Originally Posted By TinkerMellyJ We embarked on our first big vacation in five years to celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday and my husband's 40'ish birthday. It was also our 5 year olds first visit to WDW. We stayed at the Carribean Beach Resort from August 16-24, 2006 in Martinique. (We had previously stayed there in 98). Our check in experience was a good one although we became a bit apprehensive when the desk staff could not find the reservation for the family in front of us ! They sounded as if they were from England or Australia and I thought that I wouldn't have handled it as well as they did if I came that far for a vacation! Some how they accomodated them at a different hotel and got them on their way. Our check in was smooth and the cast member was wonderfully friendly and welcoming. She said that she was going to give us a wonderful garden view which got us all excited! Little did we know that our particular garden view looked like someone had chopped it with the weed whacker! Beware of garden views! When we checked in, I did mention to staff that we had two birthdays. She took down the names and dates. Sure enough, when we returned from a day at the parks on birthday days there was a personalized card waiting on the bed with a picture of Minnie or Mickey and the gang accompanied by 3 helium happy birthday balloons. A wonderful touch! The birthday recipients were very excited to receive them! Don't forget to get your birthday sticker or button when you go to the parks- people are wishing you a happy birthday all day long. It helps to make the day special! On two days, my little one had a washcloth animal and doll waiting for her and she thought that was really neat. She played with them along with her stuffed animals that she had brought and wanted to bring them home with her but since I wasn't sure what the protocol was since they were the hotels washcloths- I had her leave them on our last day. I fondly remember our last trip in 98 where housekeeping would take my daughter's barbies and stuffed animals and have them posed doing different things almost everynight when we would return to our room - watching TV, reading a book, waiting in the window for her to return, all kinds of silly things. On this trip we passed by windows where little girl's princess dresses would be hanging in the windows and there would be towel hammocks with dolls and animals in them in the windows. We didn't get that on this trip. I guess it depends on your individual housekeeper how creative they get. It is funny that the little things like a creative housekeeper can really create memories that you remember fondly! Now to be honest, I wasn't sure about the new decor. We had visited in 98 and really enjoyed the room and the resort. This time, I found the room decor and colors a bit mish matched and garish. To me nothing really seemed to go together well. Too many bright colors and too many different patterns working the room. But the room was roomy enough for four people and all of our gear which seemed to grow daily. My older daughter accessed the in-room internet three different times to send out trip reports and photos to her friends. I believe it was $10.00 per 24 hrs. I wasn't sure about the efficiency of our housekeeper. We know that some days, no vacuuming took place because crumbs were there from the previous day. There were also tiny bugs smashed on the wall that stayed there the entire trip and the bathtub and bathroom floors were not well cleaned every day. There was also a blood smear on the curtain which was kind of creepy. We hestated to complain because we didn't know if it might make things worse or maybe something might be stolen, so we just lived with it. Before I decided to post this review, I looked at many other reviews for this same time period at CBR, and for the most part they were pretty satisfactory, a few complaints but not too many. Maybe we had a unusual situation. We enjoyed the pool at Port Royale. Our youngest thought it was terrific! The one thing that could have made it that much better would have been a steel drum band or just tropical music to add a festive atmosphere. The gift shop and restaurant areas are pretty crowded but the food is good. We had the free Disney Dining Plan and that was absolutely incredible! My husband wanted me to post a headline that says, "Has Disney lost their minds?!!" We got two large meals and a snack everyday and it was mind boggling. A dessert with every meal, an appetizer with dinner, 150 restaurants to choose from and you can order practically anything from the menu - even $30 steak meals. We really researched this for months before we left and made some reservations at some terrific restaurants. The first full day was my daughter's 16th birthday and we had reservations at the Spirit of Aloha Luau- an all you can eat dinner and show. The first nights dinner alone was $176.00 for 4 people! And it went on like this for 8 nights and my kids actually got sick of picking a dessert! We loved it and would actually consider coming back next year if they offered it again because it was such a money saver. We are from California and are AP holders at Disneyland (we go 2-4 times a year) and spend most of our vacation money on meals. When you think about it, a huge chunk of your vacation $$$ goes towards meals. My husband looked up some info and he said Disney is going to offer it to people from the UK only next year. We haven't confirmed this officially though- check into it. The CBR is big and spacious. There is a lot of walking to get to the restaurants and the Custom House. We used our rental car to get around quite a bit. We also know that the bus system to the parks is very efficient. We always were able to spot the geckos on the sidewalks and it seems that the whole resort is overun by these wild bunnies. We saw them at our resort, the Contemporary and even the Magic Kingdom. They are very used to all of the people around. Some of the highlights of our trip were riding Aerosmiths Rocking Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest (wow), dinner at Ohana (our little one had the best time with all of the activities for the little kids)and then watching the MK fireworks show from the restaurant over dessert and tea, getting our little one all dolled up at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique and driving the the little mice boats on the Sassagoula River. How about seeing American Idol, Diana De Garmo having dinner with friends at the next table at Mitsokoshi Teppanyaki Restaurant in EPCOT? I so missed the People Mover at Disneyland that I had to ride the TTA at WDW and my kids thought I had lost my mind for being so excited about riding such a sedate ride. I also had to see the Carousel of Progress, so tame for kids these days but huge memories for me and the hubby from our dating days at DL. My husband says to say that he can't believe they put Stitch in the Alien Experience. The Alien Experience was so scary! We waited for an hour to ride Space Mountain at WDW and all agree that DL Space Mountain at DL is better and much smoother as is Pirates of the Carribean. We love Big Thunder MT. at DL but all thing WDW has it going on -more to it and much more thrilling! Probably our favorite park was Disney-MGM. We were dissapointed that 8 days didn't seem to be enough time to hit a water park. Maybe next time! We would like to visit again and not take another eight years to do it! Maybe a different time of year- August is really humid and takes a bit of adjustment. We might try another resort maybe the Port Orleans Riverside or the Polynesian looks really fun (but it is an upgrade!)
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<I wasn't sure about the efficiency of our housekeeper. We know that some days, no vacuuming took place because crumbs were there from the previous day. There were also tiny bugs smashed on the wall that stayed there the entire trip and the bathtub and bathroom floors were not well cleaned every day. There was also a blood smear on the curtain which was kind of creepy. We hestated to complain because we didn't know if it might make things worse or maybe something might be stolen, so we just lived with it. Before I decided to post this review, I looked at many other reviews for this same time period at CBR, and for the most part they were pretty satisfactory, a few complaints but not too many. Maybe we had a unusual situation.>> No. You sound like you got a typical WDW resort mousekeeping experience. Hope you don't mind if I highjack the above quote and move it to the Tipping Housekeepers thread on the WDW Planning Board.
