We love everything about the CBR. We have never encountered any problems during either of our CBR stays. The staff has always been friendly and quick to help us with our requests. I like the fact that you feel as if you are getting a Disney vacation and beach vacation all rolled into one.
The theming is carried out throughout the resort with lots of lush landscaping, brightly painted buildings and beaches in each village. While some may complain that the resort is too large, I find that one of the things that appeals to our family. You never feel crowded because the guests are distributed throughout the resort.
The promenade around the resort is just 1.4 (maybe 1.3) miles around and Old Port Royale (food court, full service restaurant, store) is in the middle of the promenade (on the Martinique side) so, really, even a walk from the farthest point in the resort, is not that far. Plus, the walk is really pleasant with lots of flowers and pretty foliage along the pathway.
Each of the villages has a quiet pool, a laundry facility and a white sandy beach. Some of the village beaches have small playgrounds or volleyball nets. The beaches have hammocks and beach chairs. We have watched the Epcot fireworks from the Martinique and Jamaica beaches.
The main pool is being replaced but, like a previous poster said, we never swam in the main pool anyway so the quiet pools should do you just fine.
In the middle of the lake is a small island. Tropical/Caribbean music plays on the island and there are several places to just sit and relax. I believe this is still true even after the construction is taking place. Safetymom's updated information over on the CBR thread should confirm this.
Bus stops are located at each of the villages. The buses ran efficiently during both of our stays. Sometimes, there would be two and three buses at the bus stop at once. (During the busy hours, of course). The CBR is centrally located meaning that it won't take long to reach any destination. I remember timing our ride to Hollywood Studios. From the minute I got on the bus in the Martinique building until we pulled into the bus stop at HS, it took only 11 minutes.
If you feel that you don't want to walk around the resort, there is an internal bus that will take you around the resort. This bus picks up/drops off at each village bus stop and Old Port Royale.
The 340 sq. ft. rooms at the CBR are slightly larger than the other moderate resorts. The bedroom area has two double beds (unless you request and pay for a king size bed), a table and two chairs, an armoire with three large drawers and two small drawers, a nightstand, a bench with large storage area beneath, a dorm size refrigerator and a peg shelf.
The closet and sink area are of fairly good size. There are two sinks in the cabinet which has two storage areas beneath. The closet rod has about a dozen hangers and we brought along about that many more.
The bathroom area was clean and free of mold or mildew. No loose tiles either. I checked!
A coffeemaker, hairdryer, iron and ironing board are in the room. You are also supplied with soaps, shampoo, coffee and sugar and creamer.
Mousekeeping did a good job before and after our arrival. Our stays were for ten days each so I put a note on the beds every three days asking that they change the linens on the beds. Otherwise, they won't change them out as often. On the days we slept in, they left us very large bags of towels, soaps, shampoo and coffee, sugar and creamer.
There were a few little scuff marks on the bed and there was a brown stain on the floor when we arrived. It looked like it was an old stain and it wasn't in a conspicuous place but rather in the space between the bed and the wall. I would not, in any way, consider the room to have a "worn" look to it.
The food court had a nice selection to choose from at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The drink station had a nice selection too. There were lots of condiments available including jellies, sugars, sugar subsitute, hot sauce, red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese packets. They also had a variety of tea bags on the condiment bar. There were two toasters and two microwaves available for use in the food court as well.
I thought that the food court had quite a bit of seating both inside and out. Beware of the birds outside though as you can tell they are quite used to being fed by the guests.
The store is divided in two with one side selling the more traditional Disney merchandise and the other selling tropical/beach/pirate themed items.
While the arcade wasn't really large, it was of adequate size to accommodate the June guests.
At the marina, you can rent bicycles, surrey bikes, watermice and pontoon boats.
I hope that this detailed post helps you in your decision making process.
I really don't think you could go wrong with a stay at the CBR! You'll find that there are many of us that simply love the resort!
