Just back...quick review of CBR

[Vacation Lover]

This was our second trip to Disney, first time staying onsite. CBR was beautiful. Here are some comments...

LOVED....
It was very quiet in our room--we NEVER heard anyone else in a nearby room or even as they were passing by our door.

The setting was beautiful. Very lush and very tropical.

The room had plenty of storage space. We're a family of 5 (youngest is 2) and had more than enough room for our clothes, diapers, park stuff, souveniers, etc.

Privacy curtain separating the beds from the sinks (two sinks!) was useful.

The food court was pretty good; loved the Mickey Waffles and they allowed us to get a Smoothie as our drink. The cupcakes at the Food Court were, quite possibly, the BEST cupcakes I've ever had! Still thinking about them...yum!

Enjoyed strolling along the sand and boardwalk areas with my DS9 on the last day.

DS9 loved the arcade and DD7 loved looking at pins in the open shopping area. All kids loved the pool & the slide.

We had a car so we drove most of the time, but the one time we took the bus to MK, it was REALLY quick and easy.


DIDN'T LIKE...
One bed was really squeaky. Every time you moved on it, it squeaked.

It was too spread out for our family--it was such a long walk to the food court & pool with a 2 year old that we ended up driving almost every time. I think we would have used the pool more often had we been a little closer. (There was a closer pool, but the kids didn't want to go to that one since it didn't have a slide.)

The concierge desk was at the custom house--away from the rest of the resort. Yes, it's on the way out of the resort, but once we were in the car and ready to head to a park, we didn't want to stop if we didn't have to. I went once to upgrade our tickets and it was packed with people checking in/out. I wanted to get a printout our DDP credits, to be sure I was calculating correctly, but it just seemed like too much of a pain to stop in and get it.

Our room was on the ground floor, and if we had the blinds open, there was no privacy from people walking past.

Housekeeping didn't replentish coffee every day. A couple of days, we only had enough for one cup of coffee; luckily I don't drink it so we were okay. On the last day, my DH went out to find housekeeping to get some since we'd run out; it was too far to go to the Food Court to get a cup.


Would I recommend it? Yes, but only if you REALLY understand how spread out it is. I thought I understood this, but once we were there it was much more of an inconvenience than I'd expected. Maybe if you don't have a toddler, or if it's just adults in your party, or if you're willing to pay for an upgraded room near the food court/pool. We had one rainy afternoon where I felt stuck in the room; had we been a little closer to Old Port Royale, I would've taken the kids down to the arcade/shops. I would especially recommend the resort if you plan to spend more time at the resort and less time in the parks; We didn't take advantage of a lot of the amenities at the resort like the Sea Racers, or spend much time playing in the sand and pools since we were in the parks.

 

[TLinden16]

Sounds like you had a nice stay, and I agree with your cons--those are my cons too. But it is a great resort.

 

[WisMom]

Hi Vacation Lover

We just returned from CBR too, just DH and myself. We loved it too and would return in a heartbeat, however I completely agree about the customs house and the squeaky beds. We had double beds, both squeaked and creaked and groaned. Just from normal movement.

We did get a big bag of coffee. We had one day when we didn't get new washclothes so we left a note and the next day our mousekeeper left a big stack of washcloths, with a big bag of soap and shampoo. We've found that leaving notes always works.

The resort is beautiful but very spread out. Jamaica was very close and we loved the walk over the bridge. I was reallly glad we were not in one of the sections that was farther away. Also, it is a real pain to get to the customs house since the park buses don't stop there.

WisMom

 

[kmchar1]

Just an FYI, there is a concierge desk at Old Port Royale that is open until 11pm everyday (next to the arcade). You can do all your concierge needs here instead of going to the Custom House. It opens at 7am.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I am kicking around the idea of staying at CBR again. I stayed there twice before, and one time I was in Trinidad South, which was just tooo isolated and too far to walk to the food court often. I would consider it again only if I get a preferred location room - never want to see Trinidad South again!

VacationLover - where was your room located?

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Glad you enjoyed CBR! I had to talk myself into staying there in October 2006 due to some reports I read on the net. I should not have worried. I decided to suck up the mustard and pay the extra $ for a preferred room. We wound up in Trinidad North (bldg 31 IIRC) and it was wonderfully close to the main pool and OPR. FANTASTIC location! I will gladly spend the extra next time I stay there too. The sandy beach was wonderful. Watching Illuminations while laying in a hammock with DW and our kids was a magical memory for me.
We also had very good bus service during our stay. I have nothing but good things to say about CBR -other than I'm not there right now.

 

[Vacation Lover]

Just an FYI, there is a concierge desk at Old Port Royale that is open until 11pm everyday (next to the arcade). You can do all your concierge needs here instead of going to the Custom House. It opens at 7am.

Don't know how I missed it because we did hit the arcade! Thanks for the info.

 

[Vacation Lover]

VacationLover - where was your room located?

We were in Aruba 56. I had requested the Aruba or Jamaica building that's right next to the path over the bridge, but we ended up with the Aruba building that was farthest away from it. The walk over there was beautiful and not really all that far, but sometimes I wished we were right there for convenience sake.

 

[mickeystoontown]

First of all, I'm glad you enjoyed your stay. We've stayed at the CBR twice and loved it both times.

The concierge desk in Old Port Royale is located right next to the arcade (to the left if you are facing the arcade). They were kind enough to track my dining plan usage and give me tips on how to use up some unused credits.

You could have also gone to any park Guest Services and they would have been able to upgrade your tickets. I think they could have also tracked your dining plan usage too.

We actually didn't have any problems with squeaky beds. They were very comfortable while we were there.

Only once did mousekeeping forgoet to leave coffee. We left a note the next day and never had a problem again for the rest of our stay.

As far as the resort being spread out, yep it is. That was part of the appeal of the resort to us though. We really enjoyed the walk around the resort and to and from our room to Old Port Royale.

 

[TheWog]

I agree. We loved CBR, but mousekeeping was our biggest gripe. We stayed in Jamaica and also enjoyed the walk over the bridge. We used the Sea Racers and the main pool, as well as the private pool. I didn't know about the OPR concierge either. We were lucky and had the Jamaica bus stop outside our building so we thought it was a nice location.

 

[Lizboo]

We just got back from a 2 week stay at CBR in the Jamaica building and LOVED it!!

 

[Diznejen1]

HI Vacation Lover!

My family and I have stayed at CBR on two vacations. The first one we figured we would save the money and did not get a preferred location.....the second time we stayed in Martinique and paid for the preferred location. What a difference it made!! It is worth every penny to be closer to OPR, and the pools.

We had no mousekeeping problems, no sqeeky beds. We did have a problem with the mini refridgerator leaking. It made the carpet damp and the room a litte musty. We called the front desk and it was replaced within the hour!

We love CBR and can't wait for the main pools refurbishment to be complete...thats when we will be back!

 

[byoung]

Thanks for reporting.

 

[TinkerBrie]

If you pay for a preferred location are there certain buildings that they put you in? We will be there in Jan. and paid for the upgrade. The pool will be closed when we are there but I am hoping to be close to the food court for my morning coffee!!

 

[PictureJumpr]

Preferred Locations are any buildings in Martinique or Trinidad North, which are on either side of the Port Royale building. It is a good thing if you are a coffee seeker - we aren't, really, and actually prefer jamaica to either of the preferred location villages because of the bus line. Coming back from the parks, Jamaica is almost always the first stop. Leaving for the parks, it is also almost always first, but that's okay because it means my mom always gets a seat. We usually request Jamaica 44 or 45, because it is right where the bridge from the island (leading to Port Royale) meets land.

We almost always stay in CBR and have loved it for years and years.

 

[septbaby]

Preferred Locations are any buildings in Martinique or Trinidad North

Not sure if this is completely accurate. We made no room requests and did not book preferred for our stay. We were in Martinique 22 and the CM specifically said at check in "its as close to preferred as you can get w/o being preferred". Thus I don't think we just got an upgrade. We were however delighted with the location. CBR was a really nice place to start and end our WDW days.

 

[SnowWtch]

We just got back from CBR Sept 29-Oct 1. We were in room 5404 which was a handicap accessible room but didn't have the walk in shower. It was a lower tub with handlebars to help you in and out. Mousekeeping was good but I do agree about the bed. The bed squeaked every time you turned over. It was annoying. We were in Aruba not far from the bus and our car which was good but we were a real hike to Port Royale. It was quiet. We didn't even know there were others around. Even the parking lot was almost empty. Having double sinks was fun and a large room was great but since it's only the two of us it's not that big of a deal. We love CBR but we've decided that we're going to stick to POFQ from now on b/c it's smaller. I know there's an internal shuttle to get to the food court but I think we just prefer the more intimate POFQ atmosphere.

 

[cneast2]

We stayed at CBR the last week in September. We loved it. We were in Trinidad South and yes, it was quite a hike to OPR but in the morning it was an enjoyable one. The internal buses worked out great when we needed them. It was so quiet. We saw Illuminations from the beach. There were bunnies in the walkways and they didn't seem too concerned when we shared the walkway with them. Housekeeping was great and we did not have squeaky beds. We will stay there again and I think we will request Trinidad South.

 

[catbertdave99]

septbaby, you are correct -- the preferred locations are Martinique 24, 25, 26 and all of Trinidad North (31, 32, 33) -- that said, I think any of the Martinique locations, Jamaica, or Aruba are still relatively close to OPR... We love CBR, and I especially enjoy walking the Promenade walkway around the lake each morning with a refillable mug of coffee.... peaceful and beautiful!!