomever we get to talk to had nothing to do with the scheduling.

agnes!

You are right. I always try to be nice. I know when I am at work, I go out of my way to do more for nice customers.

I still am going to ask for a supervisor the next time I call. This really does affect my plans. I've been to Disney 15 times in the past 11 years. I would hope that they value customers like me and give us a break once in while. I hope that they would give me the chance to book the deal I got at another resort, rather then tell me it's not available anymore.


For those of you going during this time, I want o let you know that the quiet pools are not affected. - I prefer the main pool.

Also, does anyone know about tis boardwalk area? is it a large area?

 

[lumpysluck]

Well i tried to change tp POFQ- Guess what- No room- unless we stayed the 1st night at CBR then spent the other 5 at POFQ- OK that would be ok- We are not arriving untill about 7-7:30 at night anyway. GUESS WHAT i was told that would not be ok beacuse i booked with a pin- and i had to stay the fitsr 3 nights at the same resort- GIVE me a break!!! I booked CBR b/c there was not supposed to be construction-

 

[sharibrat]

Wow, I just jumped into this thread about the rehab around the pool. We are going the end of November and I find it hard to believe they are only doing a weeks worth of rehab and then back to normal until January. I wonder if it is going to be under construction right through to January?

As far as fumes and noise.......we often use the pool bar and eat our breakfast outside of Port Royale. I wonder if the bar will even be open? Please keep posting updates safetymom!

 

[mom2my2gr8kids]

I am not going until Nov. 14, my sister is coming the 16th and staying until Thanksgiving .. we both got letters! This is my sister's family's first trip, my kids and I have been before, but I am wondering if we should all switch resorts ......

 

[brenda1966]

I just got me letter too. i'm trying to have a positive attitude. They can't block off the entire parameter of the pool if the pool is open, right? If the pool is open, the slide will be open, right?

Don't they usually try to put up barriers so you don't see all the work?

Our dates are oct 27 - nov 2

 

[Nancyg56]

We got back from a wonderful stay at CBR on Wednesday evening. The ME trip was flawless, a short wait for our bus while the CM's conducted a Disney Movie Trivia Contest. They also called for birthdays and special occasions, singing to each special event. Once we arrived at the Custom House around 11AM check in was a breeze. Our room in Martinique was ready to our surprise and the CM checking us in made a Birthday button for my DGD. He took a few moments to tell us to make sure she wore it during our stay. He then got our box that DD had shipped ahead and we were done.

Bell services took us over to our room which was spotless and had a little towel bunny pen holder and a towel peacock to greet us. DD and I took DGD to the food court for lunch while DSIL took pictures of the room. A limbo party was going on. There were several food stations open and plenty to choose from for a light lunch. Okay, mine was not light, I was starving! The beverage station and condiment counter was fully stocked and clean. There were plenty of tables available, although I saw during the week that even this large food court gets crowded. Throughout the week we had breakfast and lunch in the food court and found the portions to be generous and the service acceptable. It is very busy mornings and there does seem to be a bit of a traffic jam at times.

There are a lot of CM's available throughout Old Port Royale and all smiled and asked how we were. This is one friendly resort! I saw more CM's in this food court and gift area than in the Poly, which surprised me. It reminded me of POFQ, where the food and gift area had plenty of staff visible.

There was a large table set up with mousekeepers making towel animals and distributing them to the guests. A cute towel doll was presented to my DGD after she watched some of their presentation.

DGD, 6 YO, is a serious pin trader. She takes time with her trades and has discovered mystery pins. Each CM she approached for trading here was receptive to her and all chose her mystery pin. There seems to be enough help so that the CM's in the gift area and throughout the common rooms can spend a few moments chatting with guests.

Shutters, the TS restaurant on site was a nice surprise. We were able to get ADR's in the afternoon for dinner but when we arrived walk ups had a long wait. ADR's seemed to be taken about the time they were scheduled for. My DGD has food allergies so the Chef came to the table and discussed not only her meal, but what the resort kitchens could do to make her stay more enjoyable. The food here was excellent and the service among the best we received throughout the week.

The pool area is clean and there are plenty of towels. There are no towels in the quiet pools. The tables are not located in the immediate pool area and I did not see any issues with finding a table for lunch. One thing I noticed here is that there are a lot of unsupervised children. The spa is located on the back side of the pool and the life guards were having problems controlling kids who were treating it as though it was a swimming pool. The only adults using it were the few who were with their children. The slide needed constant attention from the life guards as well. These people must have a high level of stress in their job, they were literally patrolling the back side of this pool.

This is one big resort! The bus service was okay but we found that you really need to allow a minimum of one hour to reach your destination. On our first day we allowed that hour and we were still late for our ADR at the GF. We were told that the buses run every 20 minutes but I am not sure the system really works. We would sometimes see 4 buses run for AK or for Disney Studios, and still no EPCOT bus. The same issue with the MK bus. The bus drivers were knowledgeable and some told jokes or just shared WDW trivia.

Transportation back to the resort, especially in the evening was efficient. Disney can really clear a park out quickly and get their guests back to their resorts.

All in all we were happy with the resort and with our stay. Mousekeeping was early, we found Birthday Balloons and cards for my DGD in the room and our mousekeeper made her a swan on her birthday. The amenities are not the same as a Deluxe and the transportation cannot compare to the monorail resorts, but there are a lot of extras here that I did not expect The price was much lower than for a monorail resort so I found it to be a tradeoff. I found the atmosphere more relaxed than that of the Poly, but will admit my DD and DSIL did not share the same opinion. I also thought that the grounds were lush and very tropical, the beach areas more accessible much quieter, but again that was my perception.

 

[Lei]

I stayed at CBR during our WDW vacation last month. We were there for 5 days, 4 nights.

Pros:

The CBR Cast Members -- very nice, helpful, friendly, and they all understood my accent (I'm an Indonesian and doesn't speak English in daily life).

I especially love a Cast Member I met at Old Port Royale one day during breakfast. She was a large, jolly Cuban lady--whom I forgot the name, arrgh!--with thick accent and white hair. Probably intrigued with the hijab (veil) I was wearing, she asked me where I was from. I told her I'm from Indonesia. She then asked me if I was a Muslim. I said, yes.

Apparently, her husband was also a Muslim from Alexandria. She told me that she loved that beautiful place, especially its gorgeous beaches. Such a shame she couldn't swim in her bikinis in those beaches, she told me, because everyone was expected to covered up like me

She then asked me whether I'd be fasting during the upcoming Ramadhan (the holy month in Islam, where Muslims supposed to fast from dawn till dusk for the whole 30 days). I said, of course. The lady said she'd tried fasting, but couldn't really do it cause she's a big eater. Then she laughed and pat her belly. I love her

The Food -- I expected worse from CBR, but they turned out okay. The choices in OPR were a tad limited for me because I don't eat pork (although the ham sandwiches looked great), but I managed on their other yum options. I also liked the colorful, tropicana look of OPR. Fun!

Cons:

The cleanliness!!! -- The room has a bright, cheery feel and the AC worked great. Too bad it's dirty. We're quite disappointed because hotel's room cleanliness is important for my party, especially for my mom. Here's a few highlights:

The carpet. Although it didn't really make my feet black, the carpet felt moist and seem like there were sands in it. Ick. The huge, brown stain doesn't help either.

The bathroom. I didn't scrutinize the shower head, but the walls were definitely moldy. Oh, when we first arrive, my sis found that one of the bath towels had a black stain on it. Ew. We end up using it for bathroom mat to wipe our feet with.

The fridge. It doesn't smell or had significant smell, but it's quite sticky. The previous guest left some plastic forks and knives in it, and nobody cleared it up. We decided to just wash those thoroughly and used it for our in-room snacks.

The Service -- A day before we left Disney, my Mom accidentally broke our room's coffee pot. She immediately called the room service. They told her it would be replaced soon, and it would be charged to our bill later on. No problem. We left our room for another day in the park.

Guess what? The coffee pot wasn't replaced when we got back in the evening, but it was still charged on our bill the next day. We weren't impressed, but didn't want to fuss since we're leaving anyway. It's not too much of a big deal, but it had lessened the Disney magic a bit for me.

Speaking of which, many people complain about the CBR's coffee maker. No wonder. It made mud-tasting coffee

Also, we only got 1 towel animal the whole 5 days we stayed there. Although I'm positive it's because we didn't leave tip.

Oh, maybe many people have mentioned this before, but once again, if you're staying at CBR and have the budget, go rent a car! It saves you lots of time and made everyone less cranky from waiting the slooow buses to and from the parks. Use your energy for the parks, not for waiting buses!

Overall, CBR is a nice resort and I'd recommend it to anyone who liked a tropical atmosphere. However, I'd probably try on deluxe resorts next time, if I have the opportunity.

Cheers.

 

[mom2my2gr8kids]

I just talked to CRT and was told the boardwalk construction is scheduled to be done by Nov. 13th. We come in on the 14th... hopefully it won't be too delayed!!

 

[brenda1966]

Does anyone know when the work actually starts??

Also, I hope this doesn't effect the hot tub?!?! That was my mom's first question.

 

[safetymom]

The hot tub won't be affected until the main pool closes.

 

[brenda1966]

Just when I thought I didn't have any more questions....

Near the main pool area is there a place we can change in and out of swimsuits? I thought we might want to swim our last day, and we'd checked be out of our room by then. Any chance there's a shower there?

Thanks! I'm getting so excited. Those construction workers better stay outta my way. LOL.

 

[safetymom]

There are bathrooms that you can change your clothes in near the main pool.

 

[brenda1966]

But no shower?

 

[lumpysluck]

i feel that you are the expert here- I called guest services- tried to swith to POFQ- not helpfull at all- i am not really impressed with Disnet at the moment- If they are preparing and pouring concrete for the boardwalks around the pool- how much will this interfere? I am really worried- this is our first trip and my MIL just broke her wrist(pins and a cast) last Sunday. We arrive Nov 2- should i change and where is the best location at CBR- Thank you so much- Oh more questions- we are taking our car- how long to drive to all the parks(i have made ADR's and am attemting to plan)Thank you!!!!!!!

 

[Sabre2th]

We left for WDW on Oct 1, and stayed there until Oct 8. From there we went to I-Drive for five days before heading home. Sorry to be a bit delayed, but I'm just now finally able to post my review, so here it goes!

First, I’d like to say that I’m glad we tried out CBR and especially for this stay, because we went at a very rainy time! We spent a LOT more time in our room and around our resort then I had planned, but as I learned Caribbean Beach is perfect if that’s what you have to do. Now, I have to admit I’ve never actually stayed at any of Disney’s luxury resorts, but from what I could tell, CBR as everything they have to offer (that interests me anyways), and far less the cost!
To start off with, the personnel in the custom house were truly a God send for me. Before we got to the resort, my husband managed to get a parking ticket, and my youngest threw up in the back seat! I was about to believe that our vacation was destined to be ruined before it ever got stated.
I guess the greeter might have sensed this, because next thing I know as I was checking us in was that we had been selected to be “Caribbean Beaches’ Family of the Day”. They gave my boys a set of moroccoes to keep, a nice certificate verifying the occasion, and took our picture while we wore silly hats. It was a very simple event but it did perk us up quite a bit.
We stayed in Trinidad South in the 3400 block; I think the room was 3446 on the second floor that overlooked the parking lot. Normally I wouldn’t brag about parking lot views, but this place was fabulous! Our room was certainly out of the way, and for us that was important. My two sons are both autistic and prone to very loud and long meltdowns. It is embarrassing to know that everyone around you can hear your kid screaming at the top of their lungs. For the first few days I’m pretty sure we had NO neighbors around us and it wasn’t until that Friday that I noticed someone had checked in next to us. But we never heard a peep from them and to the best of my knowledge they never heard a pee from us. Luckily on this vacation we had no full blown meltdowns, not even at the parks!

When we opened the door to our room, one of the first things I noticed was my towel pet sitting on our night stand! Right then, I knew I was going to be happy there. Our room was clean, and not just clean, it had a wonderfully fresh and natural scent of citrus throughout the room. Most deodorizers have such a fake, chemical smell that just partially covers the more unpleasant smells, but here it was like being inside a tropical garden! The only minor complaint I would make about the condition of the room was that the carpet didn’t look new; as in it was apparent that Disney didn’t bother tear out the old one and replace it because they knew we were arriving.

Our weekday mousekeeper was fantastic! I asked for more soap, and we got more soap! She deliberately gave us extra sugar and creamer packets when she notice we used them. She was top notch all the way; however, I really can’t give out the same kind of praise for the weekend help. She wasn’t BAD, but she came ridiculously early, before 9am each day, and when she saw that we had sugar and cream she didn’t want to give me anymore even though I was asking her for it. I mean she the least she could do is let us enjoy as much coffee as we’d like now that she got us out of bed on Sunday morning.
The only other gripe I have about our stay really is the bed itself. Our's was too small for the frame it was sitting in. Kinda odd I thought and it was creaky and squeaky. Every time I moved, it woke my husband, and visa-versa. It was comfortable enough though so, I’m not too worked up about it.

We ate only twice at the food court; once when the place was dead as a door nail for a quick lunch, and once when it was grand central station for breakfast. I prefer the dead as a door nail time frame much better, however I have a feeling that there may not be any time like that during the breakfast hours . Food was satisfactory, (I’ve had better, but I’ve had worse) but it was kept very, very, clean! I even made a point to thank the people who were busy cleaning the table and sweeping the floors. Good work should get noticed I think.

I needed to use the laundry once while we were there, and I was even impressed with it! A laundry mat for crying out loud! I never would have thought I could, much less WOULD ever be impressed with a laundry mat! It was cleaner than any other I had ever seen, and it was airconditioned too boot! I've NEVER been to any laundry mat where they think enough of the patrons to aircondition the place!

I took my sons to the main pool once, just before the sky ripped open and poured down buckets of water! They even had to close the pool temporally due to lightening. But for the short time we were there the boys LOVED it! My youngest son normally is afraid of water slides but when he saw so many other kids having fun on this one he had to try and he loved it! But for the most part, we used the quiet pool at Trinidad South and it suited our needs excellently!
On the final evening, my husband and I snuck off after the boys had gone to sleep and took a late night dip in the pool after hours. We know that the staff knew about us, because we had a guy come to the pool and look in on us. But he said nothing and we made it a point to be quiet as church mice while we were there. It was a very romantic and a very much needed alone time for my husband and me.
The morning of our departure, I made sure to take a lot of pictures of the resort, and as soon as I get my USB port to work again, I’ll send them this way. Now as for the checkout itself, the only complaint I have about it was that it came WAY TOO SOON!

 

[tinkerbell87512]

I'm very excited to stay at this resort before my cruise in May. Though it's only for one night it's my first time at any moderate and I'm very excited to see what CBR is like. I'm looking forward to reading though this thread!

 

[brenda1966]

These questions just keep popping into my head...

Do kids play with pails and shovels on the "beach", or is the sand not good for this? I'm wondering if I should try to pack a pail and shovel or forget about it.

Just called and reconfirmed by room "request" and just to make sure they are expecting me. LOL.