Tell me about Caribbean Beach Resort

[DisDynasty]

Who can give me some good tips and thoughts on this resort? I'm looking for first hand experiences, the layout, the size of the rooms, the food court, the pools, any toddler areas? Any info I should know...

We are thinking of staying here in September but I have only stayed here once and that was many many many years ago (10+) so I'm sure it's changed and honestly, I don't remember much besides it had a big pool with a big slide and waterfall type thing. But I do remember getting lost trying to walk back to our room from the pool lol so that would be another question of mine,

What building is the best to request that is near the food court, bus stops, and main pool??

We also have a toddler, wondering if their is any area for her to play..... We typically stay at the values but depending on FD were probably going to switch to CB

Thanks in advance for any info

 

[DisGirl819]

We stayed in Jamaica and it was directly across the lake from the pool and gift shop. Easy walk. Also there is a kiddie pool with water slide and our dd loved it at 18 months.there are also playgrounds around that are fun.

 

[Missytara]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3032047

Above is a link to the official CBR thread. Check out the first page.

 

[Polybound]

We've stayed there once. It's a very large resort. I read where the pool was re-done and is better. There are several different groups of rooms, with each group being named after a different Island in the Caribbean. A central Island is where you check in, restaurants - Blue Runner Pizza, Shutters and the food court are located. It's a pretty long walk from each Island to the central Island. Each Island has its own bus stop. One of the things that was frustrating to us, was that many times the buses would just pass our Island by going to another Island. It just seemed (maybe it was all perception) that the bus waits just took a whole lot longer than in other resorts we've stayed at. Also, the bus ride to everywhere just seemed to be longer.

 

[LovinPooh]

Get a preferred room in martinque. Its worth the cost. Cbr is gorgeous. Never had an issue with buses. With the preffered room we were closer to the bus stop than the deluxe resorts we have been to.
The food court is beautiful with the biggest selection i have seen at the food courts. The room was nice. And the beach area was a plus too. Loved lounging in the hammocks. The pool is one of my kids favorites. I didnt care for the chairs at the pool. But it was dealable.
There are so many that dont like this place. But we thought it is one of the best.
Martinque was right next to food,pool, n bus.

 

[mickeystoontown]

A friend of mine recently asked me for info on the CBR and I think that it may help you out as well. Here's part one. Part two will follow in the next post.

Many people talk about just how large the Caribbean Beach Resort is. Yes, it is a big resort but this means that the guests are distributed evenly throughout the resort and you won’t feel crowded. We have been at the resort when it was at full capacity and we would have never known it had I not been chatting with the castmember who told me at check in.

The resort is made up of 6 villages: Barbados, Martinique, Aruba, Jamaica, Trinidad North and Trinidad South. All buildings in the village of Trinidad South have been redone with a heavy pirate theme. All other rooms in the resort have a slight Nemo theme.

During three of our stays, we were assigned to Jamaica Buildings 41 and 42. Our upstairs rooms faced a beautiful courtyard. The walk to Old Port Royale was about 5 minutes and that was at a nice leisurely pace. The walk to the bus stop, the quiet pool and the laundry facilities took just 2 minutes. We especially liked crossing over the bridge and through the island to reach the main pool and food court.

During our 2007 stay, we were placed in a non-preferred Martinique building. The walk to all CBR destinations took approximately the same amount of time as our walk from Jamaica.

In August, 2008, we were assigned to one of the then new Nemo themed rooms. When I booked the trip, there were no standard room locations available and we had to pay for a preferred location. We were placed in Martinique 25 and, again, our walk was short and pleasant.

When we checked into the resort in August, 2009, we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had been given a free upgrade to Martinique 26 even though we had paid for a standard location. Martinique 26 was the closest building to Old Port Royale meaning our walk was super short. As a matter of fact, we were so close to Old Port Royale that we used their bus stop instead of the Martinique bus stop.

In 2012, we stayed at the CBR twice. Pre-cruise, we were in Barbados and our walk took us a little over 6 minutes most times. We did get behind a young family pushing a stroller so that took us a little longer. After the cruise, we were in Aruba and our walk was the same as that when we stayed in Jamaica.

There are four categories of rooms at the CBR.

Standard location rooms: These are located in the villages of Barbados, Jamaica, Aruba and some buildings in Martinique and Trinidad North.

King bed rooms: These are scattered throughout the resort but not in Trinidad South.

Water view rooms: Disney’s version of a water view room (at any resort) can mean you’ll either be looking at a swimming pool or a lake. They even consider it a water view if you have to look way over to one side so you can get a glimpse of the water. In my opinion, I’d save my money and not book a water view.

Pirate theme rooms: These are all found in the village of Trinidad South. Some complain about the walk from Trinidad South to Old Port Royale but I timed my walk and it was less than 7 minutes walking at a leisurely pace.

The rooms at the CBR are a bit larger than the other moderates at 340 square feet. Believe me, when you start getting all of your people and all their luggage into the room, you’ll be glad you have the extra space.

Most rooms have two double beds but there are some that have a king size bed. There are no king size beds in the pirate themed rooms.

The pirate themed rooms have beds that look like pirate ships, the dresser stacked crates, the nightstand is a barrel and the table is a compass. The privacy curtain has a large skull and cross bones on it. There is also a bench in the room. Even the carpet is themed to look like boards.

In the Nemo themed rooms, the furniture is more traditional in style but includes the same pieces as the pirate themed rooms. Everything is bright and colorful with Nemo characters on the bedspread. The wallpaper border has Nemo characters on it as well. The privacy curtain is a light orange color.

In both type of rooms, there are two sinks in the sink/closet area. The closet has a long closet rod with about a dozen wooden hangers. I usually bring along more and just leave them there when we leave. There is a small safe in the closet area. It’s pretty slim but we have been able to store a portable DVD players, my son’s PSP, a wallet, all of my husband’s epilepsy medications and a set of keys in the safe.

All rooms come with a hairdryer, iron, ironing board, refrigerator and coffeemaker at no extra charge.

The bathrooms are the typical hotel/motel bathroom size. The bathrooms in the pirate rooms have the Flying Dutchman etched into the shower wall. The bathrooms in the Nemo rooms have a pretty flower etched into the shower wall.

Mousekeeping has always been great. We have gotten several towel animals during each of our four stays. The trash was taken out and our floor vacuumed daily. We were always supplied with fresh towels, washcloths , shampoo and soap. They also replinished our coffee supply each morning. I tip our mousekeeper(s) by leaving an envelope on the nightstand.

I can honestly say that the CBR rooms are really quiet. As with just about all Disney resorts, you can occasionally hear the “power toilets” flushing next door but it’s not bad at all. We hardly ever heard our neighbors. If they were walking by and were talking loudly, we would hear them. Most times, it was just quiet.

Each village has their own quiet pool. During the hot months, they can become a bit crowded but that’s to be expected. That being said, we have also gone to the quiet pool and found ourselves all alone. Laundry facilities are located near each village quiet pool. You can swim and do laundry at the same time!

The white sandy beaches in each village are swept clean each night. It’s so nice and relaxing to just sit in a beach chair or laze in a hammock. Several of the beaches have small playgrounds for the kids to play on.

The walk around the promenade is very pretty. You can get a real feel of the resort by walking the 1.4 mile promenade. At one point, you will walk on wooden walkways through a wooded area. The flowering trees and bushes are everywhere. Plenty of picture taking opportunities along the way.

The refurbed main pool can get crowded in the Summer months but, like at all Disney resorts, that’s to be expected. The pool is now zero entry and has water slides for all ages. There is a play area just for kids which is really cool. There’s a slide and water tumbles out of a huge bucket. Really nice!

Also located near the main pool are two new hot tubs, a hair wrap station, umbrella tables and a pool bar.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a little tip I gave my 70 something year old mother when she traveled with us. From your resort village, find the sign that points you in the direction of the beach. Once you make it to the beach, you'll be on the promenade that goes all the way around the resort.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Part two:

At the resort marina, you can rent pontoon boats, canoes, watermice, bicycles and surrey bikes. For the kids in your group, there’s a pirate adventure cruise at a price that won’t kill your pocketbook. The kids are taken out on the resort lake in a pontoon boat and they search for pirate treasure. Lunch is included in the pirate cruise price.

Old Port Royale houses the store, the food court, a Concierge desk and the arcade. The store is divided into two sections with one side selling Pirates of the Caribbean and tropical merchandise. They even sell coconut postcards that you can mail home to friends and family. The other side of the store sells the more traditional Disney merchandise such as snowglobes, t-shirts, purses, watches, hats, scrapbooking items, etc. One corner of the store has a small selection of over the counter meds., magazines, breads, baby food, drinks, chips, etc.

Old Port Royale is also where package pickup is located.

The arcade is not super large but it had plenty of games and room to keep up with the crowds.

The food court is set up in sections. You simply go to each station, order and get your food and then go to a central cashier. Easy to do.

The grab-n-go section has fresh made sandwiches, salads, yogurt, fresh fruit, pies, cakes, veggies and dip, lots of fresh baked breads and pastries and other items. At the pizza station, you will find pizzas, pastas, large deli type sandwiches and fresh tossed salads. Burger, chicken strips and hot dogs are served at another station. The kids’ chicken meal is served in a plastic sand pail with a shovel that the kids get to keep. Comes in real handy on the beaches. Yet another station has rotissiere chicken, roasted turkey, vegetables and hot sandwiches.

At breakfast, an assortment of breakfast meats, Mickey waffles, fresh fruit, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns and omelets are served.

Shutters is the full service restaurant located on property. You check in at Old Port Royale.

The food court seating area is large and we have never had a problem finding a table. The self serve drink area goes in a circle with several drink stations. On the condiments bar, there are hot tea bags, honey, assorted jellies, parmesan cheese, hot pepper sauce and fixings for burgers. There are also a couple of microwaves and toasters available for use.

If you want to take your items to go, just tell the CMs who are plating your meals. They will provide you with tops for the dishes. At the register ask the CM for a bag. They will give you a large brown bag with handles which makes for easy carrying.

Hopefully, this will help out those who were like me when I was planning our first stay at the CBR.

The CBR does not share transportation with any other resort. Each village has their own bus stop which are covered. The bus stops have several benches, cola machines and newspaper machines. Buses have always ran efficiently during each of our four stays. The only time we have had a semi-long wait (less than 30 minutes) was for a morning bus to Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney. Should you encounter troubles with any bus at the CBR, simply pick up the phone at the bus stop. There’s a directory near the phone telling you which option to push for assistance.

Because the CBR is centrally located, it wont’ take you long to reach any Disney destination. Yes, the CBR buses do stop at each bus stop before heading out of the resort. But, it really doesn’t take as long as you would think to leave the resort. When we stayed in Jamaica, I timed our trip to Hollywood Studios. From the time we sat down on the bus, made our way around the resort, left the resort and pulled into Hollwood Studios bus stop, it took just 11 minutes. The drives to other parks were short and sweet too.

Even though we have a car at our disposal, we don’t drive it. We let Disney do the driving for us! Last year, we did take our car to Hollywood Studios but only because we wanted to get there super early for Star Wars Weekend.

If you are in the resort and don’t want to walk to your village or to Old Port Royale, simply go to the nearest bus stop and wait for the Internal Shuttle bus. It makes stops at each village.

 

[crzyeeyoreangel]

Thanks mickeystoontown! I was still considering CBR has my first mod room. I think you helped me feel good about this choice.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks mickeystoontown! I was still considering CBR has my first mod room. I think you helped me feel good about this choice.

You're welcome! I have a ton of pictures of the resort in my Excuse Me trip report if you want to take a look around.

 

[crzyeeyoreangel]

You're welcome! I have a ton of pictures of the resort in my Excuse Me trip report if you want to take a look around.

I will have to take a look.