Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH RESORT Information & Questions

I read that one of the poles was between Jamaica 45 and Aruba 51 but does anyone know which building in Jamaica is most impacted by the second pole?

Thanks!
We were just in Jamaica 44 2 weeks ago and there was a gondola pole literally right outside of our room door (4463). The other pole we noticed was near the bridge, between Jamaica 45 and Aruba 51. At that time, both of these were surrounded by construction fences and there were also construction fences along the northern border of Aruba and the beach in Aruba. For us, this did not matter AT ALL, but if your stay will be significantly affected by views of construction, the buildings on the southern end of Jamaica and in Trinidad seemed to be the least impacted by construction views.
I think you said you requested Jamaica 43, which would have been a fine choice for our family as the freestyle machine and island market are in the building, plus it is close to the Jamaica pool and bus stop :). There was no construction noise at all when we were there.
 
Are the separate buses for the two sides of CBR an all-day thing, or just during peak times?
I don't know this answer for sure, but when we were there it seemed that the separate buses were inconsistent. The first few days I do not think there were separate buses for the east and west sides of the resort, but after our 3rd day when people were waiting 45-60min to get to Magic Kingdom in Jamaica and Aruba (and complaining!!), there was a CM at the bus stops in the morning and separate buses running then. In the afternoon, it was much easier to catch a bus, so they may only be separate in the busy morning hrs.
 
Emarie, This is great information, both of your recent posts, thank you. Part of our family group is staying here in a few weeks. I will pass this on to them.
 




We're looking at staying the last week of January or first week of February '19. I've seen some conflicting estimates on the interwebs about whether or not Old Port Royale will be finished/open by then. Anyone have any insight on this? Pretty sure we can deal with the Skyliner & Riviera construction, but the current dining/shopping options would be a deal breaker for us.
Also, when we've stayed in the past we've enjoyed watching the Epcot & Studios fireworks from the beach area or outdoor seating area outside of OPR. Does anyone know if the Riviera construction will block any of this, or is it far enough north?
 
We're looking at staying the last week of January or first week of February '19. I've seen some conflicting estimates on the interwebs about whether or not Old Port Royale will be finished/open by then. Anyone have any insight on this?

Old Port Royale and Centertown should be completed sometime this December.

Also, when we've stayed in the past we've enjoyed watching the Epcot & Studios fireworks from the beach area or outdoor seating area outside of OPR. Does anyone know if the Riviera construction will block any of this, or is it far enough north?

Riviera Resort should not affect viewing of either fireworks from in front of OPR.
 
We are expecting it to be tight. I quoted any rooms that would fit five, plus 2 values at Pop. This was the cheapest option (by several hundred dollars) and the budget is tight unfortunately, so we need that extra elsewhere. If there is a discount for that timeframe I will probably revisit options though.
It is definitely doable. I should add disclaimer that we are timeshare owners so used to 2 bedroom (at least) accommodations. But CBR is still a pretty neat resort-even with the construction.

Our first stay here is coming up very soon and I've requested Jamaica for a standard room. We have two rooms so we'll see what we get. Part of me is really tempted to just roll the dice and see where we land, but I am using the TP Fax Request service.
I've had excellent luck with TP fax (knock on wood!)

Just returned from a 9-day stay there and, according to the LATEST (which could change next week, admittedly) is that the Island Markets in the two farthest islands from Old Port Royale (Aruba and Jamaica) would be kept due to overwhelming positive response from guests. In fact, according to the one CM (yes, it's a CM statement so take it for what it's worth), they are going to expand the concept to both CSR and PO...at least the refillable soda machines.
This wouldn't surprise me at all-The GM of the resort is under a ton of pressure to keep guest complaints down, and the guests really really love the Island markets and close freestyle machines! Frankly the idea of freestyle machines in multiple areas of the resort is a common sense marketing idea for the Disney Dining plan!
 
I've read through this thread but am new to CBR: if we want to be close to the main pool and buses and don't mind construction, which building would you recommend? thanks!!

ETA: this is for a last minute July trip!
 
I've read through this thread but am new to CBR: if we want to be close to the main pool and buses and don't mind construction, which building would you recommend? thanks!!

ETA: this is for a last minute July trip!

Every Village has their own bus stop, so you will be close to the buses no matter where your room is. For close to the Main Feature Pool:

If King or Water View is booked, Trinidad North.
If Standard View is booked, Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51.
If preferred is booked, you will be in Trinidad North and close to the Main Feature Pool.
 
Just wanted to give a quick trip report . We ( family of 5 traveling with another family of 5 ... all kids teens except one 7 yr old) . We stayed June 22nd-June 29th. We faxed and called a request for Jamaica and connecting rooms. Unfortunately our requests ( besides having rooms next to each other, but not connecting) we not granted. We even asked when we got there if there was anything they could do , and they said the best they could do is have us call back the next day. We were put in Aruba 55 . I'll admit at first we were really put off since its directly next to the construction. But knowing requests were just that we decided to roll with it, and I'm glad we did. We were in the same building as the island market ( which was awesome for morning coffee) and also the freestyle machine.
Buses: We were also fairly close to the bus stop. Aruba bus stop was the LAST , which was nice if you wanted to not wait to circle the hotel , but made it impossible to actually get a seat in the morning . There was usually a CM in the morning , on our MK day I flat out asked if a bus would actually arrive and he made sure it did , so we never walked to Port Royale to get a bus.
Construction:Those complaining about the construction at CBR must driving into the Disney area with their eyes closed... construction at Disney is EVERYWHERE.. seriously ... all over the place. But even being smack next to the construction didn't bother us. You can hardly hear it outside , and definitely can't hear it from your room. Never really noticed it in the big pool area. The only thing that put me off was the beach at Aruba had that ugly orange fence, otherwise it was completely fine.
Food : We only ate at spyglass grille but it was yummy !! We weren't on the dining plan, so with 5 teens we ordered Dominos and Papa Johns once , and also made a grocery store run when we got there ( lots microwave foods which we cooked in the island market )
Crowds: I cannot imagine what it must be like for those who show up without some sort of plan and scheduled FP. We luckily scheduled all of FP for the morning , took a mid day break to get out of the heat, then went back at night. We never waited more than 35 min but we really planned and worked the FP system. MDE app was HORRIBLE and would crash half the time. I just felt bad for those who waited 80-160 min for rides! I'd never do it !
Pool: We actually preferred and spent most of our time in the Aruba quiet pool. The main pool seemed so crowded most days. We enjoyed the shaded umbrellas by the quiet pool too
Tip: We had a 9:40 pm flight out of MCO , with a ME pick up time of 6:40. Well it rained our last day and we were done hanging out in the rain so we went to the custom house and asked to jump on the 4:10 bus ( which they let us) THANK GOD we did !Our bus took much longer to get to MCO due to the rain and traffic. Lines at the airport were horrible! We spend an hour just waiting in line to check our bags , then another 45 min to get through security ! I would have been so stressed out if we didn't have that extra time!
Housekeeping: We weren't offered the GC offer but we didnt intend to take it so that worked. They weren't overly friendly , but they did a good job. They usually came around 1-3pm most days, and didn't knock early on our checkout day like some have said. In fact we saw her making up the room next to us around 11 when we left.
What we loved and what we didn't: Disclaimer.. We usually stay at SOG since its cheaper for us military people. Most people say they don't like SOG because theres not much "Disney" aspect to it. But with the refurb of CBR rooms, I'm not sure there was much "Disney " in the rooms besides the Murphy bed. We loved the Disney tv though ! The wakeup call was mr incredible every morning, would have been nice if it switched by day . We loved charging stuff to our MB, it was especially fun for teens who got to go off on their own. I didn't get any Disney pixie dust or warm fuzzy feelings from any CM , but they weren't rude either. I have pretty normal ,easy care hair, but the shampoo and conditioner was HORRIBLE. Our hair was straw by the end of the trip. Next time I'll bring my own.
Happy to answer any questions! I wouldn't hesitate to book CBR again !
 
I'm guessing the answer is no, but do the island markets have hot chocolate? We all loved getting hot chocolate in our refillable mugs at night from the food courts.
 
@gibsontrio: Great Report...thanks! We are heading to our first CBR stay today (usually stay at SOG also but it was booked by the time we decided on this trip) and looking forward to it. Your report about your location and the pools was very helpful. We are definitely planning a similar touring style...parks in morning, breaks at the pool, maybe back to parks after dinner.
 
kittylady1972 - Have a great trip! Please post with all the latest info. We are headed down August 14 and can't wait!!!
 
Just checked in yesterday and noticed a $5.00 package fee added to my portfolio. I'm assuming that's for my Garden Grocer order that was delivered to bell services. I thought only the convention resorts charged those fees? Or if you had other packages delivered (besides something to bell services). Is that new to CB?
 

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