Caribbean Beach Resort thoughts

[ml123_9]

What's everyone's thoughts on CBR? Is the renovation completed yet? Dining options better or worse? Thanks

 

[Schneewittchen]

I can speak for two weeks ago, maybe things have changed since then.

Construction was definitely still going on. A lot of landscaping and pathways were torn up and fenced off especially around Aruba, making navigating difficult. It took me about 4 days to figure out the most efficient paths to get to the parking lot vs. the small pool/laundry vs. the port royal area. The construction also made the bus routes a bit weird, as one section of road seemed closed off. And definitely we saw active construction going on with the skyway gondolas and the station/building. Also, Riviera was an active construction site. Dang, it's ugly. I hope it's more attractive and less of a brick pile when it's done.

Dining - I can only speak for the main food court (Centertown Market). We didn't try Sebastian's (dropped that reservation for Jaleo and it was so worth it). Didn't try the bar across from the pool (Banana Cabana). Didn't try Spyglass.

Anyway, the food court was more interesting than my experiences with the value food courts. Is that a good thing? I don't know. It's great when Disney experiments and tries new flavors beyond spaghetti, pizza or burgers, but if the execution is a bit off, it's not necessarily any better. On our first night, after driving about 900 miles we checked in to CBR and headed over to the food court for a late-ish dinner. It was about 8:30/9 pm. 1. The kitchen was slow. Maybe because it was later in the evening, I don't know. 2. The food at dinner. DH got a Cuban sandwich. It seemed okay. The kids got the tacos. Usually they destroy tacos (they beg for District Taco every weekend). Not this time, they kind of picked at them. I got a create your own bowl, it was strangely bland.... I think I got the salad with beef and chimichurri. I assumed it would be good like Satu'li canteen.... Anyway, I ate it all and it was still better than a squishy dinner at a value resort 3. We had breakfast there twice. That was actually pretty decent. Everyone found something yummy. Not at all disappointed (and it was much quicker in the morning). 4. Overall it was clean and comfortable and I never felt like we had to fight for a table. Completely unlike All-Stars....

Overall, the construction did not affect our ability to have a decent night's sleep and it did not detract from the awesomeness of the main CBR pool. We spent so much time hanging out there, it's fantastic. And well, we all know quick service can be hit or miss at Disney. It's better to have a granola bar and coffee in your room for breakfast. Quick lunch in the parks. Sit down dinner in the parks or better resorts.

DH says he's very open to staying there again. For me, it's a bit of a dilemma. I agree CBR is great, but I really want to try POR sometime.

 

[ml123_9]

I can speak for two weeks ago, maybe things have changed since then.

Construction was definitely still going on. A lot of landscaping and pathways were torn up and fenced off especially around Aruba, making navigating difficult. It took me about 4 days to figure out the most efficient paths to get to the parking lot vs. the small pool/laundry vs. the port royal area. The construction also made the bus routes a bit weird, as one section of road seemed closed off. And definitely we saw active construction going on with the skyway gondolas and the station/building. Also, Riviera was an active construction site. Dang, it's ugly. I hope it's more attractive and less of a brick pile when it's done.

Dining - I can only speak for the main food court (Centertown Market). We didn't try Sebastian's (dropped that reservation for Jaleo and it was so worth it). Didn't try the bar across from the pool (Banana Cabana). Didn't try Spyglass.

Anyway, the food court was more interesting than my experiences with the value food courts. Is that a good thing? I don't know. It's great when Disney experiments and tries new flavors beyond spaghetti, pizza or burgers, but if the execution is a bit off, it's not necessarily any better. On our first night, after driving about 900 miles we checked in to CBR and headed over to the food court for a late-ish dinner. It was about 8:30/9 pm. 1. The kitchen was slow. Maybe because it was later in the evening, I don't know. 2. The food at dinner. DH got a Cuban sandwich. It seemed okay. The kids got the tacos. Usually they destroy tacos (they beg for District Taco every weekend). Not this time, they kind of picked at them. I got a create your own bowl, it was strangely bland.... I think I got the salad with beef and chimichurri. I assumed it would be good like Satu'li canteen.... Anyway, I ate it all and it was still better than a squishy dinner at a value resort 3. We had breakfast there twice. That was actually pretty decent. Everyone found something yummy. Not at all disappointed (and it was much quicker in the morning). 4. Overall it was clean and comfortable and I never felt like we had to fight for a table. Completely unlike All-Stars....

Overall, the construction did not affect our ability to have a decent night's sleep and it did not detract from the awesomeness of the main CBR pool. We spent so much time hanging out there, it's fantastic. And well, we all know quick service can be hit or miss at Disney. It's better to have a granola bar and coffee in your room for breakfast. Quick lunch in the parks. Sit down dinner in the parks or better resorts.

DH says he's very open to staying there again. For me, it's a bit of a dilemma. I agree CBR is great, but I really want to try POR sometime.

Thank you so much. This is very helpful. We usually stay at Riverside but wife sounded like she wanted to try something new. It's hard for me, and the kids, to leave Riverside. Sounds like we may have to sway her a bit, especially since the RS food court is amazing. Thanks again.

 

[Soutercm18]

If you’re going pre-Skyliner opening, I would strongly recommend you pick a different t resort. Just returned from a 4 night stay. Busses were terrible, 45 minute waits in the morning at the Trinidad stop (Martinique and Barbados get picked up first and we watched the clock keep ticking up as busses would bypass our stop, but we were never sent an empty bus to compensate). Old Port Royale is beautiful but the amenities at Trinidad (pool and dining) were outdated and just looked old. I had heard warnings but thought it couldn’t be that bad since it is a moderate. We will never stay there again and would easily choose a value resort over CBR every time.

 

[LeighM]

I was there last weekend for 2 nights. I write about my experiences at the resort in my newest trip report and posted a lot of pictures there. I was in Jamaica 45 and it was the perfect location for us. We weren't doing the parks during these days so I can't talk about buses but never had a problem going to the bus stop at the main lobby for Disney Springs. The buses didn't seem longer than anything I experienced at Riverside. I saw a vlog today that showed them starting to test the gondolas over CBR so I'm not sure how much noise that could add. It was very quiet when we were there but then again it was on a weekend and we had a great location. The dinner at Sebastian's was great, Spyglass Grill was okay, didn't do the food court. I don't know when your trip will be but the work at Coronado Springs will be finished this summer and I much prefer that resort to Caribbean Beach. The buses are less busy because of the conventioneers, the pool is better, largest hot tub on property I think, the rooms are more modern and updated. I stayed there last year in the Ranchos section and enjoyed it and this year we had a room in the Casitas section. Pictures can be found in my trip reports. Like you, my husband and I love Riverside but I wanted to try other resorts. Caribbean Beach had a nice tropical vibe but Coronado Springs is the only other moderate that rivals the PO resorts. And in some ways, I prefer CSR because of the updated rooms and the pool area. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

 

[incorrigible]

We're actually at CBR right now. We've stayed here 2 times previously and liked it. We just wrapped up day 2 of our stay, so what I'm saying here is only based on that. When booking it this time, I was aware of the construction and knew the bus routes were affected, but the bus routes are worse that I expected. First, they took what was a loop around the resort and essentially turned it into a linear route, meaning you end up traveling further on the bus. The 2 end sections, Aruba and Martinique, seem to have their stops at the furthest possible point from their section, right at the start and end of the route. It seems like it would have been wise to create temporary stops more centrally located to what remains of those sections. We're staying in Aruba 52 and we don't even bother going to the Aruba bus stop; we just walk over to Port Royale to catch the bus. On the upside, in the morning, it does seem like they split the route in half. Catching the bus at Port Royale, there's usually some people on there already (Martinique), but we usually exit the resort right after that.

We have not had a chance to try the restaurants here yet. I will say I'm not a fan of the redesigned food court's design / layout. It seems much more crammed now than it used to.

While this may not be salient to the OP's original questions, I also think the Riviera resort is an eyesore for CBR. CBR was, in my opinion, a well themed, immersive resort. Maybe it will be better when the construction is done, but it's definitely jarring to the theming / immersion now.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We have stayed at CBR more than any other resort and always enjoy it. It is often the best priced moderate, but I suspect that will change soon.

We were just there in January, and about a week ago. Love the new Banana Cabana. Haven’t eaten at the restaurant yet, but the quick service was very good IMO.

We drive, so all these complaints about the bus don’t have anything to do with us.

 

[LeighM]

We're actually at CBR right now. We've stayed here 2 times previously and liked it. We just wrapped up day 2 of our stay, so what I'm saying here is only based on that. When booking it this time, I was aware of the construction and knew the bus routes were affected, but the bus routes are worse that I expected. First, they took what was a loop around the resort and essentially turned it into a linear route, meaning you end up traveling further on the bus. The 2 end sections, Aruba and Martinique, seem to have their stops at the furthest possible point from their section, right at the start and end of the route. It seems like it would have been wise to create temporary stops more centrally located to what remains of those sections. We're staying in Aruba 52 and we don't even bother going to the Aruba bus stop; we just walk over to Port Royale to catch the bus. On the upside, in the morning, it does seem like they split the route in half. Catching the bus at Port Royale, there's usually some people on there already (Martinique), but we usually exit the resort right after that.

We have not had a chance to try the restaurants here yet. I will say I'm not a fan of the redesigned food court's design / layout. It seems much more crammed now than it used to.

While this may not be salient to the OP's original questions, I also think the Riviera resort is an eyesore for CBR. CBR was, in my opinion, a well themed, immersive resort. Maybe it will be better when the construction is done, but it's definitely jarring to the theming / immersion now.

I felt the same way about Riviera's affect on CBR. I prefer the immersive resorts and the Skyliner and Riviera was too jarring for me. The tower at Coronado Springs, even when under construction, bothered me less than the Riviera. One feels like it kind of works while the other doesn't.

 

[Kerri Whitmire]

We stayed at CBR last month after many years away, and it was just TOO spread out for my liking. We had to drive to the food court and main pool from our room. There was a Coke Freestyle machine in our building that was convenient though. The room was nice though.

 

[KikoKea]

We will be there 1 June for the first time, so thank you all for your advice- it is what I was looking for. We have a pirate room as part of a summer promotion, I guess, so am not sure where that will be. Sounds like catching the bus at Port Royale or earlier in the route is best. I have a couple of questions:
When do the buses start to be less crowded?
Can we walk to Pop Century? We have friends who will be staying there.
Thanks!

 

[Frankenstein79]

It feels like the counter service is much worse than the earlier incarnation. I thought the décor was amazing with the street atmosphere look. Now it is rather boring though and it seems like there was very little to choose from.

 

[LeighM]

We will be there 1 June for the first time, so thank you all for your advice- it is what I was looking for. We have a pirate room as part of a summer promotion, I guess, so am not sure where that will be. Sounds like catching the bus at Port Royale or earlier in the route is best. I have a couple of questions:
When do the buses start to be less crowded?
Can we walk to Pop Century? We have friends who will be staying there.
Thanks!

When we were at CBR a couple of weeks ago we walked to Spyglass Grill, the small quick service place in the Pirates section and it felt like forever to get there. The walk really wasn't bad even though you do have to cross a road/go under the bridge to get there. At least you'll be in a quieter section away from the construction work on the Skyliner. I've heard complaints from some in the Aruba/Jamaica section.

 

[PG 134]

We will be there 1 June for the first time, so thank you all for your advice- it is what I was looking for. We have a pirate room as part of a summer promotion, I guess, so am not sure where that will be. Sounds like catching the bus at Port Royale or earlier in the route is best. I have a couple of questions:
When do the buses start to be less crowded?
Can we walk to Pop Century? We have friends who will be staying there.
Thanks!

Pirate rooms are in Trinidad buildings 34-39 in the southern part of resort.
You cannot walk to Pop Century as that would require walking through backstage areas.

 

[Soutercm18]

We will be there 1 June for the first time, so thank you all for your advice- it is what I was looking for. We have a pirate room as part of a summer promotion, I guess, so am not sure where that will be. Sounds like catching the bus at Port Royale or earlier in the route is best. I have a couple of questions:
When do the buses start to be less crowded?
Can we walk to Pop Century? We have friends who will be staying there.
Thanks!

We were in Trinidad 38. It’s quite a hike to Old Port Royale but you might have better luck walking to Barbados which is one stop before Trinidad. We only experienced the morning bus before rope drop (7-8:30 AM) so I can’t speak to how busy it is later in the morning. We seemed to have a lot of young families staying in Trinidad (likely doing the same room promo we did!) so Magic Kingdom was the highest demand bus and EPCOT was least busy each morning.

 

[KikoKea]

We were in Trinidad 38. It’s quite a hike to Old Port Royale but you might have better luck walking to Barbados which is one stop before Trinidad. We only experienced the morning bus before rope drop (7-8:30 AM) so I can’t speak to how busy it is later in the morning. We seemed to have a lot of young families staying in Trinidad (likely doing the same room promo we did!) so Magic Kingdom was the highest demand bus and EPCOT was least busy each morning.

Thanks. We rarely rope drop anymore- mainly to ride FoP, and last time we waited in line 1 1/2 hrs even at that- so don't head out until about 10am or later. Nearly all our FPs are in the afternoon, just in case we want to enjoy the pool in the morning. Maybe the buses won't be crazy.

 

[daisyduckie]

I only stayed at CBR pre-renovation, and it is my least favorite out of the moderate resorts. I found it too big, and back then I didn't care for the food choices at all.