Stayed at Carribean Beach first week of December...

[bugsbunny]

Been to WDW 20+ times and this was my 2nd time staying at CB. All I can say is "when it rains, it pours".

My door didn’t shut properly and would get stuck once it did. My AC only worked on max setting so the room was either cold enough to hang meat or hot/humid. My ceiling fan hummed so loud we couldn’t even turn it on. My fridge froze everything the first night and then died the next day spoiling all of our perishable food we just bought. Our toilet wasn’t bolted to the floor properly and moved all over the place. Thankfully it didn’t leak, but they did have to pull it to put a new gasket on and reseat it. One of our electrical outlet boxes came right out of the wall when we tried to unplug something. And even after I had used the Online Checkin, we had to wait FORTY MINUTES to checkin and finally had to get a manager since they had ONE person working the Online counter. And even after that ridiculous wait, they couldn't find any record of my $600 merchandise card I was suppose to have and then finally figure that out.

The distance to Port Royale from our room (Barbados Bldg#16) was ridiculous and the bus service was terrible. I waited 45 minutes for a bus to MK and AK. We did the Illuminations Cruise, docked back at the Yacht Club, WALKED all the way through Epcot, and had to wait 30 minutes to get a bus back to CB!! And the amount of scooters at CB seemed 5 times higher when compared to my stays at other places.

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have had any luck at all with the place! Love WDW and will definitely return, but no way I will go back to CB. The theming and all that stuff was great, but I didn't care for the size of the place and the problems that come with it. The problems with the room were definitely finalized my decision though.

Thoughts on your stay at CB?

 

[justdru]

Been to WDW 20+ times and this was my 2nd time staying at CB. All I can say is "when it rains, it pours".

My door didn’t shut properly and would get stuck once it did. My AC only worked on max setting so the room was either cold enough to hang meat or hot/humid. My ceiling fan hummed so loud we couldn’t even turn it on. My fridge froze everything the first night and then died the next day spoiling all of our perishable food we just bought. Our toilet wasn’t bolted to the floor properly and moved all over the place. Thankfully it didn’t leak, but they did have to pull it to put a new gasket on and reseat it. One of our electrical outlet boxes came right out of the wall when we tried to unplug something. And even after I had used the Online Checkin, we had to wait FORTY MINUTES to checkin and finally had to get a manager since they had ONE person working the Online counter. And even after that ridiculous wait, they couldn't find any record of my $600 merchandise card I was suppose to have and then finally figure that out.

The distance to Port Royale from our room (Barbados Bldg#16) was ridiculous and the bus service was terrible. I waited 45 minutes for a bus to MK and AK. We did the Illuminations Cruise, docked back at the Yacht Club, WALKED all the way through Epcot, and had to wait 30 minutes to get a bus back to CB!! And the amount of scooters at CB seemed 5 times higher when compared to my stays at other places.

If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have had any luck at all with the place! Love WDW and will definitely return, but no way I will go back to CB. The theming and all that stuff was great, but I didn't care for the size of the place and the problems that come with it. The problems with the room were definitely finalized my decision though.

Thoughts on your stay at CB?

CB seems hit or miss - it's either great or everything crumbles! :lookaroun

 

[YankeeMouse]

We were also there the first week in December, at CBR. We usually stay at AKL or WL or POFQ. The lines to check in were hideous. THe staff seemed quite unfriendly compared to the other resorts we have stayed. There was a bag sitting in the line between the ropes where people were checking in and I watched for 20 minutes as people kept passing it up. I told 3 cast members about the bag and they seemed disinterested, finally I went over and retrieved it myself, found a manager, and passed it on to them. They seem overworked and lacking in Disney magic over there!

Our room was not ready until 4:00 p.m., they were unapologetic about that.

We didn't experience any problems with the room and we were in Jamaica but had a car, so we took the footbridge or drove over to the food court.

If we stay moderate, it would be POFQ or not at all again. It was not a bad experience, but I rate it a definite "C" grade.

 

[disneydudette]

Seems to be the same issues that can occur at any disney resort... sorry it to happened to you personally... a poor resort stay always leaves a sour taste on an otherwise great disney vacation.

We were in a newly refurbished Pirate themed room back in May and absolutely loved it (our overall 6th stay at this resort). The size is nothing new to us... our rooms at Pop and PORS were further than our room in Trinidad South. Check-in was a breeze for us (no desire to check-in online) as we were one of three families in the entire lobby itself (roughly 10am on a Saturday)... total process was roughly 10mins from walk in to walk out.

We ran into the same issue with the fridge, freezing everthing, although ours never died. The fridges in all Disney resorts are an ongoing issue do to their enclosed cabinets and overheating. It's always recommended to slightly leave the door of the cabinet opened to allow for better air ventilation.

Sad to hear you won't be returning to CBR... but thanks for the review!

 

[Rob Disney]

The wife and I just spent our honeymoon at CBR from Dec. 12-19. We couldn't have asked for a better time. We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus and the staff was more than willing to take care of us during our stay. I have stayed at CBR on numerous occassions throughout the years and have never had a bad experience. Sorry to hear about yours.

 

[lovepooh]

I have to agree with the orignal poster. When we stayed there in Sept 07'
The lines were crazy long! Almost an hour to check in total which I thought was nuts! I paid for a prefered water view room and was told it wasn't avail. They were not going to do anything about it till
i made a stink. Finally they said the best they could do for me was refund the difference in cost between a waterview and standard view room. Which we took it what choice did we have. They were very un-magical about it.

This time we stayed at French Quarter no wait what so ever we did om-line check in. Very magical treatment. Would stay there again in a heartbeat! my favorite disney resort so far:xmas:

 

[Disney05]

When it comes to moderate resorts, we stay at CS. We have never stayed at CB. I have heard a lot of negative things about it with only a few good things thrown in. Like one other poster said it's hit and miss. We had met my sister down there 2 years ago. We stayed at CS. She had only stayed at CB up to then. But she thought CS was way better. The OP seemed to have a really, really bad experience though.

 

[geubux]

We stayed at CB in Dec 99. It was the straw that broke the camels back! Four of us packed into a small room with a 5 year old that needed afternoon naps. \
We looked at DVC and bought that trip.

Thank you CB!

 

[spaceghost]

We were there from 12/3 to 12/10 this year and mostly enjoyed the resort. We stayed in one of the newer pirate rooms, so it was recently refurbished, avoiding some of the issues that the OP had. We had another group travel with us and they did not stay in a pirate room and we did notice that their room was definitely a bit "older." As for check-in, we did the online check-in ahead of time. I was able to literally walk up and get our paperwork. We arrived at 1:15 and our room was ready, nearly 2 hours before official check-in time.

Our only major misgiving about the resort was its size. We were in Trinidad North and walking to Old Port Royale was easily a 10-15 minute endeavor, each way. If we were to stay there again, I think it would only be with our own vehicle, or if we could make sure to get into a room closer to Old Port Royale. That said, the remoteness did have its perks - we rarely saw other people, it was quiet, and we had a really scenic view across Barefoot Bay. Our only other complaint is that at peak times, the food court is clearly insufficient for a resort that size. Our visit was during the free dining offer and there was at least one occasion where we ate there and people were scrambling to find desserts as there were hardly any to be found.

Overall, I'd give the resort a B+. Again, other than the size issue, we really did enjoy staying there. The vibe was definitely more laid-back than the All-Star Resorts (our only other on-site experience).

 

[marcriss]

I'd copy/paste your post into a letter and mail it (snail mail) to Disney.