Disney Caribbean Beach Resort:

[PrincessL]

We stayed at CBR April '15 and did a lot of research and worried about the mixed reviews mostly about room location and transportation. We did not want to pay for a prefered room so took our chances with a standard room and requested Jamaica and close to transportation. All in the hopes of getting building 44,45 or 46. Needless to say I was disappointed when I got the text saying we were in Barbados 13 I thought this was worst case.

It ended working out just fine! We did not mind the stroll to Port Royale. Some people are a bit dramatic, the walk is not that far! DH enjoyed his walk to OPR for coffe every morning. We were so close transportation and were always in the middle of pick up and drop off so didn't have to wait through all the stops and always had a seat on the way to the park. Now, Trinidad North and South did not always have seats and I would have been ticked if we paid for a prefered room and had to stand on the bus! This was also spring break so higher crowds.

The grounds and lake are beautiful, nice rooms and an AWESOME pool especially for children. The quiet pools hardly ever had people in them so if you don't want to walk to OPR then that is always an option too. The only negative was the QS dining option. I didn't really care for any of the offerings... AoA food court is much better! Overall, we loved our time at CBR and I would take my chances with a standard room again but like PP said request Aruba or Jamica and walk over the bridge.

 

[PrincessL]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but my friends and I are looking at staying at CBR next November, and a couple were wondering if the beds had been upgraded from full size to queen size? Thanks

Yes, the standard rooms have Queen beds. The Pirate rooms still have double beds.

 

[daisyduckie]

I've stayed at one resort other than any on the deluxe list, and it happened to be Caribbean Beach. The short of it is: I wouldn't want to stay there again.

The reasons: Too far a walk from our room to the main shopping/dining area especially if filling up your refillable mugs. Took too long to get to our destinations away from the resort (primarily due to having multiple bus stops within the resort itself before it leaves resort property), and too long to get back to our bus stop for the same reason.

This is exactly how I feel too! But I would stay there again if I could get a good rate for a preferred room. Standard? No way.

And to the above poster who claims some are dramatic about the walking--I am on my feet walking all day long at work, to the tune of 10000 steps or more. A lot of that is up and down ladders. I don't want to spend precious vacation time hiking to get my mug refilled. I earn that bit of laziness.

 

[PrincessL]

This is exactly how I feel too! But I would stay there again if I could get a good rate for a preferred room. Standard? No way.

And to the above poster who claims some are dramatic about the walking--I am on my feet walking all day long at work, to the tune of 10000 steps or more. A lot of that is up and down ladders. I don't want to spend precious vacation time hiking to get my mug refilled. I earn that bit of laziness.

I meant no offense. Everyone's situation is different. My point was that we chose not to pay for a prefered room and lost the gamble. OP is asking about which building and is Barbados first choice...no. But there are pros and cons to all rooms and Moderate hotels for that matter. It's all about your needs. I'm just saying being in Barbados didn't ruin our vacation and the walking IMO is not a reason to 1) not stay here or 2) pay $50+/ night for a prefered like many posts, reviews on trip advisor and blogs suggest.

 

[daisyduckie]

I meant no offense. Everyone's situation is different. My point was that we chose not to pay for a prefered room and lost the gamble. OP is asking about which building and is Barbados first choice...no. But there are pros and cons to all rooms and Moderate hotels for that matter. It's all about your needs. I'm just saying being in Barbados didn't ruin our vacation and the walking IMO is not a reason to 1) not stay here or 2) pay $50+/ night for a prefered like many posts, reviews on trip advisor and blogs suggest.

I disagree. On the advice of many who stated that preferred was a waste I booked standard for my stay. And I bitterly regretted it.

 

[Incomudro]

We stayed at CBR several years ago (the second trip with the children) when my boys (twins) were 7 years old.
Very fond memories.
We stayed all the way down the end in the Pirate themed rooms - which my sons loved.
A long walk to the food court area, but we are all walkers and none of us minded or mind a good walk.
The pool area is nice, the grounds are nice, the food court - though perhaps not offering the highest quality fair is extremely convenient, and it was nice to grab breakfast and a table outside.
Yeah, the busses can be a pain due to multiple stops.
The worse potential problem is that since the rooms are not part of a central building - like Beach Club for instance - if it rains, you have a potentially long and wet walk to and from the food court area.

 

[DisneyDelirious]

We have stayed at CBR for 2 weeks at a time many times, as well as shorter trips. We have always had a preferred room in Martinique. Only thing I would have to say negative about the resort from our perspective is Shutters. It generally gets bad reviews, and in our two times going there they seem justified. We can get in and out of the quick service areas quickly and never have terrible waits. The scenery is beautiful, pool is themed nicely, and the quiet pools are rarely busy. I'm not above throwing stones at the House of Mouse if I perceive a shortcoming, but we really love staying at CBR.

 

[Incomudro]

We have stayed at CBR for 2 weeks at a time many times, as well as shorter trips. We have always had a preferred room in Martinique. Only thing I would have to say negative about the resort from our perspective is Shutters. It generally gets bad reviews, and in our two times going there they seem justified. We can get in and out of the quick service areas quickly and never have terrible waits. The scenery is beautiful, pool is themed nicely, and the quiet pools are rarely busy. I'm not above throwing stones at the House of Mouse if I perceive a shortcoming, but we really love staying at CBR.

I agree.
And I agree with your comment about Shutters.
Granted, our stay was some 5 seasons ago (perhaps things have changed) - but our dinner at Shutters was one of the few Disney dining experience that we were truly disappointed in.

 

[Weather_Lady]

They recently added the pull down beds. Our family of 5 fit comfortably back in June.

Ditto. Not only did 5 of us fit comfortably last month (3 adults and 2 tall kids), but even with the Murphy bed extended, we were pleasantly surprised to find that there was plenty of room to walk around it, which became an important detail when shuffling to the bathroom in the dark in the middle of the night! (One tip: if you're using the Murphy bed, you won't have easy access to the drawers underneath it. You may want to bring a collapsible hanging organizer shelf for the closet area, or collapsible bins for the shelf above the closet area, to increase the storage space for clothes. Other than that issue, there was plenty of room for 5 people and all their stuff.

 

[JillC LI]

Stayed there twice and loved it both times. Got a standard room in Jamaica once and a standard room in Aruba once, both facing the "beach" side and both right by the footbridge so a really short walk to the food court and main pool. Had a rental car so never dealt with buses. No complaints whatsoever. Loved the steel drum music throughout the resort and the hammocks on the beach.

 

[PHS79]

We stayed at CBR on our February 2015 trip, we got one of the newly refurbished rooms in Martinique building 24 on the 1st floor, if you look at the map our room was right under were the 24 located. This trip we did a split stay 4 nights at CBR and 5 nights at AoA, this was the first time that I had stayed at CBR since 1991 when I was 12.

The CBR grounds were well kept, the main pool area was very nice and the refurbished room was also nice. There are a few down falls to the resort: the food court has a very limited selection (IMO), the resort is huge and it takes a long time of the buses to come around, our last gripe was that even though we had gotten a newly rehabbed room it was extremely LOUD (I called the front desk and they sent maintenance over who said that they couldn't do anything about it even though I could see light all the way around the door, I was a carpenter for 17 years trust me weather stripping would have done wonders).

We won't be staying at CBR again. Our next trip in Dec of 2017 we have a room booked at Pop, its hard to beat the Pop/AoA bus service and also both have plenty of food choices at the food courts.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Love it and always stay in Aruba specifically to avoid being too close to the main hub (i.e. loudness.)

Don't miss the Caribbean pork sandwich.

 

[Big Hair]

We have stayed at CBR twice, once a year ago last November and just last October . The 1st visit the room as 2 steps below a motel 6. I was embarrassed that I brought people to Disney and they had to stay there. The room was filthy, broke down, not in any way close to the standard I paid for. On a good note it was only for one night, the sheets seemed clean, and I was in impressed with the food court and store. October visit was a world of difference. They refurbished the rooms , which was to level that we expect for Disney. The grounds, especially around the parking areas were trailer park stature but again, one night stay to get by between deluxe villas reservations.