First Timers At Caribbean Beach,any tips from anyone?

[darel]

Hey Everybody out there in Disney lovers world! This year,we are staying at the caribbean beach resort for the first time.We have done ALL of the allstar resorts and POP,but this year we're doing something different.Does anyone have any good tips for staying at the caribbean beach resort?Which section of buildings are the quietest?As in,like when you are in your room,during quiet time?How much better should this stay be,than staying at the allstars or pop?I expect this to be a better stay,but what are some of the fringe benefits for staying at a moderate resort?If anyone could be of service in this matter for me,I really would appreciate it.Thanks.

 

[cslittle999]

You need to head over to Safetymom's great faq thread at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?threadid=655543. It has everything that you need to know.

We weren't at the resort much during the day so I don't know where is quietest but with each village having its own pool the people tend to be spread out so overall I would think it is quieter than the Values.

We stayed in Jamacia. Usually the first stop for the buses. Short walk to Old Port Royale.

You'll enjoy the larger rooms and how much storage space there is. I think that a fridge is included now but it wasn't when we were there. You'll have a great time.

 

[safetymom]

I don't think you will find a lot of noise no matter where you stay at CBR. You truly feel like you have escaped to the island. Every village has a quiet pool so if the main pool is crowded you have many more to go to.

I also have lots of pictures of CBR on my website listed below. If you have any more questions about CBR just ask in the FAQ thread and someone will be along to answer your CBR question.

 

[bugbugmom]

We stayed @ CBR Sept 2003. We were in the Jamaica section. It was beautiful. We were close to the bus stop. It was one of the 1st busstops to the parks and the 1st busstop return to the resort from the parks. We weren't close to the dining, but we had our own car. Have a great trip!

 

[marc1477]

We have stayed in Jamaica twice. I would say that the entire resort is quiet. For us, Jamaica was perfect. Nice garden view from the room, pool not too far away, Port Royal was only about a 5-6 min walk across the bridge. As for bus service, its frequent. Jamaica is usually the first to pick up and drop off ont eh bus loop around the resort. Hope you have fun and enjoy the CBR.

 

[Best_Vacation_EVER!]

We stayed in the Jamaica buildings and as others have said it was great for buses. The walk to Port Royal was only about 5 minutes and the path was very scenic. The resort itself was very relaxing -- loved the hammocks on the beaches.

There's lots to do there -- you can rent bikes, boats, etc... There are play areas close to the villages. The main pool is a lot of fun and the quiet pools were really relaxing. There's also a hot tub at the main pool. The bird and turtle feeding area near Port Royal seemed to be really popular with the kids. Every night you can see the Illuminations fireworks from Port Royale.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Just curious - we are paying extra for a preferred view (hopefully Martinique) and yet it seems as if everyone likes Jamaica better and is it true that Jamaica is the first bus pick up. Maybe I should just pay the regular price and hope we get Jamaica or Aruba.

 

[catbertdave99]

Just curious - we are paying extra for a preferred view (hopefully Martinique) and yet it seems as if everyone likes Jamaica better and is it true that Jamaica is the first bus pick up. Maybe I should just pay the regular price and hope we get Jamaica or Aruba.

We stayed in Martinique 2549 and loved it. Was it worth the extra money? That depends, of course. We were really close to POR and the Martinique beach, both of which were hits for my DS14 and DS11, so that made it worthwhile for us. However, I think if we'd been at the far end of Martinique, I think maybe it wouldn't have been worth the difference.

See, the thing is, I don't think you can go wrong with anyplace at this resort -- there's a beach at each village, a quiet pool at each village, and particularly from Jamaica or Aruba the walk to POR isn't bad at all. Maybe if you were in Barbados or Trinidad South it might feel too long, but it's so beautiful and easy to get around that I think we might be fine there as well!

All I can tell you is you'll love CBR no matter where you are...!

 

[CleveRocks]

Just curious - we are paying extra for a preferred view (hopefully Martinique) and yet it seems as if everyone likes Jamaica better and is it true that Jamaica is the first bus pick up. Maybe I should just pay the regular price and hope we get Jamaica or Aruba.

A couple different thoughts here ...

At CBR you can pay $15 extra per night for "preferred location" or for "water view." Preferred location means closest to Old Port Royale. That's three of the buildings in Martinique and all of the buidlings in Trinidad North. "Water view" means just what it sounds like. From what 2 different CMs told me during my reservation process, you can't pay $30 extra per night for preferred location AND water view (which is what I had wanted to do). Obviously, some of the guests in the preferred location rooms luck out and get the water view for free. I wasn't one of them. But I did end up with a room about as close to the bus stop as you can get, which turned out to be VERY convenient for me, especially when carrying a sleeping toddler.

I've stayed at CBR twice. I've never understood the facscination with Jamaica. Or rather, I've never understood why there's not equal love for Aruba. They're both directly across the lake from Old Port Royale, and the bridge to Old Port Royale begins/ends at the dividing line between the two villages. I stayed in Aruba once, and I agree that Jamaica or Aruba are great locations if you're not willing to pay extra to be even closer to OPR in Trinidad North (the other place I stayed) or Martinique.

The other thing is that Jamaica is not always the first bus stop. The buses use at least two different entry/exit points. It depended on which park the buses were going to/coming from, but I can't remember which routes used which entrance/exit. I know for a fact that in May I was often on buses whose first stop was Martinique (which I always liked because that made Trinidad North the 3rd stop, after Martinique and OPR).


If you don't want to be farthest from OPR then you want to avoid Trinidad South. Barbados seems to be closer than T. South but farther than any of the others.

CBR is great. You'll love it. I've never been in a Value, but I know that CBR's rooms are bigger, so you'll probably like that.

ENJOY!!!

-- Eric

 

[shafke]

Trinidad South is not as bad as some make it out to be. The walk to the food court is 10 maybe 15 minutes. If you are going the and back to your room then maybe it is far. However, if you are going to eat in the food court and then hop on a bus it is not bad.

 

[LandscapePro_318]

Darel,

You guys will Love CBR….

We just returned from a 6 night / 7day stay there and it was wonderful. Aruba building 51 was our location (5107) to be exact.

The building is at the foot of the bridge across the small island from the main pool and food court area. The Jamaica complex is just on your right as you cross the bridge. No excess noise all week.. I’m talking quiet here.

Our room was about halfway between the bus stops of Jamaica and Aruba. We used the Jamaica bus stop as I thought it a slight bit closer. The buses were for the most part empty in the mornings at that stop. CleveRocks has a point about buses using different entrances to CBR. However, we were told that drivers making use of the rear exit were “breaking the rules” and weren’t supposed to be going out that way.

LOL …It got to be a running joke as to which route we were going to take. It wasn’t a problem, just something fun to guess at. We several times returned to CBR and got off the bus at Old Port Royal..walked through the lobby..and across the island to our room instead of waiting for the bus to make the circle around the resort.

Don’t overlook Shutters at CBR as a place to eat for dinner. There are TONS of great places to eat at WDW (we were on the dining plan and it saved us bucks!) but it would be a shame to miss out on the food right there at CBR on at least one night of your stay.

There are laundry facilities at the “quiet pool” area and you can set your watch by the 30 min. signs posted on the machines..LOL Yep, 1 hour to do a load.

If you care to putter around the lake, take advantage of the “Commander’s Special” at the Marina. 4 hours of watercraft time for use during your stay for 125.00.

There are some nice “hammock spots” on the island for a great nap or take your food out and eat on the picnic tables.

Enjoy your stay.! We loved it and will be staying at CBR again on our next trip.

Mike

 

[marc1477]

When you make your reservations, just request Jamaica for your room if you want it.

 

[gibmom]

Hey! You might want to keep a map with you at first. Everytime I left my building I felt I entered into a different place. The buildings are a funny shape.A couple times I thought I'd left my building to go straight to the car but I'd end up in a totally different part of the parking lot. But you might have a better sense of direction than me! My girls enjoyed the pizza and ordered a whole one to share several times. It is a lovely resort!
Julie

 

[Orgamizer]

We stayed in CBR - Martinique in 2002 and got a preferred room. When we checked in we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a corner room overlooking the lagoon. We were close to the bus stop but I don't remember how far away the food court was, but it didn't seem very far. The only bad thing was that we were on the ground floor and there was alot of foot traffic going by our room to the lagoon early am and late pm. But overall, we loved the rooms which are more spacious and now the fridge is included (we paid $10/night). Also mousekeeping did something special each day for our son who was 9. She made washcloth animals, and arranged his stuffed animals in the windows and above the bed and left little notes from Mickey and friends wishing him a great trip!! The room was always sparkling clean!! Needless to say we showed our appreciation with little thankyou notes, candy, and a big tip everyday!!! The only other drawback is that we were there in July and it was very crowded and very busy. The bus stops at each building of the resort so sometimes the buses were crowded and it took a little while longer for us to get to the theme parks. But overall the whole experience was great and i would stay there again!!

 

[jellymanoffspring]

Also a fan of CBR here!!

If you are at the hotel in the evening...you can see some fireworks from EPCOTS Illuminatons.......(from the Martinique beach/POR).

 

[cruiselightupmylife]

Your pictures were great, but there were none of the Steam Trains!!!!!!

And you call yourself a Disney Fanatic!!!!!!!!

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

We stayed at CB Aruba area in Sept 2002 and I loved it. We were a stone throws away from the bus stop, the pool right around the corner and the best part only us and 1 other couple were in the entire buildling. It was so peaceful and beautiful. We had the pool to ourselves and never had to worry about getting a seat on the bus. The main house was only a short 5 min walk away and the food court here was our favorite. Mmmm, they had the best lasagna.
I highly recommend CB and would like to stay there again, but I'm trying to get a few more resorts under my belt before committing to one favorite.

Tabitha
Sept 2002- Carribbean Beac
Sept 2004- Pop Century
Dec 2005- All Star Music or Port Orleans French Quarter????

 

[darel]

To all that posted,
Thanks so much for all of yall's info.It appears that I might want to ask for either Jamaica or Aruba.But let me ask:Reading other info about cbr,maybe on disney's site,I'm not sure,I thought that I read that Aruba,and maybe Jamaica also,was smoking rooms.Is this true?If so,those two sections are out.We are not smokers and do not want any of that around us.If anyone knows a little more about that,please send me a post.Thanks.

 

[safetymom]

As far as I know only Aruba 51 is smoking optional.

 

[aalan]

...requesting a non-smoking room and never had problems with people smoking.
i think you cant go wrong with the jamaica/aruba locations, but i should point out that it is a short walk over to the food court. that means even if you want say, just a cup of coffee, you have to take a walk. for us its no big deal, and its part of the fun of staying at cbr. for others, who maybe arent in walking shape or dont want to drag the kids constantly, this seems to be too long a walk. these folks are usually happier at martinique, which is very close to the food court and main pool. the bus rotation does change: sometimes jamaica is lst, and sometimes its last. have had good luck with bus service at cbr. i believe the rooms were redone last year, and a refrigerator is included in all the rooms now. its a nice, relaxing resort.