Resort Thread Disney's CARIBBEAN BEACH Resort

We just got home. Let me just say, I have no significant complaints about the resort itself. I will, however, be complaining. Pop warner was a nightmare. I was not under the impression that this was a hotel they used to the extent we saw, or we would have chosen elsewhere. Music was blaring at quiet pools across the water that we could hear inside our room. The pool was full of rowdy kids with no supervision. I felt my small children were unsafe in the main pool.

We paid for preferred and were in Trinidad north. I would consider Martinique to be much closer, which was frustrating, since we paid to be closer due to my father having mobility issues. He had a scooter, but had hoped not to need it at the resort since we were paying extra to be close. Our room smelled like cigarettes, but we did not ask to be moved as we were beside my dad and didn't figure that would happen if we moved, especially since we had to be downstairs for the scooter.

Wow, sounds like I hated it! I really didn't, but I wouldn't stay there again. I didn't love the bus stopping so many times, and I found it to be much more spread out than I was expecting. I had read about it, but really thought I wouldn't find it that bad. If we had had bad weather, it would have been awful to try to go get a drink or something.

The rooms were very nice, but no more floor space than pop due to larger beds. The beds were great. We only got additional shampoo and soap once, so we were pretty low at the end. We made it work.

The food court food was pretty good. I liked the BBQ sandwich and chicken Marsala. The store selection was nice for swimwear, but not as good with general merchandise as pop.

I didn't see any of the screens at bus stops, and I was at 4 of them. I could have ignored them I guess? There was a guy at the Barbados stop both times I was there who knew approximate times. I never felt like we waited long for one, even if we just missed it. Only maybe 3 were super crowded.

The pool area is awesome. The afternoon activities were nice, too.

Room 3219 has a pullout, 3220 does not.
 
We were in 2240 - room had a pull down bed. It was a corner room. We had booked a water view room and requested Martinique 2nd floor

I was surprised we got both requests and a corner room since we booked only 6 days out!

I can't believe how much we liked the resort. We were really worried about transportation and people saying resort was too spread out. Maybe we were just lucky, but we didn't have any issues at all!
 
Just checked in today!! So happy. Received a text that our rooms was ready while we were on the ME. Got both of our requests, Martinique and first floor,and it's a corner room. Woo hoo. Very pleased. Weather is perfect.
 

We are a getting here March 2-5 and are super excited!!! We booked a pirate room. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to request? I know the pirate rooms are only in a certain area, but are some closer to a bus stop, just a nicer room in general, etc? What floor would you guys recommend? Thanks! We are a family of three!
 
Hi! We check in Wednesday and I am wondering if it's too late to call in my requests. I had booked online and did online check in as well as had touringplans fax in my request. What do you think?
 
Hi! We check in Wednesday and I am wondering if it's too late to call in my requests. I had booked online and did online check in as well as had touringplans fax in my request. What do you think?

It certainly wouldn't hurt to call and make sure that your requests have been notated.
 
We are a getting here March 2-5 and are super excited!!! We booked a pirate room. Does anyone have any suggestions about what to request? I know the pirate rooms are only in a certain area, but are some closer to a bus stop, just a nicer room in general, etc? What floor would you guys recommend? Thanks! We are a family of three!

Welcome, I see this was your first post, glad you joined us!

...I've been absent for awhile...post WDW vacation blues, work, kid starting high school, and some minor medical things...but I've missed my Disney fix...WAY behind on my trip report...feel bad about it.

Now on to your questions. The Pirate rooms. If you go to the first page of this thread and look at the first post, the second image down is a map of the resort. The Pirate rooms will be Trinidad South, up in the upper right corner of the picture. the bus stops between building 36 and 37 (in the map it is marked with a bus icon), so those are the two buildings you would like to request for the quickest walk to the bus stops.

As for them being nicer in general, I wouldn't agree, the whole resort has gone through a refurb over the last couple of years, so most the rooms are very nice. The Pirate rooms are specially themed though, so are very appealing to those that are into that experience. On the first page of the thread there are photos of the Pirate rooms (as well as the regular rooms) so you can see what you can expect.

Some people are not that fond of the Pirate rooms, because they are the farthest away from the main pool and food court. By making these rooms specially themed, they have gone from being rooms people would complain if they got, to ones many people request. Since we try not to spend much time in our room except to sleep and shower, the theme never mattered to us.

If the themed rooms are not something you are too attached to, I would suggest saving the money and switching to a preferred room (if there is availability) because those are closest to the pool and food court. It is up to you, based on your desires. I can see how the themed room is a draw to some parents because the kids love them...just be forewarned you will have a long walk to the main building.

As for which floor, that is another personal choice, everyone here will give you different answers. Some people can't stand being on the first floor and hearing people walking above them (I didn't find that to be too bad on our trip this time last year) others choose the first floor so at the end of a long day in the parks, they aren't facing the stairways after getting off the bus (don't know the age of your kid, but if you have a stroller, carrying it up the stairs after 8-12 hours in the parks...it will feel like it weighs triple what it normally does). There are no elevators, so if stairs are an issue, ask for first floor.

Hope that helps.
 
here now and we were able to get in our room at 8:30 am/ We did have a choice to wait and get Jamaica which I had requested or take the room now in Aruba. We opted to take the room. While a little bit farther than I had hoped for, it's still not bad and we got a corner room and 2nd floor (which I had requested). Everything has been lovely so far and we have had some wonderful interacctions with cast members, including Carlos who checked us in. We have a car so no info on busses. Today was a relaxing day spent at the resort and Disney Springs. Tomorrow, off to MK! Yeah! One more thing - had a delicious meal at Shutters this evening.
 
here now and we were able to get in our room at 8:30 am/ We did have a choice to wait and get Jamaica which I had requested or take the room now in Aruba. We opted to take the room. While a little bit farther than I had hoped for, it's still not bad and we got a corner room and 2nd floor (which I had requested). Everything has been lovely so far and we have had some wonderful interacctions with cast members, including Carlos who checked us in. We have a car so no info on busses. Today was a relaxing day spent at the resort and Disney Springs. Tomorrow, off to MK! Yeah! One more thing - had a delicious meal at Shutters this evening.

Thanks for checking in! Hope you have a magical trip! Shutters has really turned into a hidden gem at WDW.
 
Hi! We are leaning to booking at CBR in Aug which looks lovely. My question is about bus efficiency. I just received a 2016 guide to WDW and it is not too flattering on bus frequency/service. Can you weigh in? We will not have a car. We have been to WDW a few times so I can comparE to other resorts. Thanks!!
 
Hi! We are leaning to booking at CBR in Aug which looks lovely. My question is about bus efficiency. I just received a 2016 guide to WDW and it is not too flattering on bus frequency/service. Can you weigh in? We will not have a car. We have been to WDW a few times so I can comparE to other resorts. Thanks!!

In general, Buses come at least every 20 minutes at every resort. We have stayed at All Star Sports, All Star Movies, All Star Music, POR, POFQ, CBR, BWI, BC and YC and found there is no difference in bus frequency between any of them.
 
Hi! We are leaning to booking at CBR in Aug which looks lovely. My question is about bus efficiency. I just received a 2016 guide to WDW and it is not too flattering on bus frequency/service. Can you weigh in? We will not have a car. We have been to WDW a few times so I can comparE to other resorts. Thanks!!
We'd never stayed onsite before, so can't compare. However, we had no issues at all, it was Halloween week so resort was full. I wouldn't hesitate to stay at CBR again and use the bus service.
 
In general, Buses come at least every 20 minutes at every resort. We have stayed at All Star Sports, All Star Movies, All Star Music, POR, POFQ, CBR, BWI, BC and YC and found there is no difference in bus frequency between any of them.
Thank you for your assessment. I wonder why the resort got a negative review overall in the guide. We've stayed at the Polynesian, AKL, BC and WL. Out of those, we thought BC was bad transportation due to multiple stops with other resorts.
 
We'd never stayed onsite before, so can't compare. However, we had no issues at all, it was Halloween week so resort was full. I wouldn't hesitate to stay at CBR again and use the bus service.
This is great. Thank you for the feedback.
 
We just came back on Friday. I had no issues with wait time, and rarely had super full buses. I think 2 or 3 times we were totally packed in. No complaints about the buses.
 
Hi! We are leaning to booking at CBR in Aug which looks lovely. My question is about bus efficiency. I just received a 2016 guide to WDW and it is not too flattering on bus frequency/service. Can you weigh in? We will not have a car. We have been to WDW a few times so I can comparE to other resorts. Thanks!!
Bus service has never been an issue in over 60+ days of stays at CBR. The busiest time that we had even a little issue was Christmas Day a while back, but we have stayed in August before...no issues whatsoever.
 
I called this morning to put my requests in. The CM told me he noted a special celebration pin for us and that by wearing them characters would come to us. Has anyone ever heard of this?
 
Bus service has never been an issue in over 60+ days of stays at CBR. The busiest time that we had even a little issue was Christmas Day a while back, but we have stayed in August before...no issues whatsoever.
Wow. This is great. This is why I like forums. Real experiences from real people. Thank you.
 















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