You will recall in Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort: Review Part 1, I gave a brief description of the Resort’s Custom House Lobby, “Nemo” theme, and room’s amenities. We had stayed at this resort in the past and had loved it for its themed rooms, exciting pool area and food selections. On this third stay at the Caribbean Beach, we checked in at the Lobby and were assigned to the Barbados area.
We used bell services for our luggage, then quickly found our room to be in order as we remembered it from year’s past. My son was delighted again to see that Nemo was still there in the room in various spots. It had been a year since our last stay at this Resort, and being older and wiser, he was able to spot the Hidden Mickey in the bedspread pattern. We unpacked all of our stuff and got comfortable for our five night stay.
I had noticed in previous trips that other Disney “nuts” had taken supplies to decorate their window for added entertainment value for themselves and the passing guests. This being the week of my son’s 4th birthday, I thought it would be exciting to also decorate the window. I had packed a strand of lights and some pictures, i.e. one photo was of my son on his favorite “Pirates of the Caribbean” ride. I sent my husband and son away so I could decorate. I quickly found a spot to plug in the lights, and then noticed that the windows were completely saturated with streaks of water. I didn’t think much of this condensation at the time, but instead used a towel to quickly dry the windows and began getting my decorations hung on the windows. When my son returned, he was so excited to see the lights and decorations there for his upcoming birthday!
We spend the next morning at the park, and then returned to the hotel for my son’s nap (ok, my nap… blame it on the kid!). When we returned to the room, several of our photos had fallen to the ground. I found that they had fallen because of the condensation. Later that night after returning from the parks, we found that our WALLS were also wet. My husband and I discussed the matter and thought it must be because the room is air conditioned and the doors and windows were not tightly sealed.
The next day was another park visit and again we returned to our room for naptime. This time my son was acting a bit more worn out than usual. Upon arriving at the room, my son began getting sick. Over and over my child got sick. He slept for hours while my husband and I tried to decide what to do. Since we had no rental car on this particular trip, we felt stuck. We decided to spend the rest of that day watching him there in the room to see if the symptoms subsided.
During our stay in the room, my husband and I would trade out shifts and took walks to Old Port Royale Centertown. We both found the walk to Old Port refreshing for the great views of the Barefoot Lake and pools. Old Port offers shopping at the gift shop, Calypso Trading Post & Calypso Straw Market, food at the food court or the table service restaurant, Shutters, and fun at the arcade. In addition, there are other amenities at Old Port such as an ATM, Poolside bar and rentals of water sprites, paddle boats and pontoon boats.
We did find that the Market had some supplies for illnesses, however, by that evening, when our little guy was extremely weak, had a fever and was not eating. At 8 PM we decided to call the front desk to ask for advice on getting medical attention. They said we had two options; either call a cab company to take us to the emergency room or call 911. When asked if they had a vehicle to transport us to the emergency room, we were told no. They did offer that most guests use 911 and said that if using 911, we would need to take a cab back to the Resort. The cast member said that they would reimburse us for any charges for this cab ride.
After deliberation, we called 911 and explained that we were not really having an emergency but had no car for transport. The operator explained that they were in the business of assisting people in our situation and could help. Within 10 minutes, my son was being loaded on a stretcher and we were getting in the back of an ambulance.
Next week I will continue my review of my family’s stay at the Resort.
Contributed by: Natalie H. Natalie is the Disney Driven Life’s resident resort expert.
