Your During-Construction Stay at Caribbean Beach Resort

I have never stayed at CBR, but just booked a trip there for mid December. I assume the construction will still be going on? It was cheaper to stay at CBR over the other moderates that were included in the free dining package, but I am wondering if it’s worth paying extra to switch resorts now?

I just spoke to Reservations again, and we Do NOT have the gift card even though the other operator gave me the information last time. You did have to be booked by sometime in March. I don’t mind not getting, it but am disappointed the other operator told me otherwise. Even stated as long as you booked by May 1st!

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Disney updated their map. Old Port Royal, Part of Martinique and all of Barbados are gone.

I am sorry :frowning:

Thanks, glad I called back. Would have been upset if we got there thinking we had those gift cards!

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I would just like to bump this thread. I am staying at CBR in November and would love to hear more reports from guests staying there between now and then.

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I am hoping more people post on here as they stay CBR and will update us on the progress. I will be there early Dec. I am hoping that the dining facilities will still be under construction when we get there. We got the free dining and are hoping to utilize our counter service credits for our breakfast buffet. I have two early teen boys that are determined to eat their weight in Micky waffles!

I’m there for 9 nights as of July 3rd and will report back

We have 21 x $75 ($1575) in October, also over the moon :slight_smile: :slight_smile: Hope the experience is ok though :slight_smile:

We will of course report back after the visit.

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I was just skimming this thread.So the official date you have to be booked by in order to get the gift cards is March 18th, is that correct? I booked in April with the free dining plan. I guess if it is too good to be true, then it probably is.

That can get you some ear plugs at one of the parks to drown out the noise and still pay for a meal or two!

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Just returned from a 4 night stay at CBR.

Yes, you can see the construction at the resort. You drive right by it when you are coming into the resort from Custom House. There are gates up, but you can still see what was going on. This is from the bridge coming from Jamaica to the pool area.

We were in Jamaica building 46 and could not hear or see any construction from our building.

Every cast member that we encountered was so pleasant and helpful! When we checked in, we were given an explanation of everything happening and all of our options for food and an additional concierge location. There was also a pamphlet in the room with the food options.

I visited the concierge location that is in room 3109 in Trinidad North to pay on my room balance. They had 2 computers setup to help guests and someone was there greeting people as we walked into the room.

We stopped by the Island Market in Jamaica one morning for some coffee and a muffin before heading to the park. We were told the coffee was complimentary.

We visited the food tent for the breakfast buffet during our stay. The food was very good and the setup worked well. We walked by the pool bar on the way. There were also tables setup on the beach for people to sit outside and eat.

We had a car, but we also took the bus a few times. Jamaica was the first on and off for our trips except our return from Disney Springs.

I would not have a problem staying here again during construction. It is still a beautiful resort even with the construction.

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Beautiful views! I’ll be there in November, hopefully it all works as smoothly as yours did!

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Thanks very much for the report!

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Thank you for the detailed report and pictures!

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Thank you so much for reporting back!! The pictures are beautiful!! Sounds like you had a great time!!

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Thank you for the report! You have eased by mind about staying there in November. I haven’t exactly been dreading staying there, but you might say the construction has been on my mind! Haha.

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Staying Dec 10-18, is there a certain section I should request to stay in?

We just returned from our CBR stay, 7/31 to 8/6.

We got the $75 per night gift card ($450 total) and the Room Only discount rate of around $155, so was an excellent deal! The rebate gift card had a construction Mickey on it that several CMs liked and commented on that they had not seen one before.

We stayed in Jamaica 46 (for some reason in posts and chat I keep saying Aruba 46, my brain must be stuck in my first stay there), parking lot view and just around the corner was the path over to the pool and food areas. We drove down this trip, so drove to all parks except MK. The wait for the bus on our 2 MK days was less than 15 minutes. Jamaica is at the end of the bus stops, but before RD we all got seats each ride without problem.

One note: One day there was a family waiting for the internal bus to get to the front of the resort so they could hop a bus to whisper Universal end whisper. They were there for a bit before we got there and spoke with a driver who checked on that bus for them: turns out there is a single resort loop bus so it takes up to 30 minutes to get around, so if you need it be aware you might need to build extra time into your plan. (That is probably the case all the time, not related to construction.)

(Unrelated to construction: Loved the parking lot view since we could load and unload car right in front of our door. Did NOT like the huge number of mosquitoes hanging around door at all times that immediately flew into room every time you opened it. We ended up ceremoniously spraying mosquito repellent around the door each morning and night.)

When driving around the outer loop, you pass a few obvious construction locations, but most spots are covered with nice decorated fencing, so not very obtrusive at all. Walking around the resort you can see work being done across the water (as others have posted), and see the food court work closed off when you are at pool.

But, in the 6 days we were there, I think the only noise I heard was a single set of medium-loud hammers one time. The day we stayed at the resort and were in the pool most of the day - heard nothing at all. (In fact the 6:40AM lawn mower brigade on one day of the trip was much more annoying and went on for a long while!)

The huge tent they put up for the QS buffet is very nicely done (and very cold!) - however we did not eat there or the food trucks at all so I can’t comment in detail on that. (On a given trip we tend to eat only once or twice in the resort. Our kids have severe nut allergies and even with Disney’s great handling of things the combination of the buffet style and temporary feel to it, don’t think they were too comfortable with the idea of eating there.)

However, DW and I did look around at them and they were very nice - in other circumstances the setup was more than fine and I would have eaten there and not had any problem.

I think my largest complaint: The coffee was just. never. hot. NEVER. Not at 645AM, not at dinner. That includes both the main tent and the mini-market.

While fairly annoying for DW and I, and as much as I like a nice hot cuppa in the morning - if that was my biggest problem, then I’m good.

There was also a truck dedicated to souvenir and store items that had a nice large selection. (In fact, my wife had a wonderful experience there talking to the CM. My wife has been looking for a nice Tink pin, but couldn’t find one she really liked. The CM struck up a conversation and they talked for a long time while kids and I were in pool, sharing family stories and things about Disney. At the end of the conversation the CM told my wife she was going to give her a pin - and she gave her the best Tink pin we’d ever seen, a large one with a pixie dust background. Really touched my wife.)

Back to the resort info: The pool area itself was really unchanged.

The mini-markets in the various room locations were good - could have used more selection IMHO, but good. Around the corner from each mini-market next to an ice machine was a Freestyle soda machine - kids loved those (too much.) Every time we went to one there was a trail of kids waiting to refill. :slight_smile:

The mini-market was about 3 buildings over - about a 5 minute walk. Not really bad, but a lot of lefts and rights to get there if you keep to paths. (I ended up just hoofing it over to the main tent most times, since I usually went to get coffees about 6:45 each morning and like the sunrise walk anyway.)

There are also a few concierge locations in buildings around the resort, but I did not used them. I only learned about them because I had an issue with how charges were done on my credit card and needed some money to be shifted around to maximize my rewards.

So, the TL;DR: My take away: If you are a Disney veteran and got the $75 rebate and/or room only discount, the resort is absolutely fine and staying there is a no brainer. Aside from the food tent and trucks, everything else when in room areas and the resort is the same, except for a few transition spots.

If I were to add any warning at all: if you go to the resort food court a lot, or if you are a first or infrequent visitor: there may be a bit less magic for you when looking for food, but still more than acceptable.

Again, with the discounts and if you have the rebate: I’d absolutely stay with CBR again.

If I were booking now and had to choose between CBR and Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter and room rates were the same (with no construction rebate): I think I would go POR or FQ just to have the nicer food experience.

Othwerwise, If I’d already booked CBR I wouldn’t worry about trying to move.

Speaking with other folks at the resort - Everyone there was very upbeat about staying at CBR. (Funnily enough, we talked with a lot of other guests and almost without exception everyone was from the UK or France. Same in parks - I think half of the UK was in park this week.)

As a reward for sticking with my long report - here’s my favorite resort photo from one of my early morning walks for coffee last week. Hope you have a great trip if you’re going!

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Thanks for sharing!

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