Caribbean Beach Resort Questions - Please help

[JillC LI]

Hello everyone. We are booked for our second family trip to DW the week of October 19th and are planning on attending MNSSHP for the first time (very excited!). We currently have reservations at Pop Century, but have been thinking that we'd like to upgrade to a Moderate. Since we like beach theming, CBR is right up our alley. I have a bunch of questions that I'm hoping you guys can help us with.

1 - Do you have any recommendations on islands/buildings or rooms?

2 - Are Trinidad North and Martinique the only Preferred buildings? Is that because of proximity to Old Port Royale?

3 - How long is the walk from Jamaica and Aruba over the footbridge to OPR?

4 - How much are the bike and boat rentals at CBR?

5 - How is Shutters restaurant?

6 - Any other suggestions or thoughts about CBR?

As an aside, I've heard about long bus waits at CBR, but we will have a rental car so that's not a concern.

Thanks all.
Jill

 

[Tiggerrules]

My wife and I along with the grangkids have stayed at several places at WDW, CBR is our fav, We generally do not get the preferred rooms and have stayed at Aruba once. The walk is not to bad unless you have little ones it may be a little much for them. Hope you enjoy your trip

 

[TxNewsies]

When stayed at CBR in 2007 and enjoyed it. We were in Trinidad North. We did not request a certain building. It was great walking distance to Port Royale. We actually never really walked anywhere else or even used the pool (was a very short trip). We loved the food court (we enjoyed it better than PO). We also never had any problems with buses. I think the longest wait we ever had was 5 minutes. We really lucked out. Nice rooms and excellent service. We are debating whether to go back to CBR next summer or give POFQ a try.

 

[worldfanatic]

We stayed in Jamaica. I loved crossing the bridges and the island to get over to Port Royale. Really gave you a great feel for the resort.
For this reason, I'd never stay anywhere but Jamaica or Aruba at the CBR.

 

[amaley01]

We enjoyed CBR in Jan 2007.
The preferred buildings are close to the action & activities. Many of the guests are going to or coming from a cruise.

Jamaica was quiet, great beach, play structure for kids and hammocks for DD & DM. Didn't get a chance to do the bike or seadoo thing.
The bus stop is close by (last one before it exit the resort) or it was only a short walk to the main pool & Old Port Royale for the Food court or shopping.

If I remember correctly, the main pool just finished a refurb earlier this year.
Enjoy your vacation. :wave:

 

[CleveRocks]

1 - Do you have any recommendations on islands/buildings or rooms?

Except for the Pirate rooms (which cost more per night), they're all the same except for the color of the exterior of the buildings. The only difference is physical location. More on that below.

2 - Are Trinidad North and Martinique the only Preferred buildings? Is that because of proximity to Old Port Royale?

The term at CBR is "preferred location," and the ONLY thing that makes them preferred location is their proximity to Old Port Royale. Trinidad North has only 3 buildings (31, 32 and 33), and all three of them are preferred location buildings. Martinique has 6 buildings, but only three of them (24, 25, and 26) are preferred location buildings.

The interiors of preferred location rooms are 100% identical to standard rooms ... preferred location is only about the location.

3 - How long is the walk from Jamaica and Aruba over the footbridge to OPR?

It all depends on what building you're in. Jamaica 45 and Aruba 51 are the closest non-preferred location buildings to OPR (along with Martinique 22) ... but Jamaica 41 and Aruba 56 are about as far away from OPR as you can get ... so it all depends.

As an aside, I've heard about long bus waits at CBR, but we will have a rental car so that's not a concern.

In defense of CBR's bus system ... if you research ANY Disney resort, you'll hear about long bus waits. Sometimes there are waits, sometimes there aren't. This happens at the most expensive resorts and at the least expensive, and everywhere in between.

The preferred buildings are close to the action & activities. Many of the guests are going to or coming from a cruise.

Maybe you happened to meet numerous people doing a land/sea package, but CBR isn't particularly known as a mecca for people on the land/sea package.

 

[irish_man]

Last year the enemy ( My wife) and myself stayed at CBR (Jamaica) and loved every minuite of it. Would recommend it to anyone.

I agree totally with Worldfanatic's statement. the short walk across the bridges gives you a feel for the resort.

 

[eroyee]

We stayed at Martinique, non preferred, and still not a long walk to Old Port Royale. Love the food court. Bus stops everywhere on property and pools all over the place. Really nice place to stay....

 

[surfsupdon]

Request Aruba or Jamaica as close to the foot bridge as possible. And pay for Lake View--totally worth it!

 

[JillC LI]

Thanks everyone

You guys have been really helpful! We're definitely going to switch to CBR tomorrow and request Jamaice or Aruba. You've made us even more excited about the trip!
Jill