Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort (Disney Moderate Resort) Reviews and Ratings - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We really enjoyed our stay at CBR Aruba in Sept 2009. Of course, we have nothing else to compare it to. We were across Parrot Cay from the pool and food, but it was at most a 5 minute walk. We did not use the WDW bus system, so I can't remark on that. But we really did love the pool and the thememing. Nonni
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BUILDING:We had a ground floor corner room in Aruba 52. The building loacation was very convienant to the quiet pool in Aruba, a short walk to the bridge across to OPR, and a little further from the bus stop then I would have liked, but it worked. The room loacation was excellent, with the ground floor there were no worries about having a stroller, the corner location gave us an extra window and we had no issues with noise from the walkways.
ROOM:The room itself was wonderful, it was large enough for us to tuck the Pack and play in the corner and leave it set-up all week. Having the refrigerator was great (we had milk, juice and yogurt delivered from Garden Grocers) and allowed us to eat breakfast in the room each morning. Mousekeeping was great and made towel animals and even left us little Thank You notes! The beds were comfortable and the decor was fresh and tropical. The privacy curtain was a welcome addition as it allowed us to use three areas for changing at once (the bathroom, the vanity area and the bedroom) which was very good with 5 people in the room. the vanity area was large enough and we loved having two sinks. We did not use the coffee maker at all as we had refillable mugs and usually went over to OPR for that.
RESORT: We loved the theming of the resort and found the cast members to be very pleasant! The walk from our building over to Old Port Royal was quick and easy and the kids loved going over the Cay. We saw the ducks daily and bunnies and frogs and fish! The quiet pool was nice, but nothing too exciting, just like any hotel pool. The theme pool was great. The best feature for us with children was the zero entrance. It was very condusive to all three swimming levels we have in our family (Ages 2, 5, and 8) the older two enjoyed the pirate themes splash area but the 2 year old was run/pushed over as soon as he entered. I did find that there didn't seem to be enough supervision by parents of their children in the splash area so watch your young ones because there were some unsupervised ones being pretty "rough" and "unruely" in that area. Towels were always available and we never had a problem finding chairs. Mom & dad enjoyed and evening beverage from The Bannana Cabanna most nights and found them to be a good value (speaking "resort pricing wise" )
The food court at Old Port Royale was one of our favorite places to eat QS all week. The size of the meals was a great value (One lunch DH and I each got a chicken ceasar salad and we could have easily done with one to split) The Grab and Go had a great selection that was fresh and changed throughout the day (Bagels/donuts in the am, muffins/cookies/cupcakes/danish etc. in the afternooon/evening.) We never had an issue finding a table and liked that they had additional tables outside. The stores were well stocked and the CM's there were wonderful. The concierge desk in OPR was very helpful in checking on our dining plan credits, printing out our room charges, helping us get last minute ADR's etc. We had only one issue with bus service all week and that was coming back from DHS. At the resort we never waited longer then 15 minutes for a bus. Check-in and check-out was seamless and bell services was very accomodating whenever we called (Luggage delivery, grocery delivery, pack n play delivery, room move due to our last night being "room only" ressie.
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We stayed for the first time in Aug. 2009. The resort is very large but we found it manageable. We traveled with an 11 yo and an 15 month old and although the walk to OPR was a little long the walk to a bus stop was not so bad. We loved the size of the room and the mousekeeping. We had several towel animals when we came back from our first full day out I wont rush back to this resort as we had more magic when we stayed at POR but it was a very nice resort.
Just back and very unhappy about our CBR stay. We had done a land/sea/land trip. The first portion of our stay was at POR, we really loved this resort.
At CBR there was trash on the staircase when we got there and three days later the trash was still there. I took pix so that I can send them to Disney management. In the food court the cashier was on the phone while waiting on me. I have been to Disney at least twenty times and I have never seen this.
My room had gummies on the floor and a bottle cap. No shampoo or soap or pen to
write with.
It is a beautiful resort and the bus system was good, those were positives.
Needless to say I will never stay at this resort again.
I can't wait to stay in CBR because of the music of the Caribbean! and the Lava Smoothy I love that drink! I love to stay in the CBR again on for March 11-13, 2011! Awesome!
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JEANY SANCHEZ
Last edited by JEANYLASER; 02-03-2011 at 06:09 PM..
Well, we just made it back- less than 24 hours ago from our week long vacation to Disney World staying at Caribbean Beach. I had high hopes for this resort, and regret to inform that our trip was not as good as I had hoped. First, when we checked in our room wasn't ready. I know that checking in early means there is a chance it won't be ready, but I had hoped. Then I was told that it would be ready by 3:00 p.m. and that I would get a text message to let me know when it was ready. They told me to go to the concierge to get our tickets for Spirit of Aloha. So I got all my things, went over to Concierge to get our tickets. First, the lady messed up getting my tickets for SOA- she took 1 too many meal credits, and then had to credit them back. 3:00 rolled around and I hadn't rec'd a text or a call so I called and they told me my room was ready, so we went back to CBR to the room. We were in Jamaica in bldg 44 which is where I requested. It was nice, and close to the bus stop and the quiet pool. Room was clean and fairly spacious. The bus system over 7 days was horrible. We would wait for a long time no matter when I was at the stop to go to a park, or at a park to come back. One day I stood at MK for 30 minutes and our bus never came. A driver from Pop Century was there, delivered passengers to the resort, and made it back before our bus even came. He called someone and told them that he was picking us up and taking us back to the resort. Then 3 days I arrived in my room after 3:00 in the afternoon and Mousekeeping had never came. I had to call the mousekeeping line to get someone up there in order to clean, and I saw mousekeeping several days with carts outside of rooms at 5:00 in the evening. That is entirely to late for a room to be cleaned. One day one of my towels hadn't even been changed. My DD bathingsuit got hot pink dye on a towel after she swam and I piled all the towels in the bathtub that had been used and when I came back that evening the towel was hung up over the rack and had the pink stuff on the other side when I took it down. Not to mention I wrote a little poem and placed it in the mousekeeping envelope everyday that had a little saying about a towel animal and only on the last day did we get some. On the morning of our checkout day I called bell services before 7:00 to tell them that I had a DME pickup time of 10:30 and needed someone to come help with our luggage, they told me they would have someone there at 10:00 to get us and the luggage. The bell services man didn't get there until 10:13. I had to ship a box back and pay my room off so a gentleman put me in the concierge line so I could do that. Ironically I got the same CM as the one that messed up my SOA tickets and I told her I wanted to pay off my room balance which was $400. I wanted to use the rest of my GC and pay the remainder in cash. I gave her the GC first and then told her I would pay the rest in cash. Well she must have been confused, she messed it up and said it wouldn't take the GC, Well I had 300 in cash so I said not to full with the GC and I would do cash and then the rest on my Mastercard that was on file. So she did that and then printed the receipt and said it took the GC, and that she would credit my MC the difference back, then she gave me the ppw to ship the box back. My DD ran in and said I had 2 minutes before the bus was leaving, so now I was really rushed. Needless to say I got everything finished and barely made the DME bus to the airport. Overall I wasn't satisfied with our stay here, and won't stay again. I was actually more impressed with Pop Century last year than CBR this year. These are just my thoughts and if someone else stays at this resort I hope they have a better experience than I did.
We just returned from our Honeymoon (May 7th-14th) We loved this resort. We stayed in Jamaica room 4312. Great location. Across the bridge from the main pool and food court. We had a corner room right next to the smaller pool and close to the bus stop. The theming was great and loved the Caribbean feel. The rooms were clean and the mousekeeping was great. The food court had lots to choose from and the staff was friendly. I would stay here again and I would recommend this resort to anyone.
We stayed at CBR from June 17, 2010 - June 26, 2010. From the moment we checked in, I knew we would be happy! David, the cm who did our check in was WONDERFUL! He was so friendly and helpful and just made it such a happy welcome for us! We chose to take the walk from the customs house to our room (4345 in Jamaica). While yes, it was a good walk, it certainly wasn't unmanageable. The theming was so beautiful that it really was a pleasure. Throughout our stay we didn't encounter a single cm that wasn't wonderful! I was completely impressed by this! Even the mousekeepers went out of their way to be friendly and helpful! We never ate at Shutters, so I cannot comment on it. We did eat breakfast at the food court a couple of times, though. While it wasn't absolutely spectacular, it was good and quick. The chocolate chip pancakes were really yummy! DH didn't care for the eggs, but it's hard to find good eggs when eating out anyway. Our room was always cleaned and nice when we arrived back in the evenings. I had heard horror stories about the size of the resort, but rest assured, it isn't as long of walks everywhere as some of you may have read. If the walks do bother you, there is an internal shuttle that comes by about every 20 minutes. We really didn't use it, but did see it! The only time the size was a factor was in getting our luggage to the customs house for our airline check in. We chose to have bell services come and get us and our luggage and take us over. The $$ we tipped was $$ well spent! He was there exactly at the time scheduled, he was super friendly, and it was a piece of cake getting all checked in! We really enjoyed our time at CBR and would definitely stay there again!
We took our 1st Disney vacation in June 2010 and stayed 5 nights at CBR. I chose the resort because I thought the beach theme would appeal to the whole family. I was right, the moment we stepped into Custom House everything was easy-breezy. We used on-line check in and after an ME drop-off, we were 3rd in line, with 2 CMs working the on-line check-in desk. So check-in took about 7 minutes. Our room was ready at 10:45am on a Saturday, DH was amazed. We had booked a water view room and I had requested Jamaica 44 or 45 via phone prior to our trip. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get our room request, then I realized that we had been upgraded to the preferred buildings of Trinidad North. We had our water view and were right next to Ole Port Royale and the main swimming pool! After check-in, we waited about 7 minutes for an internal shuttle to take us to our room. We were in room 3151, on the 2nd floor with a great view of Barefoot Bay and Caribbean Cay. The room was very clean and fresh, with the AC blasting, thank goodness. We grabbed a quick pizza lunch and refillable mugs at OPR, then headed out to Downtown Disney. When we returned, our checked bags had been delivered to our room and we called Bell Services to bring up our Garden Grocer order. They were there within 20 minutes. Bus service was great all week, we never waited more than 10 minutes, even after fireworks. DH was thrilled to let someone else do the driving. Except for 1 day, Mousekeeping had our room cleaned before our afternoon breaks. She was also very generous with the towel animals. We ate at the resort TS, Shutters once during our stay and it was very good, no leftovers for us! Sadly, when it was time to leave, CBR was very efficient with our check-out. We scheduled a time for Bell Services to pick us and our luggage up and they arrived promptly. We quickly picked up our boarding passes at RAC and then checked out of the resort. At the airport, since I was hinting at a return trip, I asked DH, since he now knew more about Disney and other resorts, where he would want to stay when we return (not very subtle) He said that he would be perfectly happy staying at Caribbean Beach Resort again!
Stayed here once and won't go back. The service was atrocious!! Extremely slow check-in, rude CM's, etc. Tried checking out the same day I checked in. Was not real thrilled about walking across a dimly lit parking lot at night to get back to my room from the bus stop. It was actually the first (and only) time I did not feel safe at WDW. The resort is very spread out, so depending on which area you are in, it can be quite a walk to get to the main building/pool. Went to the main pool and it was so packed, headed back to the room. Mousekeeping was barely there. Used towels were left in the tub and still there upon return from the parks at the end of the day. Rug never vacuumed. No soap or shampoo left. I ran out of there on my check-out day (two days later).
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July 2013 - San Diego November-December 2013 - Art of Animation & Port Orleans French Quarter
I love CBR because of colorful rooms and shops and dining looks awesome! And we are coming back to CBR for Mar 2011! This is awesome place to stay we can't hardly wait!
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JEANY SANCHEZ
Last edited by JEANYLASER; 02-06-2011 at 03:58 PM..
We had a great room (Aruba 51) that was really close to the path to OPR. I enjoyed the theming of the pool and our room, and really liked the size of the room
BUT...
I was not crazy about the busses. 6 stops stops each time we got on/off the bus was just too much. They were always crowded (especially for the end of September). Busses leaving the resort were plentiful. Returning home was another story. There were several times that we waited well over 35 minutes to return home (and that was even before the end of the night rush).
Our room was kempt, but there were a couple of things that needed some TLC (like our shower curtain - did notice some mildew on it ) Our Mousekeeper plied us and our neighbors with towels, even though we hung ours up to reuse. I also didn't think6 bars) for a 6 day trip. We didn't need that or the shampoo. It seemed a little wasteful.
I also had a little trouble getting our bags from Bell Services on our arrival night. We arrived at CBR around 11 a.m. and our room wasn't ready (didn't expect it to be, but we've been lucky before) so we checked our bags with Bell Services for the day. We got back to CBR around 9:30/10p and I tried to call to get our bags... I was put on hold for over 10 minutes. I tried calling again and again. By the time I'd given up on the phone and walked over to OPR it was 10:31. Concierge desk closes at 10:30. I asked the girls what I should do, they put their "we're closed sign" up and walked away with no response other than to call the front desk. So I walked over to the phone in the lobby and was put on hold. Again... We didn't get our bags from Bell Services until 12:30 a.m. Not so good with a 2 and 4 year old in the room.
Bob at Calypso traders was a wonderful resource and for the most part, the CMs on property were great.
I'm glad we stayed there to try it out, but I think we'll stick to the other mods from now on.
CBR is a beautiful resort. My kids enjoyed the pirate ship slide in the kiddie pool. My husband and I were not too crazy with the food choices at this resort. Thank goodness we had an ADR everynight at the theme parks or I really can't imagine having more than one meal at CBR. We requested martinique but got Jamaica. We liked the jamica section. most often than not it was the first stop on the way back from the parks (big plus for us). one tip if you have kids request a ground floor room. we did!!!!! you really don't want to carry strollers up the stairs to get to your room. We stayed at Coronado springs two years ago I really liked it better that CBR, the pepper market at CSR had more variety with the food. The kids preferred CBR instead because they loved the pirate ship at the pool. I do say if anyone wishes to stay at this resort do some research. think about were you want to stay. this resort is big and your location can make or break your vacation especially with kids. If I had a choice we would stay at Coronado springs instead of this resort. I also remember the buses running more efficiently at coronado springs. Our wait times for this resort were kind of long for my taste .
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Gabriella
Last edited by mylittleminnie; 11-08-2010 at 01:09 PM..
Wow. What a beautiful resort! The grounds are definitely spread out, but they're so lovely that it's not a hardship at all to walk around them. We're the farthest out - in Trinidad South - and it's honestly not that big of a deal to walk to the main building.
The cast members have been nothing but friendly. The food court is varied, fairly priced, and the food is really delicious.
I can't speak to the regular rooms, but the pirate rooms are off the charts when it comes to magic. Just lovely. They're so well thought out and so clever.
We had a Grand Gathering in September of 2010 in a Pirate Themed room. While the resort itself is gorgeous. The bus service and food court was a disaster!
The CM's were wonderful and so was Mousekeeping.
They do have an Internal bus but we never used it. We really enjoyed walking around this resort.
Our kids loved the pool although my oldest who was 7 at the time and on the line for height limit for the kiddie area was taken over to me and the lifeguard said she really should not be allowed in here but I will let her stay since you have 2 younger chidren I mean she was right on the line and there were bigger kids running around and misbehaving but their parents were never in side the gated playground and they never got spoken too. After that I just left the kiddie area which was upsetting for my 5 year old.
We had mornings which we waited over an hour for a bus while all the other buses went by. We were late to our ADR's every morning and I even left the hoel room over an hour before our ADR time. We have stayed at POR and never had an issue with the bus system. We even had a few rude drivers that refused to open the back door of the bus so I could go in with my double stroller rather than trying to push by everyone in the front. So, we have decided now that we will stay at deluxe resorts where we do not have to rely that much on bus transportation.
I may try this resort again in the future cause it is beautiful, great pool for the kids and the CM's were very nice but it may be a while.
We also enjoyed seeing the higher firworks from Illuminations on the beach!