Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort

Martinique

Tropical ambience with a Caribbean flair in 5 colorful island villages, each with its own pool
Old Port Royale with 7 counter service restaurants
Shutters restaurant is open for dinner
Recreation: Main pool features waterfalls and slide; poolside bar; 6 quiet pools; kiddie pool; hot tub; marina; volleyball; Parrot Cay Island playground with tropical aviary; bicycling; white sand beaches
Two gift shops
Arcade
Room amenities: mini bar; coffeemaker; voice mail; pizza delivery; in-room safe; refrigerator on request

Main Pool at Old Port Royale Boating at CBR

For 2009, room rates start at $149 per night.

Caribbean Beach Resort Map

Here is some info I put together after my stay at this resort:

When you first walk up to Old Port Royale, there is a fountain outside. There is beautiful landscaping all around the resorts, bushes, and pretty flowers. Inside OPR, there is a short hallway containing mundane things such as a pay phone and rest rooms. Then, to your left is the Arcade. It seemed quite large to me. On your right, in the wall, there is a place to drop off film for developing (but it is very expensive). You actually walk thru part of one of the two stores to get to the food court. The restaurant is on your left. The food court is straight ahead and it is huge. All the food is sold at counters on the right hand side, and tables are to the left. They are broken up, into separate areas, with multiple levels. There is at least one TV which plays Disney animated movies all day and evening. They sell kids meals there, which come in a pail, with a shovel, which the kids can use at the beach. The kids meals come with a paper cup, which you won't really need if you buy the refillable mugs. There were two beverage stations there. They have coffee, tea, hot water, lemonade, soda and iced tea. They have a variety of sodas, mostly Coke products, but some other brands as well. There is cream and sugar and stirrers there. I didn't notice if there was milk for the tea, but I would assume so. There is a whole rack full of condiments, including plastic utensils. It is very noisy and crowded there, but we never had any trouble getting a table. There are plenty of tables outside as well, but during the heat of the day, you will want to eat indoors in the a/c.

The gift shop you first enter is a "Caribbean Beach Resort" themed shop. They sell adult and kids t-shirts and sweatshirts that say Caribbean Beach Resort and have various characters wearing pirate garb. They sell various souvenir cups and so forth with CBR on them. They were selling decorated coconuts as "postcards". These cost about $12. This is the smaller of the two shops. There is a set of double doors that you go through to go out to the pool/bar/beach area. The other shop is located on the far side of the small shop. There is no door in between them. They sell character merchandise, such as stuffed animals, pencils, statuettes, key chains, etc. They also have sundries at the back, such as novels, aspirin, Band-Aids, and the like, as well as a cooler which has beer, wine, wine coolers, possibly milk. They also sell candy, packages of cookies, chips, and other snacks.

When you exit the shops, going out the double doors at the back of the smaller shop, there are a bunch of tables and chairs with umbrellas.

I was searching for goggles, since the kids eyes were really stinging from the chlorine. They didn't sell any there though. The only place I could find goggles was at Typhoon Lagoon (I'm sure all the water parks have them). I paid $7 each. Back home you can get a similar pair for $4 or $5, so you might want to pack some.

Also at the main pool is the hot tub. It was refreshing, and I spent a few minutes each evening here. However, often times kids would jump in. There is a big sign there that says that kids under 12 must be accompanied by an adult; however, it is mostly ignored by young children. Whenever I was in it though, and kids got to be annoying, one of the other adults would point out the sign to the kids and they'd all get out. So it was never really bad. The kids really didn't bother me anyway. And my own kids could come in since I was in it.

The Banana Cabana is between the pool and the beach. (of course there are many beaches). The bar has stools all around it, and at least one TV, if you are interested in watching whatever game is on. I never stayed at the bar though. Whenever I got myself a glass of wine, I would either sit at one of the tables and read, or sit back in a lounge chair by the pool.

We kept meaning to rent a Surrey Bike, but I kept saying we'd do it later in the week (I figured with 7 days I'd have plenty of time), but we never got around to it. It was a little on the expensive side (I can't remember how much now) and they had bad hours (something like 10:00 am to 5 pm), so it was never convenient. I would have liked to have gone either early in the morning before it got hot, or in the evening after returning from the parks. The boys rented regular bikes ($5 each) one day and rode all around the resort.

Tipping - there has been much debate on the boards about this. I tipped $3 a day, which seems to be the average amount according to the boards. Some people didn't believe in tipping. Others figured that since they had to make up 2 beds they should get $2. Some people only tip at the end of the week, but since different people clean your room everyday, this isn't the best solution.

The beaches have hammocks on them. Some also have volley ball nets (I've heard). We never had time to go looking. Some of the beaches have small playgrounds at them. You can't go in the water at the beaches though. (You wouldn't want to anyway, there are large turtles in them). When you go over the bridge to the Parrot's Cay (playground island), there are several machines that you can put quarters into to buy animal food. There are lots of birds and turtles that hang out in the water by the bridge, as well as lots of fish that you can feed. We liked to save bread whenever we went out to a restaurant (bring an empty baggie in your fanny pack for this), just for feeding the fish (at the resort, at Epcot in World Showcase, and at Tom Sawyer’s Island in the Magic Kingdom).

Parrot Cay was larger than I had expected. There were several different areas set up, with a pirate/Caribbean theme. There were cannons there. All around the edges and on some paths in the middle of the island where tropical birds. They were really neat looking! There was a plaque by each telling a little about the bird. There was also plenty of bird droppings on the pathways. Sorry I can't say much more, we spent more time feeding the fish while crossing the bridge than we did on the island. It would be a nice relaxing exotic place to spend time (if you have the time). I THINK there may have been a few picnic tables there, but I can't swear to it.

Back at OPR, outside, where the tables are, to your immediate left, is where the Surrey bikes are for rent. They have two and four person "bicycles". They look like mini cars without the motors. Just beyond that, at times, there is a booth where they put girls hair into beads (remember Bo Derek in the movie "10"?). This is expensive (I think about $26) and takes about 1/2 hour. The pool is to the left of the tables. There is a waterfall at the far end of the pool. Also at the far end, there are men’s and women's dressing rooms, with lockers and showers. This came in handy on our last day there. I had checked out of the room at 11:00, but didn't need to leave for the airport until 12:30, so I stayed at the pool, then was able to change out of my swim suit before leaving.

Beyond the main pool, there is a kiddie pool. It looked to be about a foot deep. But the water was not heated, so no one stayed in it for long. At least the lounge chairs there weren't crowded though, so it would be a good spot, if the main pool is too crowded. The main pool and "quiet" pools are always heated to 85 degrees. Our quiet pool was a little closer to our room than the main pool, and there was never anyone in it. We just always liked being where the people were though. It was more fun. The kiddie pool is only about 20 feet away from the main pool, but the two areas are separated by hedges, and lounge chairs on either side, so there is no danger of little ones wandering from the small pool to the big one. You feel like you are in a separate area when you are near the kiddie pool. They don't keep a supply of towels at the pools. You must bring your towels from your room. You can then leave your towels when you are done, they have bins for them. I would suggest that on your first day, you request extra towels. We never ran out of towels, and used them for both bathing and the pool, but there were only 3 of us.

The Marina is within sight and walking distance of the bar area. When we were there, they had a special called the Captain's Plan, where for $99 plus tax, you got to rent boats for a total of 4 hours. (Boat rentals are discounted 10 percent if you use an American Express card to pay for it). We decided to break up our 4 hours into eight 1/2-hour segments. And we rented water mice every time. I was too nervous to drive a pontoon boat by myself, and the peddle boats didn't interest me. They give you life jackets, then they put you in a boat, and show you how to operate it. There are "rescue boats" out on the lake, driving all around, in case you run into any problems. Since I had paid up front, whenever Jon wanted to rent a boat, he just gave them his room key, and off he went. Anyone age 12 and up can rent a boat. He did this almost everyday when we got back to the hotel in the afternoon. The marina hours were 10 am to 5 pm. Jay and I went out several times. The less weight you have in a water mouse, the faster it goes, so Jon was able to do circles around Jay and I, since we were sharing a boat. They also rent a variety of bicycles at the marina.