Caribbean Beach Resort?

[safetymom]

You are going to have the same Disney channels no matter where you stay on property.

 

[MariaEllerºoº]

We absolutely love CBR!! With that many small children in tow I would definitely pay for a preferred location. The rooms at CBR are larger than any of the other moderate resorts and even some of the deluxe resort rooms and the mousekeeping is great! The children will love the themeing of the main pool and slide. The food court at Old Port Royale is one of the best with many selections to choose from. The Market has some unique things you can purchase as well as the typical Disney items for sale. Since this resort is spread out you don't get that crowded feeling like you can feel at the smaller resorts.

 

[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

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.

 

[BamaFan121s]

If you pay for a preferred location, you should be able to get a room close enough to the main area and not have much of a problem. They are well worth the extra $$$, IMO. Also, if you let them know of your circumstances in advance, they will usually try to accomodate you as best they can. My family has done this in the past when traveling with my grandmother who has mobility issues as well and it has generally yielded good results.

 

[catbertdave99]

We have stayed in two preferred locations, Martinique 2549 and Trinidad North 3128 -- the walk to the food court and main pool area (Old Port Royale) was not bad at all, and the spread-out nature of CBR also means there are bus stops close to almost every room! I think you will love CBR -- check out Safetymom's photos, and I have some in my signature below -- it is beautiful and lots of people love it!

 

[mericletwins]

Thank you- have you ever stayed here with kids- is it a hassle to get around- are any of the other moderate resorts really any better with set up? I am jsut concerned because we have so many little ones, and we also have a child with alot of special needs coming with us.

We have gone to CBR with little kids a couple times. Our biggest group was 9 month old twins, 1 year old, 3 year old, 5 yo and 6 yo. We had a fabulous time and everyone loved the resort. We stayed in Aruba that trip and we were across the lake from Old Port Royale. We all found the walk to be very pleasant and about 5 minutes. The kids loved looking at the ducks and the lizards on our walks through the resort. No hassles with transportation either time we stayed there. The only place I wouldn't want to stay at CBR is Trinidad South. That is the only place that seems far to us.

 

[septbaby]

Please help- i hate being the one in charge of planning everything- becasue if ti isn't nice- it is all my fault somehow!!

Breathe in, breathe out. You have made a great choice!!!! We stayed at CBR over the Labor Day holiday and really liked it. The main pool area is quite nice with an off to the side kiddie pool for your little ones, a more adventurous pool with a slide, canons, water curtain, etc. for the older ones. There is a bin of life jackets for those needing them too. My 5yo nephew loved the pool. We had a good hour between check out and ME, so he used the main pool after we had checked out as there is a nice shower room there too. Bell services took our bags, so we just kept the one so we could change him after the swim.

CBR offers a pirates cruise for the little ones (you 4, 5 and 10yo) might enjoy this activity. Its extra $ and requires a reservation, but the little ones we saw seem to really enjoy it and looked cute in their pirate bandanas!

CBR has the added advantage of quiet pools mixed in with the rooms. We had one just outside our room, and it was indeed quiet even when in use. Similarly there are playgrounds near the rooms as well so you don't have to hike to get the littles out for some R&R. I didn't use a hammock, but those are plentiful as well.

The food court has a great variety, lots of indoor and outdoor seating. If you are using the dining plan, I found the CMs very well versed on what is and isn't allowed. I was told no on a couple of things, but also informed that I could get a pizza combo meal and not just a pizza. One CM in particular was helpful in letting us use up the final CS credits in the grab and go section(can you say Mickey bars, yum)!

There is also an onsite game room, gift shop and the pool side bar, so something for everyone.

Because its a large resort buses for all parks run really frequently and the bus stops are nicely appointed with seating, shading and even a soda machine should you feel the urge (we never did on the dining plan). We stood in some long cues at MK at the end of the night, but they moved, buses kept coming and guests were pleasant.

With the little ones in your party, I'd recommend your own strollers as getting from the park to any bus cue can be rather long at the end of the night and it will be helpful at the resort as well.

Be ready to really enjoy your stay. Honestly, with 14 in the party you may really come to value the "space" offered by CBR.

 

[Rustysmom]

I have a few questions- is this clean- i have read a good bit of reviews that say the walls are very dirty and need painting, that the housekeeping, things are outdated, etc- i am wondering if this is true. This will be the first time for that majority of the kids going to disney and their parents- and i want to make sure everything is nice. Also- is the food horrible? Are the rooms really snmall- or aare they smae size they would be at any of the moderate resorts?
ANd if oyu do not recommend staying here with all these kids-w here would oyu reccommend staying?

Please help- i hate being the one in charge of planning everything- becasue if ti isn't nice- it is all my fault somehow!!

We just went in August and our room was very clean. I didn't even see a cobweb anywhere. Housekeeping was great. Nothing looked dated to me. The rooms are the largest of the moderates. My kids loved the main pool and we only went at night, but it was never that crowded. There were plenty of chairs available too.

We only ate breakfast there, but it wasn't bad. I like my scrambled eggs cooked a little more, but that was the only complaint.

We ended up getting a room in Trinidad North for free! I'm not sure if it was preferred room because it was building 33, which is the furthest away from the food court, but we were directly accross from the bus stop. It was great!