CBR Preferred Location - Worth It?

[amy390]

Is it worth an extra $200 to stay at Martineque vs. say Jamaica for our 7 day stay? And, if you pay for a preferred location I'm assuming it's guaranteed? Please correct me if I'm wrong? What my best choice for me, DH & 5 yro DD? Opinions welcome. Thanks so much!

 

[Von Drake]

We have stayed at CBR 3x and the best by far was our stay in Martinique.
The short walkto Old Port Royale, the colors, and quiet pool were awesome.

Another distinct advantage is the fact the Martinique is the second stop on the bus route, so you are pretty much guaranteed a seat outbound and a shorter ride inbound.

 

[perkinselectric]

Preferred locaction is the best way to go. Martinique is very nice and the biggest plus is its proximity to the food court and bus transportation, it is so easy to pop over to the Old Port Royal to re fill mugs.... or at the end of a long day to get a snack, it is only about a 2 minute walk. We stayed in the first building and the bus stop was just steps away, again after a loooong day on your feet, anything to do to save steps is worth it.

Martinique is also the closest to the big theme pool .

We have stayed at the CBR twice and loved it both times

Have a great trip MIke P

 

[tinabheart]

Is it worth an extra $200 to stay at Martineque vs. say Jamaica for our 7 day stay?

ABSOLUTELY!!!

 

[safetymom]

I think preferred is worth the extra money but others think Jamaica is a great place to stay. Yes that is guaranteed because you are paying the extra money.

 

[loralie]

Is it worth an extra $200 to stay at Martineque vs. say Jamaica for our 7 day stay? And, if you pay for a preferred location I'm assuming it's guaranteed? Please correct me if I'm wrong? What my best choice for me, DH & 5 yro DD? Opinions welcome. Thanks so much!

I think it is worth it to pay for the preferred location but there is no guarantee you will get Martineque. I requested Martineque and got Trinidad North instead. We liked it but I think I would have liked Martineque better.

Loralie

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I won't stay at CBR again UNLESS I get a perferred location room! Last time I was there, I got put in Trinidad South! I tried to beg the CM for anywhere else, but nope, she wouldn't change my room. Trinidad South was OK enough, but I felt isolated and my aching feet just couldn't walk to the food court well, so I ended up driving everywhere. I would pay for perferred just so I can't be placed in the far-away Trinidad South again!!

 

[mamamary]

Hi. I also think it is worth it. We went last month but I did not pay for a preferred room. I just kept my fingers crossed because I was worried about staying in Trinidad South. Luckily when we checked in they upgraded us to Trinidad North. I'm glad they did. It did seem like it would be a long walk from T. South to the food/main pool area. We really liked Trinidad North (especially the morning that I went early to pick up breakfast and the food court hadn't opened yet - I just turned around and went back to the room and tried again at the right time ).

Have a great trip!

 

[CleveRocks]

Another distinct advantage is the fact the Martinique is the second stop on the bus route, so you are pretty much guaranteed a seat outbound and a shorter ride inbound.

Unless things have changed drastically in the past few months, this isn't accurate.

Buses randomly start in one of two places, Jamaica or Martinique. If a bus starts in Jamaica, it will then stop at Aruba, then Barbados, and then Martinique, making Martinique the 4th stop. Of course, since they sometimes start at Martinique, that means sometimes it's the first stop!

Preferred location means 3 of the 6 buildings in Martinique (24, 25 and 26) and all 3 buildings in Trinidad North. The closest building in Martinique, 26, is closer to OPR than the closest building in Trinidad North, 31.

 

[mom*to*2*princesses]

I really don't know the answer to your question, but I can tell you what we're doing. We will be staying at CBR in April--DH, me, and DD6 and DD3. DH and I have been to WDW but this is our first trip with kids and our first stay at CBR. We've been to POR and CSR.

I think a lot of it depends on your vacation style. Although I am an uber-planner, we are very laid back once we are on vacay. We're going to have a week full of fun but there will be plenty of downtime, plenty of time for the kids to just play at the playground. I can't wait to try CBR, and I really don't care where they put us. Buses stop at every village, the quiet pools appeal to us as much, if not more, than the main pool, and we're not planning to eat at the CBR food court every day.

I read reviews of people who have stayed in Trinidad South and I think it sounds wonderful--resort within a resort! If we are tired, there's a shuttle bus around the resort. My kids will be excited just to ride the bus. LOL We're all looking at it as a grand adventure. That's just how we are though. If you don't want to leave as much up to chance, perhaps a preferred room is the way to go.

 

[maelstrom]

Martinique 26 is the best building. Very close to OPR and the bus stop.

 

[CleveRocks]

Martinique 26 is the best building. Very close to OPR and the bus stop.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I just want to clarify for those who've never been to CBR....

Martinique 26 IS the closest building to OPR. But when you say "the bus stop," I guess you're referring to the bus stop at OPR. Each village has its own bus stop, you don't have to use the bus stop at OPR. For example, Martinique 23 is probably the closest building to the Martinique bus stop, even though it's certainly not the closest to OPR. Trinidad North 33 is the closest building to the Trinidad North bus stop, even though its the farthest Trinidad North building from OPR. And so on ....

 

[maelstrom]

I'm not disagreeing with you, I just want to clarify for those who've never been to CBR....

Martinique 26 IS the closest building to OPR. But when you say "the bus stop," I guess you're referring to the bus stop at OPR. Each village has its own bus stop, you don't have to use the bus stop at OPR. For example, Martinique 23 is probably the closest building to the Martinique bus stop, even though it's certainly not the closest to OPR. Trinidad North 33 is the closest building to the Trinidad North bus stop, even though its the farthest Trinidad North building from OPR. And so on ....

Yeah, I meant closest to the OPR bus stop.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Okay so here's my two cents worth. I, personally, wouldn't pay the extra money. What I would suggest is that you request a room in either Jamaica or Aruba.

We stayed in Jamaica Building 41. It was just a three minute walk to the bus stop and just a five minute walk to the food court/store/arcade/marina. We also found that the village of Jamaica was, often times, the first to pick up on the bus route and the first to drop off. Aruba is right beside Jamaica and the walking distance was just about the same as Jamaica.

I am not a real penny pincher but when it comes to spending money at Walt Disney World, I would rather spend the money on something other than just a preferred room.

Hope this helps, Lisa

 

[marc1477]

Okay so here's my two cents worth. I, personally, wouldn't pay the extra money. What I would suggest is that you request a room in either Jamaica or Aruba.

We stayed in Jamaica Building 41. It was just a three minute walk to the bus stop and just a five minute walk to the food court/store/arcade/marina. We also found that the village of Jamaica was, often times, the first to pick up on the bus route and the first to drop off. Aruba is right beside Jamaica and the walking distance was just about the same as Jamaica.

I am not a real penny pincher but when it comes to spending money at Walt Disney World, I would rather spend the money on something other than just a preferred room.

Hope this helps, Lisa

I agree here. We stayed in CBR Bldg 44 and it was just a short walk to OPR and bus stop. I would say about 95% of the time we were there, we were one of first people to get on the bus and also off the bus as well in Jamaica.

 

[G8RFAN]

And, if you pay for a preferred location I'm assuming it's guaranteed? ....

At least for us, paying for preferred did not guarantee us a preferred room at another WDW resort. I remember thinking that what we got wasn't preferred in my mind at all but I wasn't going to challenge it. The CM at checkin did not say anything contrary, but when we got our statement the morning of checkout, I noticed that they gave us a credit each day for the difference between a preferred and standard. It wasn't very cool to find out that way, but we were fine with the standard room, so it was kind of a "bonus" to see the refund.

 

[cruiserkaren]

I think it'd be worth it. Having a preferred room is the only way I'd even consider staying at CBR again.

 

[aubriee]

According to the Passporter guide book the 'village' you stay in can make or break your resort experience at CBR. I chose to believe them and will be staying in the preferred section next week. I requested Martinique as close as possible to OPR and a bus stop. We'll see.

 

[simzac]

I won't stay at CBR again UNLESS I get a perferred location room! Last time I was there, I got put in Trinidad South! I tried to beg the CM for anywhere else, but nope, she wouldn't change my room. Trinidad South was OK enough, but I felt isolated and my aching feet just couldn't walk to the food court well, so I ended up driving everywhere. I would pay for perferred just so I can't be placed in the far-away Trinidad South again!!

Our family totally disagrees with Trinidad South being bad. We stayed there on our 2005 trip, I requested TS because I like quite at night when I go to bed. We loved it. The walk to the food court wasn't bad at all, a delightful way to start our day each morning. The quiet pool was just that, very quiet, like we had our own private pool. Probably won't ever stay there again as we are now DVC members, but if we do, we will definitely request TS again. So my thought is that I would not pay extra for the preferred buildings. Realize I'm in the minority here, but wanted to give my opinion anyway. Hava a great trip, CB is our all time favorite WDW resort.

 

[CleveRocks]

The quiet pool was just that, very quiet, like we had our own private pool. Probably won't ever stay there again as we are now DVC members, but if we do, we will definitely request TS again. So my thought is that I would not pay extra for the preferred buildings. Realize I'm in the minority here, but wanted to give my opinion anyway.

I've never stayed in Trinidad South, only Aruba and Trinidad North. Except for the amount of walking, I had an identical experience each time -- quiet pools almost all to ourselves, non-noisy room and environment, etc.