Carribean Beach....Nervous

[nikkie876]

I was hoping that the 'seasoned' Disney veterans can offer some assistance. We have a party of 5 adults and 4 kids going to Disney in May. This will be the first time visit for my parents and the first time on Disney property for my kids and I. My husband has stayed on Disney property about a dozen times.

With that being said my husband was very insistant that we stay at the CBR in the Pirate Rooms with water view. Now after reading everyone's reviews it looks like the new rooms are located in Trinidad South. I'm scared that this will be a horrible experience....between the location from OPR and the buses picking us up last...

I'm tempted to change it to a different location, but the kids are excited about the Pirate Room....

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Phonedave]

nice pool bar, too!

Yes it is.

CBR does have, in my opinion, a well placed pool bar with good seating options. As I said, I spend about 4 hours on the last day of a trip just hanging at the pool

-dave

 

[PhilharMagician]

CBR is on the bottom of my list for moderates. We have tayed there 3 times and the last one really made me think about ever going back. Our trip started with the bellman bringing our bags to the room which was in Trinidad North. When we went to check in they were having difficulties finding my reservation which kept us at the check-in counter for about 1 1/2 hours. At least they found my reservation. The family next to us on a grand gathering apparently had their reservations lost and this was the day before Thanksgiving and there were no rooms available on property they were telling here.

The next problem was getting our bags to the room. We were in an old building with no elevator and we were on the top floor. So the bellman starts up the stairs and has a bag with a 6 pack of bottle soda and it drops. Well, he did not see me watching him from upstairs. He opens the bag and slips the broken bottle out and throws it into the garbage. He then continues up the stairs and puts my bags in the room. I gave him a tip and he left without telling me what he did.

Finally my wife and MIL were coming in 2 days later and I left instruction at the desk to have room keys for them to pick up on a certain date. they printed the keys while I was there and put them in an envelope and then my wife just has to ask for them and it is simple. Well, they could not find the keys and had were trying to contact me and this kept my wife and her mother waiting for about 1 hr before things got straightened out.

I probably have to blame alot of this on a 100% booked resort that was bursting from the seams.



I also am not crazy about the food court. Very plain and boring. I can get a hamburger and pizza anywhere at home. I would like something better or differant. CSR has a much better variety. Also Shutters table service restaurant is not even close to quality of the Maya Grill or Boatwrights.

The Customs House (Check-in) is located away from the motel buildings. This makes it very difficult if you want to go to the concierge or if you need to go discuss a room charge dispute or anything that would require going there.

I like the island, but it seems like everytime we are there and want to walk around it the trails are roped off. Only the main walkway down the center is open.

I do like the colors and themeing. It does have a great Caribbean feel.

The resort is somewhat centralized in WDW and this makes transportation to all the parks and DTD fairly quick. The only better location for a moderate is CSR.

I think you are in a good location. You do not have busses going by at all times of the night since you are really on a dead end street. Your walk to Port Royal is not that bad either. If we ever stay there again that is where we will try and stay.

 

[Fashionista007]

The next problem was getting our bags to the room. We were in an old building with no elevator and we were on the top floor. So the bellman starts up the stairs and has a bag with a 6 pack of bottle soda and it drops. Well, he did not see me watching him from upstairs. He opens the bag and slips the broken bottle out and throws it into the garbage. He then continues up the stairs and puts my bags in the room. I gave him a tip and he left without telling me what he did.

Jeez it was really nice of you to even give him a tip!

Finally my wife and MIL were coming in 2 days later and I left instruction at the desk to have room keys for them to pick up on a certain date. they printed the keys while I was there and put them in an envelope and then my wife just has to ask for them and it is simple. Well, they could not find the keys and had were trying to contact me and this kept my wife and her mother waiting for about 1 hr before things got straightened out.

I have found that if you have special requests like this, moderate and value resorts don't always meet your needs. The staff are paid minimum wage and you get what you pay for. The higher paid staff at Deluxe resorts are paid more for a reason: they are better at their jobs!

 

[cajunCinderella]

We stayed at CBR last august for my sisters Disney wedding. I would never stay there again. Although I think the resort is very pretty and the new pool refurb was nicely done I did not like the layout of the buildings and the fact that you could not walk to the Customs House. Not to mention the service there was horrible. My sons Tuxedos were dropped off at the Customs House to be delivered to our rooms. My parents were in a room next to us and my father recieved his at 5 pm. While I had to talk to several different people who were very rude and had no idea where the tuxedos were, anyway we didnt end up getting them until about midnight for a wedding that was the next morning.
We only spent one day at the parks which wasnt a bad thing cause it took forever for the buses to stop at all the stops before you were on your way.



I guess another reason I dont care for the resort is most of the wedding party ended up being stranded in Fl because Hurricane Gustav hit La while we were there. Our flights were canceled and even those that drove couldnt get home. We were told we had to go to the Customs House everyday and check and see if we could keep our rooms for each additional night. There were times we were told we might have to be moved to another room are even another resort. The cast members we encountered day after day were rude and clueless, it was as if they didnt understand why we just couldnt leave. If the resort would have been full and we were taking up rooms that other guest had reserved I would have understood but my Sister spoke with a manager on the first day after the storm and he said it was no problem becuase the resort was no way near being filled to capacity.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Jeez it was really nice of you to even give him a tip!

None of us are perfect and we all make mistakes and I really believed he was going to tell me what happened. I guess I was wrong.

I have found that if you have special requests like this, moderate and value resorts don't always meet your needs. The staff are paid minimum wage and you get what you pay for. The higher paid staff at Deluxe resorts are paid more for a reason: they are better at their jobs!

I am not sure about that. I had a really bad situation in the OKW resort. I went back to my room and couldn't get in. They checked someone else into my room and the guest in my room had my bags removed. Then the resort manager lied to my face about what happened. I know that because I had already cornered the bellman that took may belongings back to storage.

Then just a couple of months ago in Oct 08' I checked in at AKL and we went to our room and opened the door and there was another guests belongings in the room. Of course I closed the door and went back down to the lobby and complained. I am honest and would never take anything, but I easily could have walked in the room and taken anything I wanted to. I just don't want someone else having access to my room when I am not there.

So deluxe resorts are no differant than value or moderate. They all have problems.

 

[juscet]

The only difference for us when we get a room far away from the main building is whether or not we buy the drink mugs at the beginning of our trip. If we're far away we just bring soda and if we're close we buy the mugs. Just remember in the end it's still Disney and you'll have a great time, no matter what.

 

[DisneyJoe]

The only difference for us when we get a room far away from the main building is whether or not we buy the drink mugs at the beginning of our trip. If we're far away we just bring soda and if we're close we buy the mugs. Just remember in the end it's still Disney and you'll have a great time, no matter what.

Good point. We had 2 very nice trips to CBR, the first we were in Trinidad North, and it was a very short walk to OPR for food and drinks, and my wife especially loved the location.

Our second trip we were in Trinidad South, which is quite a bit farther from OPR. I believe we only went to OPR once or twice that trip because of that distance.

Both trips were wonderful and we would return to CBR anytime.

 

[Disneyfanman]

We stayed there 4 years ago and haven't gone back due to the poor quality of the room. It was worn and clearly needed some TLC.

I have heard that the entire resort is undergoing a full renovation. The pirates rooms, the pool, etc. Since we liked everything except for the room itself (which was a BIG deal) we may go back.

Face it, Disney is higher priced for its accommodations than resorts outside of the property. When you pay more, and get all excited about staying on site, then you have very high expectations. CBR was worn and needed a major renovation. We paid 175 bucks a night four years ago, and expected a very good quality experience. Had I done more research I would have known that the rooms were in dire need of a little love, and would have gone somewhere else.

But now the rooms have been upgraded. With that fixed, you should have a wonderful experience!

 

[dragongirl]

I just got back on the 13th from staying in the Pirate Rooms at CBR. I quite enjoyed it. Trinidad South was a bit of a walk, but not so bad really and since OPR was noisy, it was rather pleasant to be far from it at night.

I loved the location of our room which was close to the bus stop, the lake and the pool. We weren't the last bus stop all the time and most mornings we caught the bus at OPR anyway.

My daughter loved the pirate rooms. I was a little underwhelmed when I saw that some of the furniture pieces weren't the rum kegs as depicted on the Disney website. In fact, it looked badly gouged and abused. It wasn't until I was unpacking and looking really closely that I realized that the realistic looking gouges were carefully detailed painting and it wasn't gouged at all.

Bell services was great. There was one bell services CM in particular who saved us all by tirelessly entertaining my daughter during the check-in process and prevented her from melting down from being so off her schedule and tired. We called for a luggage pick up on the day we left and bell services took us and our luggage to the customs house. He said he used to be a CM for Living With the Land before they replaced people with boxes for the spiel. So he told us all about hydroponics while he drove.

I was very sad to go. Very sad.

 

[AnimalMagnetism]

Although I think the resort is very pretty and the new pool refurb was nicely done I did not like the layout of the buildings and the fact that you could not walk to the Customs House.

Why couldn't you walk there? I could certainly walk there when I stayed last year.

In fact, that was the only time I've stayed there, but I'd go again without hesitation. I loved it, the relaxed atmosphere, the beautiful theming. You can have a bit of a walk to get to the food court and main pool, but let's be honest, it really is only "a bit of a walk". If you're spending time walking around the parks, then you will walk further when you get off Test Track and then go and use your Soarin' fastpass than you will to get from your room to the food court.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

The cleanliness of the rooms at Caribbean Beach was another sore point with our last trip. Mousekeeping definitely needs to be improved. Cracked and broken bathroom tiles, dirt in the corners of the rooms, and our companion group which was staying about 3-4 doors down from us told us they found someone else's dirty socks under their bed! On top of that, the 3-year-old had a leaky diaper one night and when they left the room for the parks that day, mousekeeping simply made the bed back as it was, without stripping the sheets and replacing them! The child's mother had to completely strip the bed bare the next morning in order for mousekeeping to comprehend what was going on. It was sad.

And then, in our room, we had to call the front desk twice; once to have the iron replaced in our room because it was broken, and the second time to have the tv remote replaced as well. The rooms in CBR are definitely NOTHING to write home about, and I suppose if people are used to staying in a moderate resort without ever having stayed in a deluxe, then they may see more to be satisfied with. But for me, mostly staying in deluxe resorts rather than a moderate like CBR.......there was a major difference in quality. And it wasn't good. Also, the one night we ate at the CBR's food court, the others in our party came back with their food trays grumbling at the help in the food court, as they weren't helpful to them at all, allowed other guests to cut right in front of them on line, and were overall rude.

And as far as the walking is concerned, you expect to have a major walk when you're in the parks......but the walk from your room just to get a refillable mug filled with a drink or two.....was ridiculous. Old Port Royale should have been split into two sections one for each part of the resort on either side of the lake.

 

[PlutoFan4Ever]

The Customs House (Check-in) is located away from the motel buildings. This makes it very difficult if you want to go to the concierge or if you need to go discuss a room charge dispute or anything that would require going there.

There is a concierge desk in OPR. There are 2 Front Desk Cast Members stationed there all day. They are at the Straw Market section next to the Arcade. Their desk is back to back with the 2 merchandise registers.

This concierge desk can handle everything the Custom House can from tickets, ADR's, re-cutting keys, to tours as well as room changes.

Please do not worry about that issue. I worked at CBR for a year and I love the resort. The food court does get really busy for breakfast. Either alter your times or do an ADR for a breakfast in a park or other resort. I think a lot have people have said it right...You are going to Disney World. Have a great time and remember if you are walking a little bit further, it is still time you have with your family at the most magical place in the world. Use the time for photo op's around the beautiful grounds and lagoon area.

I hope you have a wonderful stay and enjoy every second! Also, if you are at OPR around 9-the view of Illuminations on the beach is great. Have fun!!!:wave:

 

[dragongirl]

We were able to take care of a charge dispute by calling on the in-house phone. After check-in and with express check out there was never a reason for us to go to the customs house again except for getting picked up by the car service to leave.

 

[CleveRocks]

We were in an old building with no elevator and we were on the top floor.

All of CBR's buildings were built at the same time ... there are no guest buildings that are older or newer than any others. Moreover, there are NO GUEST ELEVATORS anywhere in CBR. And the guest builidngs have 2 levels.

I also am not crazy about the food court. Very plain and boring. I can get a hamburger and pizza anywhere at home. I would like something better or differant.

I can't agree or disagree with your not being crazy about the food court, since opinions vary and no opinion can be right or wrong. But I disagree that there is not good variety there, and that it's limited to burgers and pizza.

In my CBR trip report, I raved about the food court food (we were training for our first-ever half marathon, so healthy foods were important to us).

The hand-tossed chicken caesar salad was great. So was the Asian chicken salad (not a deli-style chicken salad ... it was udon noodles and bok choi and other veggies and grilled chicken in a sesame-based dressing). Turkey BLT ... veggie platter ... pan-seared salmon ... rotisserie chicken ... roasted turkey ... vegetarian baked ziti ... fettucini with grilled chicken ... tabouli platter ....

So I'm not taking issue with your preference of the Pepper Market over CBR's food court; I'm taking issue with your communication to others that the food court has little more than burgers and pizza.

 

[DisneyJunkie]

I have to agree that there is very little to choose from in the CBR's food court. They may have 4-5 separate little stations to choose from, but the selection is extremely limited. You get burgers, pizza, chicken, a deli sandwich, or the "grab and go" station where there wasn't much to choose from there either.

Not only that, but the one time we ate in the food court, the employees were rude and unhelpful.

 

[PhilharMagician]

All of CBR's buildings were built at the same time ... there are no guest buildings that are older or newer than any others. Moreover, there are NO GUEST ELEVATORS anywhere in CBR. And the guest buildings have 2 levels.

I was under the impression there were service elevators in many of the buildings for housekeeping and bell services to use. Is this not correct?

Wasn't Trinidad South added after the resort opening?

I can't agree or disagree with your not being crazy about the food court, since opinions vary and no opinion can be right or wrong. But I disagree that there is not good variety there, and that it's limited to burgers and pizza.

In my CBR trip report, I raved about the food court food (we were training for our first-ever half marathon, so healthy foods were important to us).

The hand-tossed chicken caesar salad was great. So was the Asian chicken salad (not a deli-style chicken salad ... it was udon noodles and bok choi and other veggies and grilled chicken in a sesame-based dressing). Turkey BLT ... veggie platter ... pan-seared salmon ... rotisserie chicken ... roasted turkey ... vegetarian baked ziti ... fettucini with grilled chicken ... tabouli platter ....

So I'm not taking issue with your preference of the Pepper Market over CBR's food court; I'm taking issue with your communication to others that the food court has little more than burgers and pizza.

You are right, I should have not limited my reponse. They do have plenty of other offerings. Here is a menu link
http://allears.net/menu/menu_opr.htm
I have had the oriental chicken salad, rueben and roast turkey dinner and they were ok. I just was not pleased in the food quality. Breakfast was good, since typical breakfast foods are served all over on WDW property. The only problem at breakfast times was finding seating. Thankfully they have Shutters seating open during breakfast.

 

[Disney MDACK]

I guess it all depends on your attitude. I suggest keeping yourself entirely in the "yay! I'm in Disney World on vacation!" state of mind above all else. Then you're guaranteed to have a good time no matter what.

If you put a lot of stock into making sure the place you're staying in is really nice, then I'd look elsewhere than Caribbean Beach. I will state that the grounds and the overall look of the resorts is very nice. It's kept up and everything has that fresh, tropical islands feel to it. But when you step inside your room, don't expect anything more than a basic Motel 6 room with perhaps Pirate or Nemo decor.

But if your attitude is more of the "we're only going to be in our room for sleeping and little else, so it's not that important", then a stay at the CBR would be just fine for you, provided you don't mind the very small beds and bath.

We stayed in the Aruba area (bldg 53) the week of 1/24 - 1/31 of this year. There was a decent length walk just to get to the bus stop, and we found it the norm to wait longer than 20 minutes for the particular bus we wanted. We also found that it could be quite a hike in walking from our building just to get to OPR and the food court. We weren't particularly fond of that too much.

But, again.....you're gonna be in DISNEY WORLD and you're going to have a great time no matter what.

Agreed about the rooms at CB. The last time we were there our room had a pretty bad mold problem but it did not stop us from having a great time. The manager ending up refunding two of the nights we stayed there so we couldn't be happier how it turned out.

 

[Jaytrod]

I haven't stayed at CBR in a few years but as far as I can remember it was a great place to stay. Of course it is getting along in years but like someone said before it is Disney. It will still have that extra something to make it a great hotel. Whether its the awesome pool, great cafeteria, or the cool new pirate room you will be staying in. And IMO it will definitely be better than any of the All Stars. So have fun and dont worry about it. Its just a place to sleep after all ;-)

 

[CleveRocks]

I was under the impression there were service elevators in many of the buildings for housekeeping and bell services to use. Is this not correct?

Yes, there are service elevators. I specifically and very carefully wrote that there were no GUEST elevators in any building.

As far as Trinidad South ... I stayed there in August 1990, and the resort opened in October 1988. I can't swear TS was there on Opening Day, but I always assumed it was, since I was there when the resort still had that new car smell.

As far as your low opinion of the food quality, I can't take issue with that at all, since it's your impression, your opinion. And we're all entitled to that!:wave:

 

[ryguy]

Since all the rooms are being refurbished, you shouldn't worry about a dated room. They all should be in brand new shape. Would love to hear from some more people who have stayed in the new Pirate rooms.