I have to say, I am not surprised to hear that CBR will be closed in order to refurbish Old Port Royale. When I was there this past February, there was a lot of talk of them refurbishing OPR, and it was only a matter of when.
Within this past year, all of the rooms at CBR were completely refurbished, as well as the pools. Now after this OPR refurb is complete, the entire resort will have been refurbished. I honestly don't think this is a ploy to simply close CBR for financial reasons, in order to move people to other resorts.
I do feel so badly for everyone with CBR reservations. I know what it's like to have your heart set on this resort, or any resort really, and then not end up staying there. When planning our Feb 2002 trip, there was talk then of CBR closing, and I was NOT happy to think we'd be at a different resort because I was with relatives who had never stayed onsite before and they didnt want to stay anywhere else.
On the other side of the coin, I remember almost everyone being thrilled with the upgrades they were offered when those with reservations for Pop Century had to be relocated. I hope they do offer all of you good upgrades to one of deluxes, or better deals to move to one of the other moderates.