CBR review:
Room: Our group was DH, DS11, DS9, DD5 and myself. We checked in on 9/16 to Aruba 54. I had requested Jamaica 44 using the touring plans room request. I was pretty disappointed about not getting Jamaica but I tried to let it go. We did get a bottom floor, which was helpful with our stroller. We were very close to the bus stop. The island market and drink machine were just around the corner from us. The room itself was very nice. I was afraid that we would be cramped but it really wasn't bad. The 2 sinks were really nice! We had plenty of drawer space for our clothes and using the drawers under the murphy bed wasn't an issue for us.
Buses: We had absolutely no issues with the buses. We used the app to get bus times and they were pretty spot on. I think the only time we had to stand on a bus was leaving the parks.
Pools: We used the main pool on Sunday. It was so much fun! The slides were a huge hit for my kids. We didn't use the smaller kids area, since my daughter wanted to swim where her brothers were swimming. We swam in the Aruba pool on Mon during our park break. The kids enjoyed it. I wish we had scheduled more time to use the main pool again.
Food: The kids and I ate dinner at the buffet on Tues evening and we took a to-go plate for my DH. I thought everything was good. My husband really enjoyed the potato soup that we brought him. The cast members were very helpful and friendly. A couple of mornings my husband ate the breakfast buffet and brought back food for us. I would say the breakfast was definitely the better of the 2 meals. My favorite was the scrambled eggs with bell peppers! We never made it to Spyglass Grill.
Location: This is my only negative about CBR. Again, I was disappointed about being in Aruba. It was just so far from CenterTown. My husband said it like this, this location is great if you are here for an extended time and you want to spend some time just being around the resort. But for a "park all day" trip and we want to just grab a quick bite when we get back, this is probably not the best location. Being so far away, we just never felt like we were part of the resort. Next time, if we stay at CBR, we will pay the difference to be a preferred area. Let me say this, the construction was never an issue for us. We never heard anything when we were in our room. Of course, we saw it but it didn't bother us at all!
OVerall, we enjoyed our time at CBR. I'm excited to see it when the updates are finished. Let me know if you have any questions.