First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your stressful situation. Second of all, I'd like to try and help alleviate your fears about the CBR. It's a great resort and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who asked.
The resort is large but that's a real plus in many ways. The guests are distributed in such a way that you never feel crowded. We never heard our next door neighbors.....no flushing toilets, no overheard conversations through the walls, no loud televisions next door, nothing. Just peace and quiet.
The walk around the entire promenade is just 1.4 miles. Old Port Royale is situated, roughly, in the middle of the promenade so even if you are at the furthest section of the resort, you aren't far away from OPR. Speaking of the walk, it was very peaceful and relaxing and is a nice way to see the other resort villages.
The brightly painted buildings are in clusters and many of them face beautiful courtyards. The landscaping was lush and well kept. We've been lucky enough to have a courtyard view both times we stayed there.
At 340 square feet, the rooms at the CBR are a bit larger than the other moderates. I like the extra space because I always bring too much stuff and I have even more to bring home with me 'cause I buy too many souveniers.
Mousekeeping was always good. Our room was cleaned each and every day. They replinished our towels, wash clothes, shampoo, soap and coffee each day. The two days we slept in, they brought a huge back of towels, soaps, etc. and left them at our doorway.
Each village has it's own beach and quiet pool. It was really nice to just laze around in the hammock and beach chairs and watch the Epcot fireworks.
The bus service ran efficiently. We never waited long for a bus. During the busy hours, there were, oftentimes, two and three buses at the bus stop at once. Because the CBR is centrally located, it never took us long to get anywhere on Disney prpperty.
The food court and store were larger than I expected. The food court had a large variety of foods to choose from and the grab n go section was our favorite. We were always able to find a table in the food court. Castmembers were constantly cleaning tables and sweeping up dropped items.
The store is divided in two with one half selling tropical/beach type items and lots of pirate items. The other side sold the more traditional Disney merchandise like hats, t-shirts, toys, etc.
The arcade, while not super big, was big enough to handle the May/June crowds. My son loved playing the games there.
You can rent pontoon boats, watermice, bicycles and surrey bikes at the CBR marina. A ride around the lake is a great way to see the resort.
I think, even with the construction around the island and main pool, you would still enjoy a stay at the CBR.
Here are some pictures from our most recent stay:
Caribbean Beach Resort entranceway:
Martinique buildings:
Our courtyard views:
CBR lake:
Landscaping (parking lot view):
Landscaping (view from our Martinique building):
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