Caribbean Beach Resort expansion and Old Port Royal closure for refurbishment

[BruTamUK]

Woke up this morning hoping this would be one of those 'Fake News' stories.
Sadly not.

[meldobe]

[QUOTE[/QUOTE]Thanks for that Buford, it may help in some way.

[HolidayDreams]

Anyone know how this is going down on forums for guests from the USA? I would have thought they would definitely complain and demand compensation. It is worth keeping an eye on to see how they are treated?

[Cha cha]

Originally Posted by HolidayDreams

Anyone know how this is going down on forums for guests from the USA? I would have thought they would definitely complain and demand compensation. It is worth keeping an eye on to see how they are treated?

See more...

I had a look last night and there were a few posts on Disboards and WDWmagic, but that was around 9pm not looked since then. 😁

[Bestbubba]

Here's our email we sent last night, not brilliant but best we could come up with and didn't want to wait. Thanks again Papa mouse for your suggestions. We will keep our powder dry re Abta etc till they send us all a form letter telling us to get lost. At that point we'll bombard them with legalese. I wonder if we could form a sort of "class action"? Strength in numbers?

Dear Sirs

Our booking ref: 17112736

We are due to arrive at CBR on 17th May for 14 nights.

Last year we stayed at the CBR with our children and grandchildren. We had an amazing trip. Full of Disney magic as we have come to expect after many WDW holidays. It was a "rope drop to fireworks" wonderful experience . We came home exhausted!

So this year, to celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary, we decided to return, but just the two of us. This was to be a different kind of trip. This time we were going to enjoy all this wonderful resort had to offer, spending lazy days relaxing by the pool, sipping cocktails with little umbrellas, walking round the beautiful grounds, trying out the hammocks with just the sounds of the birds for company, eating wonderful food at Shutters, (we already have a reservation for May 27th,) enjoying the OPR food court and the Banana Cabana Pool bar that we had so much fun at last year. All this we knew, from previous visits, could be enjoyed at CBR.

Imagine our dismay when we received an email today from Disney, informing us that due to refurbishment, none of this would be available.

We were told that upon arrival we will notice construction work in various areas, noise may be heard during this work and certain pathways will be unavailable. Also the following facilities will be CLOSED :

Old Port Royale Food Court
Shutters Restaurant
Banana Cabana Pool Bar
Calypso Trading Post.

Basically every facility that we had booked for. Had we known this, that the very heart of the resort was being closed down, we would never, ever have booked. Who in their right mind would book a resort where all the main facilities are closed? This is not the closure of a "quiet pool" or a room refurbishment, this is a major closure of facilities advertised when we booked.

Obviously Disney has a big problem doing renovations while keeping the resort open, but this is Disney's problem not ours. So now we need to know how Disney intend putting this right for us.

On receipt of this email today, I telephoned the number given, and after holding on for 45 minutes, when I finally spoke to a cast member, I was amazed to be told there was nothing Disney would do to put this right, other than to move us to another resort at our expense. This is ridiculous. As I said before, this is Disney's problem not mine. It is not of my making. I booked to stay at CBR in good faith, if Disney cannot provide the holiday they sold me at CBR , then I would expect to be put in alternative accommodation of the same standing or higher. To ask me to pay extra, to right Disney's problem, is farcical. This is certainly not the level of service we have come to expect and enjoy from the Walt Disney company.

We are deeply concerned, this is a special holiday, one that we have planned for many months, for this reason we await your reply at your earliest convenience.

Yours faithfully

[BufordT]

Thanks for that. I have been working an email for the last hour and this helps a lot exactly what I wanted to say

[Cha cha]

Would someone who has the e-mail post it onto this new thread please, just so that its on the newly opened thread too.

Well, I've still not had a response from my e-mail to Disney. I'm sure it'll be much the same as everyone else's.

I'm sure together 'eventually' we can get Disney to do the right thing. (Free move, comp or reduction in room rate)
😳

[thefourDs]

Originally Posted by avvy-xo

Has anyone booked with Thomas Cook and heard from either disney or TC?

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We booked with Thomas Cook and we haven't heard anything from either them or Disney.

Last week I did contact TC via their online chat and voiced my concerns regarding the dining facilities closure rumours. I was told not to worry and that people there now are having a great time?! I asked why I was unable to book the restaurant and he told me to just wait until we get there & that once we get to Florida a representative would advise us on the best places to eat. It was laughable!

I am so glad that I screenshot the whole chat as I will use that as evidence for my complaint!

[BufordT]

Originally Posted by Cha cha

Would someone who has the e-mail post it onto this new thread please, just so that its on the newly opened thread too.

Well, I've still not had a response from my e-mail to Disney. I'm sure it'll be much the same as everyone else's.

I'm sure together 'eventually' we can get Disney to do the right thing. (Free move, comp or reduction in room rate)
😳

See more...

I was told yesterday evening they are 48 hours behind on answering guests email that was at 4pm... I wouldn't expect something before the weekend

[Cha cha]

Originally Posted by Bestbubba

Here's our email we sent last night, not brilliant but best we could come up with and didn't want to wait. Thanks again Papa mouse for your suggestions. We will keep our powder dry re Abta etc till they send us all a form letter telling us to get lost. At that point we'll bombard them with legalese. I wonder if we could form a sort of "class action"? Strength in numbers?

Dear Sirs

Our booking ref: 17112736

We are due to arrive at CBR on 17th May for 14 nights.

Last year we stayed at the CBR with our children and grandchildren. We had an amazing trip. Full of Disney magic as we have come to expect after many WDW holidays. It was a "rope drop to fireworks" wonderful experience . We came home exhausted!

So this year, to celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary, we decided to return, but just the two of us. This was to be a different kind of trip. This time we were going to enjoy all this wonderful resort had to offer, spending lazy days relaxing by the pool, sipping cocktails with little umbrellas, walking round the beautiful grounds, trying out the hammocks with just the sounds of the birds for company, eating wonderful food at Shutters, (we already have a reservation for May 27th,) enjoying the OPR food court and the Banana Cabana Pool bar that we had so much fun at last year. All this we knew, from previous visits, could be enjoyed at CBR.

Imagine our dismay when we received an email today from Disney, informing us that due to refurbishment, none of this would be available.

We were told that upon arrival we will notice construction work in various areas, noise may be heard during this work and certain pathways will be unavailable. Also the following facilities will be CLOSED :

Old Port Royale Food Court
Shutters Restaurant
Banana Cabana Pool Bar
Calypso Trading Post.

Basically every facility that we had booked for. Had we known this, that the very heart of the resort was being closed down, we would never, ever have booked. Who in their right mind would book a resort where all the main facilities are closed? This is not the closure of a "quiet pool" or a room refurbishment, this is a major closure of facilities advertised when we booked.

Obviously Disney has a big problem doing renovations while keeping the resort open, but this is Disney's problem not ours. So now we need to know how Disney intend putting this right for us.

On receipt of this email today, I telephoned the number given, and after holding on for 45 minutes, when I finally spoke to a cast member, I was amazed to be told there was nothing Disney would do to put this right, other than to move us to another resort at our expense. This is ridiculous. As I said before, this is Disney's problem not mine. It is not of my making. I booked to stay at CBR in good faith, if Disney cannot provide the holiday they sold me at CBR , then I would expect to be put in alternative accommodation of the same standing or higher. To ask me to pay extra, to right Disney's problem, is farcical. This is certainly not the level of service we have come to expect and enjoy from the Walt Disney company.

We are deeply concerned, this is a special holiday, one that we have planned for many months, for this reason we await your reply at your earliest convenience.

Yours faithfully

See more...

That's a really good letter Bestbubba, let us know what you hear back ☺️