Caribbean Beach FAQ part VI

[dansdad]

Thank you!!! that should make for a relaxing last day!!

You're welcome. I hope your family enjoys CBR as much as we do.

 

[summersun47]

are the safes safe?

 

[julieb5]

Last week I asked about the trundle beds when I called. I switched my nephew to my mothers room from my sisters room. (This would give him a break from his baby brother) problem is my mother and my grandmother don't want to share a bed with a 12 yrs old. Completely understandable. The CM told me I should upgrade to preferred this would help guarantee me a room with a trundle bed. So I upgraded. I wanted to switch to preferred anyway. So now my room and my mothers room are in preferred and my sisters room is a standard room. My poor sister lol. I'm sure she will end up switching rooms.

We were there the last week of September and spoke with a cast member who said they had just had a meeting and that yes the trundle beds were coming. We booked a bounce back to assure free dining for next September. The CM we were talking with said there was a very good chance that the trundles would be in by Sept. 2014. He seemed to be very knowledgeable and had been with Disney for 20+ years and CB for the last 10 so I took his word more than I do the normal gossip you hear at times
Here's hoping for refurb & trundles by September!

 

[catbertdave99]

The last day of our trip, we don't fly out til 6pm, so I'm guessing we catch a 3:00-ish bus out. If we want to just hang out and swim for the day, is there a place we can shower & change since we'll have to check out of the room by 11:00? Do they let you do late check out often? And then I'm hoping they would hold our bags in the lobby for us until we're ready to shower and go so we don't have to keep them at the pool with us?

TIA!

That's a great way to end your stay - we've done that very thing at CBR and loved it - such a great and relaxing resort!!

 

[ciggy]

Headed to CBR next Sunday. This will be our 5th stay at CBR and we love it. I have a question regarding rooms.... can you get a King room that connects to a room with 2 beds? I didn't think of it before and called the other day to see if it was a possibility and unfortunately the CM that I spoke to was not real sure. She said there were NO king beds available so I just left it at that but I'd like to know for our next trip. We have 3 children (9,8,5) and always get 2 connecting rooms and the kids sleep in one and my wife and I in the other but there is no way we can share one of those things so I thought the King connected to a standard would be perfect.

Are the refrigerators all done?

Lastly, at check in, what is the odds of them moving you into a different village if you ask? I'm not looking for a preferred location but really don't want to be in one of the furthest rooms from OPR. We had pirate rooms on our first trip and we don't mind the walk but I certainly didn't shoot over to OPR as much as I did when we were in Martinique or Jamaica (right next to the bridge). The furthest we've been is Barbados (building 13 I believe).. would love to get lucky and end up in Martinique or Trinidad North!

Thanks.

 

[Pooh2]

Headed to CBR next Sunday. This will be our 5th stay at CBR and we love it. I have a question regarding rooms.... can you get a King room that connects to a room with 2 beds? I didn't think of it before and called the other day to see if it was a possibility and unfortunately the CM that I spoke to was not real sure. She said there were NO king beds available so I just left it at that but I'd like to know for our next trip. We have 3 children (9,8,5) and always get 2 connecting rooms and the kids sleep in one and my wife and I in the other but there is no way we can share one of those things so I thought the King connected to a standard would be perfect.

Are the refrigerators all done?

Lastly, at check in, what is the odds of them moving you into a different village if you ask? I'm not looking for a preferred location but really don't want to be in one of the furthest rooms from OPR. We had pirate rooms on our first trip and we don't mind the walk but I certainly didn't shoot over to OPR as much as I did when we were in Martinique or Jamaica (right next to the bridge). The furthest we've been is Barbados (building 13 I believe).. would love to get lucky and end up in Martinique or Trinidad North!

Thanks.

On our recent trip, we were upgraded to Trinidad North. We did not know anything about the resort at the time so did not occur to us to ask about a specific location, but it was so nice for walking to the food court and main pool! Have a wonderful trip!

 

[dis_guy]

Headed to CBR next Sunday. This will be our 5th stay at CBR and we love it. I have a question regarding rooms.... can you get a King room that connects to a room with 2 beds? I didn't think of it before and called the other day to see if it was a possibility and unfortunately the CM that I spoke to was not real sure. She said there were NO king beds available so I just left it at that but I'd like to know for our next trip. We have 3 children (9,8,5) and always get 2 connecting rooms and the kids sleep in one and my wife and I in the other but there is no way we can share one of those things so I thought the King connected to a standard would be perfect.

Thanks.

Yup, you can get connecting rooms with one king and one standard room. We've done it several times.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

I'm almost embarrassed to ask any questions about Caribbean because we've stayed there more times than I can remember. However, we lived just north of Disney for 5 years and only stayed overnight a couple times a year so we could stay for the late evening things (Illuminations,etc.) and not have to drive home late on the turnpike.
However, we moved back up north and we're planning a May trip. I always asked for a "preferred" location -- meaning the village, not whether the room was water view or not. DH and I aren't "kids" any more and doing the steps, especially with luggage is tough for us. And we'll have a week's worth of luggage this time around.
If we ask for either Martinique or Trinidad North (and I know we pay extra) can we also request a first floor room? One time we asked to be near the bus stop and then when we checked in we asked for a first floor room. The CM was very sweet but said one or the other. So we chose the first floor!!
Just wondering how much you can ask for, and I know about paying more for preferred.
We always had AP when we lived down there and also we were FL residents. Always had a discount of one type or another. Miss that very much.
Thanks for any information. We've made our flight reservations but not the room yet.

 

[PrincessTiggy]

OK I need honesty. Last spring for our first family trip to WDW we stayed in a 1 bedroom suite at Saratoga. Blew the budget to smithereens. LOL. I cant afford that for every trip. My two girls are pirate obsessed (6 and almost three at time of travel) I thought that Saratoga was lovely and elegant but not particularly Disneyfied. I did have the convenience of a full kitchen (which I barely used) and a washer drier which I used a LOT.
I am booked in a pirate room at CBR in April. Am I going to be culture shocked? Disappointed? Thrilled? Will I feel like I have been downgraded?

Specifics I need to know... is it easy to do laundry? I thought it was really convenient to bring less and not have to check any extra bags.

Do the Pirate rooms have fridges?

Can I get a microwave (even if a surcharge)...

 

[KonaKaiTom]

I loved staying at CBR in October -- the only negative I can say about the Pirate beds - is that they aren't beds -- they are pads on top of a pirate platform. Some backs do better than others on them.

I can't comment on laundry as I haven't done any there. I can comment on going from GF and OKW less than a year before was not a let down going to CBR. Being monorail was really nice, and having numorous TS options was nice -- but we were there for Food & Wine, so we didn't care about not eating at the resort.

Tom

 

[Pooh2]

OK I need honesty. Last spring for our first family trip to WDW we stayed in a 1 bedroom suite at Saratoga. Blew the budget to smithereens. LOL. I cant afford that for every trip. My two girls are pirate obsessed (6 and almost three at time of travel) I thought that Saratoga was lovely and elegant but not particularly Disneyfied. I did have the convenience of a full kitchen (which I barely used) and a washer drier which I used a LOT.
I am booked in a pirate room at CBR in April. Am I going to be culture shocked? Disappointed? Thrilled? Will I feel like I have been downgraded?

Specifics I need to know... is it easy to do laundry? I thought it was really convenient to bring less and not have to check any extra bags.

Do the Pirate rooms have fridges?

Can I get a microwave (even if a surcharge)...

We did laundry on our recent CBR trip. The laundry room was next too the pool, the machines were old but the laundry room was very clean. We through in our wash, went to get breakfast. While clothes were in the dryer, we walked around the resort. Did not seem like a chore at all.

 

[mickeystoontown]

OK I need honesty. Last spring for our first family trip to WDW we stayed in a 1 bedroom suite at Saratoga. Blew the budget to smithereens. LOL. I cant afford that for every trip. My two girls are pirate obsessed (6 and almost three at time of travel) I thought that Saratoga was lovely and elegant but not particularly Disneyfied. I did have the convenience of a full kitchen (which I barely used) and a washer drier which I used a LOT.
I am booked in a pirate room at CBR in April. Am I going to be culture shocked? Disappointed? Thrilled? Will I feel like I have been downgraded?

Specifics I need to know... is it easy to do laundry? I thought it was really convenient to bring less and not have to check any extra bags.

Do the Pirate rooms have fridges?

Can I get a microwave (even if a surcharge)...

The pirate rooms are all in Trinidad South which is one of the furthest villages from the main pool, food court, etc. But, I have walked over there several times and my walk back to OPR was about 7 minutes at a leisurely pace.

There are laundry rooms in each of the resort villages. They are located by the quiet pools. I posted pictures of the laundry facilities (as well as lots of other CBR pics) in my trip report. The link is in my signature and the links to each update are in the second post.

**Oops, I just realized that I forgot to talk about the fridges and microwaves. There are fridges in the pirate rooms and all of the other rooms as well. As far as microwaves go, there are microwaves in the food court for guests to use.

 

[fizbobunny]

OK I need honesty. Last spring for our first family trip to WDW we stayed in a 1 bedroom suite at Saratoga. Blew the budget to smithereens. LOL. I cant afford that for every trip. My two girls are pirate obsessed (6 and almost three at time of travel) I thought that Saratoga was lovely and elegant but not particularly Disneyfied. I did have the convenience of a full kitchen (which I barely used) and a washer drier which I used a LOT. I am booked in a pirate room at CBR in April. Am I going to be culture shocked? Disappointed? Thrilled? Will I feel like I have been downgraded? Specifics I need to know... is it easy to do laundry? I thought it was really convenient to bring less and not have to check any extra bags. Do the Pirate rooms have fridges? Can I get a microwave (even if a surcharge)...

did you rent SSR direct from disney? If so, have you considered renting DVC points to stay there or another 1 bedroom?

 

[PrincessTiggy]

did you rent SSR direct from disney? If so, have you considered renting DVC points to stay there or another 1 bedroom?

I did book ssr direct from disney with the 30% off promo...

I will be honest I find that whole dvc process intimidating... I went on one of those websites and to be honest renting the dvc points did not seem like a huge savings... without getting into the exact dollar amounts by switching resorts I am saving a couple of thou...my kids could care less where we stay... a broom closet would do for them if you put up a poster of a princess, but having the amenities of of the 1 br was nice, but if I want the hubs to agree to another trip I have to scale it down.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I did book ssr direct from disney with the 30% off promo...

I will be honest I find that whole dvc process intimidating... I went on one of those websites and to be honest renting the dvc points did not seem like a huge savings... without getting into the exact dollar amounts by switching resorts I am saving a couple of thou...my kids could care less where we stay... a broom closet would do for them if you put up a poster of a princess, but having the amenities of of the 1 br was nice, but if I want the hubs to agree to another trip I have to scale it down.

I'm a bit intimidated by the DVC rental process as well even though I have been assured that it's safe and easy to do. However, I'm one who wants every single detail in my trusty hands and not rely on others. That's just me though and others have loved their experiences.

I had to laugh at your description of what your kids would go for in a room.

 

[MinnieSummer]

We have stayed at almost all of the WDW resorts and many of the DVC's. I never miss the kitchen when we aren't staying at a DVC because the last thing I want to do on vacation is cook -- although when we stay there I usually will make breakfast. As for the laundry, I've done it a few times at the mods. It really is very convenient. I put the laundry in and sat at the pool until it was done. It actually was a nice break from hitting the parks. Took about 1 1/2 hours so not a big chunk out of the day. The room was clean and everything worked. It is expensive though. If you can bring your own detergent that helps. All of the rooms have refrigerators but no microwaves. As someone else said there is a microwave in the food court for everyone to use -- everyone being the key word. Not something I want to use for my family but everyone is different. As for feeling that you are stepping down from the DVC, I don't think so. It is a very different experience. CBR rooms are larger than the other mods and CBR has more of a resort feel then Saratogo, which to me felt like an apartment complex rather than a resort. There are definitely differences but they aren't necessarily bad things.

 

[PrincessTiggy]

I'm a bit intimidated by the DVC rental process as well even though I have been assured that it's safe and easy to do. However, I'm one who wants every single detail in my trusty hands and not rely on others. That's just me though and others have loved their experiences.

I had to laugh at your description of what your kids would go for in a room.

I agree I am too type A... for the dvc rental I like booking on disney property because if I have a problem I know that I can just ask the cast members... I don't want to be out in the cold so to speak if I get my reservation through some third party...
as for my kids... it is true...they would eat canned liver and onions if it came in a pink branded disney princess can...

 

[PrincessTiggy]

We have stayed at almost all of the WDW resorts and many of the DVC's. I never miss the kitchen when we aren't staying at a DVC because the last thing I want to do on vacation is cook -- although when we stay there I usually will make breakfast. As for the laundry, I've done it a few times at the mods. It really is very convenient. I put the laundry in and sat at the pool until it was done. It actually was a nice break from hitting the parks. Took about 1 1/2 hours so not a big chunk out of the day. The room was clean and everything worked. It is expensive though. If you can bring your own detergent that helps. All of the rooms have refrigerators but no microwaves. As someone else said there is a microwave in the food court for everyone to use -- everyone being the key word. Not something I want to use for my family but everyone is different. As for feeling that you are stepping down from the DVC, I don't think so. It is a very different experience. CBR rooms are larger than the other mods and CBR has more of a resort feel then Saratogo, which to me felt like an apartment complex rather than a resort. There are definitely differences but they aren't necessarily bad things.

I am in total agreement about the cooking. I am mostly a SAHM so I cook everyday...so when I go on vacation I want a break too!!!! Both my girls are grouchy gus when they wake up and it usually takes about two sippy cups full of hot ovaltine apiece before they rejoin the human race...lol... also they are big breakfast eaters.... they each had to have oatmeal in the room BEFORE going for some mickey waffles!!! Good tip on the laundry... I will save it up for our resort day when we hit the pool maybe....I brought those tide "pods" last time and that worked out well and they were easy to pack

 

[mickeystoontown]

I agree I am too type A... for the dvc rental I like booking on disney property because if I have a problem I know that I can just ask the cast members... I don't want to be out in the cold so to speak if I get my reservation through some third party...
as for my kids... it is true...they would eat canned liver and onions if it came in a pink branded disney princess can...

It sounds like we're a lot alike. I want to be in control of my vacations...especially if I'm paying out my hard earned Disney dollars.

I am in total agreement about the cooking. I am mostly a SAHM so I cook everyday...so when I go on vacation I want a break too!!!! Both my girls are grouchy gus when they wake up and it usually takes about two sippy cups full of hot ovaltine apiece before they rejoin the human race...lol... also they are big breakfast eaters.... they each had to have oatmeal in the room BEFORE going for some mickey waffles!!! Good tip on the laundry... I will save it up for our resort day when we hit the pool maybe....I brought those tide "pods" last time and that worked out well and they were easy to pack

I have a rule of no cooking while on vacation. I don't even cook much when we go camping. "We're having sandwiches, Mama's on vacation too." You could always pack instant oatmeal and bowls and use the hot water from the coffee maker. Just run a pot or two through before you use it. Never know how long it's been sitting there and not being used.

Our trips range from 10 to 14 days and I have to do laundry because the hubby won't go into town and buy more than a week's worth of shorts. Doing laundry is easy at the CBR since the facilities are right next to the quiet pools. I'll throw in a load or two while the family swims or even laze around on the hammocks.

 

[fizbobunny]

Why not buy a hot pot to bring with. You could use it for oatmeal and hit ovaltine. There are no coffee pots in regular rooms, just single serve coffee brewers (not a key rig though), which I guess you could use to get hot water.