Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort Review
The Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort are the only place at Walt Disney World where you can sleep on a boat…with a mattress in it. This review features photos of the Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired hotel rooms and whether they are worth the money. (Updated February 9, 2021.)
I’ll start by stating that every red-blooded American loves pirates. Captain Jack Sparrow is a national treasure, and approximately 84.7% of all Americans have dressed as him or some other pirate at least once. I think most of us yearn to someday be pirates (minus the whole nefarious side of things that we conveniently overlook).
As a result, there’s a lot of appeal to the Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort. Adults and children alike recognize the cool factor in pirates. These are definitely cool rooms…at least in theory. Unfortunately, they just are not worth the money.
There are few things at Walt Disney World that I am willing to unequivocally say are not worth it. Usually, this is an “it depends” type thing. In this case, the Pirate Rooms flat out aren’t worth it. That is, unless your kids really love pirates, and you want to make the trip special for them without regard for your own comfort.
The problem with the Pirate Rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort is threefold: 1) location, 2) price, and 3) quality of the regular rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort. Let’s take a closer look as to why…
Let’s start with an update, which includes a couple pieces of good news about the Pirate Rooms at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort.
First, the rooms have received a soft goods refurbishment since we first reviewed them. This is basically a mostly minor cosmetic refresh. Above is the new room, below is the old one.
Noteworthy changes are the larger, wall-mounted flat panel television, new carpeting, and a lightened up color scheme. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but the rooms aren’t as drab as before–it’s an upgrade. However, the bed runners have been removed, which is a downgrade.
Another upgrade comes via the beds. They’re still full-sized and still have thin mattresses, but they’ve been upgraded to a thicker foam as compared to before. (Note that the before here is a few years ago–it had been a while since we had stayed in one of these.)
The next improvement is not to the Pirate Rooms themselves, but is a bigger deal even though it’s indirect. Here, we’re talking about the Disney Skyliner.
The hub station of the gondola system is directly across the water from the section of Caribbean Beach where all of the Pirate Rooms are located. This is a big win for guests who book the Pirate Rooms.
Speaking of which, the Pirate Rooms are located in Trinidad, the farthest section of the resort from the main lobby and Old Port Royale (pool, food court, etc).
Now, I am hardly averse to walking, but these are (as my grandpa would say) a country mile away from everything else. It’s realistically about a 15 minute walk from Old Port Royale.
While that’s still the case, having the main Skyliner station about 5-10 minutes away is a big improvement. Moreover, two Coke Freestyle machines plus Spyglass Grill, one of our favorite ‘hidden gem’ counter service restaurants at Walt Disney World, have been added to Trinidad.
(Unfortunately, these dining enhancements are not currently operating during the phased reopening of Walt Disney World. If you’re booking a 2022 vacation, expect them to be back by then.)
While those upgrades definitely help tip the scales in favor of the Pirate Rooms, it’s still insufficient. In our Best Room & Locations at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort, we have a rundown of recommended building number requests. Suffice to say, there are better options, and many of them are standard rooms with no location surcharge.
Ironically, Walt Disney World was having trouble booking these remote rooms and receiving guest complaints about them, and decided to address the problem by refurbishing them as Pirate Rooms, thereby capitalizing on the pirate craze and adding a unique appeal for the rooms.
Also, increasing the price in the process. Ahh, Disney, you wiley minxes…never failing to find ways to charge more! The Pirate Rooms cost about $50+ more per night than equivalent regular rooms. I write “equivalent” loosely, as the location farther from Old Port Royale really makes the Pirate Rooms lesser rooms, but I think we’ve already addressed that concern.
I view the Moderate Resorts as the Walt Disney World hotels you book when you want to splurge a bit to move up from a Value Resort, but are on a tighter budget than necessary for the Deluxe Resorts. Given my assumption, I find it wholly unreasonable to pay ~$50/night more for inferior rooms.
The quality of the final rooms is the final nail in the coffin. We regularly stay in the regular rooms at Caribbean Beach, including around the same time as the Pirate Rooms, and the quality was a night and day difference. For the sake of comparison, above is a photo of the standard rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort.
However, the standard rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort are nicer. You can read our Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort Review for a detailed look at the regular guest rooms (along with the common areas and other elements of Caribbean Beach…no point in this post being duplicative), but suffice to say, they are like the Polynesian-lite now.
The Pirate Rooms just do not compare to the regular rooms from a basic quality perspective. The finishings and style of the regular rooms is superior to the Pirate Rooms. In fairness, you might personally prefer the style of the Pirate Rooms, but from an objective perspective, the refurbished regular rooms are nicer.
The details like the carpet, dressers, and housing unit for the fridge are relatively cool. The style is squarely aimed at kids, but it’s still fun. The style of these Pirate Rooms is fairly cool, especially the beds which are like pirate ships. Pirate ship is exponentially cooler than a race car in terms of novelty bed designs. Still, these are full size beds as compared to the queen beds in the regular rooms at Caribbean Beach.
As with the other rooms at Caribbean Beach Resort, bathrooms are basic. The sink is located outside of the bathroom, separate from the main room by a curtain.
Nothing special about the bathroom itself.
Ultimately, aside from the “my kids loved them!” argument, I’m not sure how else they are even remotely defensible. There’s nothing wrong with catering to your kids on a Walt Disney World vacation–especially if the trip is for their benefit–but that amounts to sentimentality, not an honest assessment of the rooms.
Anyone wanting good value for their money or a more comfortable stay should avoid the Pirate Rooms. That’s true even after the minor enhancements to the rooms themselves, and the addition of the Disney Skyliner. Even now, these are our least favorite rooms at Walt Disney World; we highly recommend everyone but the biggest buccaneer buffs book elsewhere.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS…
Do you like the Pirate Rooms, or do you agree about them being overpriced and inferior to the regular rooms? Would you consider splurging on a stay here for the sake of your kids? Planning on staying here someday? Does the nearby Skyliner hub change your perspective on the Pirate Rooms? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I’m really discouraged after reading your review. We had to choose the pirate rooms if we wanted to get the free dining promotion (originally we had the preferred room booked). This is my husband and daughter first time to Disney. The long walk, beds, and other complaints sound horrible. We are flying and not renting a car. Can’t say I’m excited now about our trip in a couple weeks.
How was your trip? I head there in 39 days… hope your trip was amazing as i am not sure i cant change resorts now..
Did you end up staying here? If so, how was it? We changed our reservation to stay in the pirate room last month. We have never stayed at this resort. I am not worried about food and walking because we have rented a car, just the quality of the room. Thanks in advance. I hope your trip was fabulous.
I’ve been reading conflicting reports about the extent of the refurbishment of the Pirate Rooms. Some websites are very dated and infer that the rooms were never refreshed at all. But my understanding now is that the Pirate rooms were indeed refurbished with new decor, linens, carpet, furniture, bathroom flooring etc, but that due to the design structure of the bed, the beds could not be enlarged.
Am I right that the mattresses were replaced? I’ve read many negative reports of the mattresses prior to refurbishment. Are the newer mattress better than the old?
Also a side note, the pictures of the room on this page look like the old Pirate rooms and not the refreshed ones.
When we watched the promo video, my 9 yr old son said, “I wanna stay there” about the pirate rooms, but we had already booked into POFQ. However, when the fall promo was released, we tried to get it at POFQ and it was sold out, but we were able to switch to a pirate room for less than $50 on a 6 night trip. I think in this case, it is worth it. We will have a car, so I’m not concerned about walking.
It is a fantastic hotel, one of our favorites.
The refurbishment of the rooms was expected and achieved its objective, position the DCB in the place it deserves, that of the most comprehensive in the category of moderate hotels.
True, in particular pirate rooms have their flaws, but overall I think it is a recommendable hotel for families, for its subject and its fantastic pool … yes, we must take the car to get around.
Thank you very much and greetings.
Thanks so much for this review. This was one I was wanting to do soon because I loveeee pirates! But I hateeeee 4 inch thick beds and very long walks, because you don’t walk enough around the parks as it is. We really enjoyed the royal rooms at Port Orleans Riverside and I was hoping this would be the equivalent. You’ve saved us some money! I do like the new regular rooms at Caribbean too, and the pool. That will be fun enough for my family and I!
We are hoping to try out CBR next year. You are right Tom, we are one of those tight budgeted families that have stayed in Value Resorts, but with my kids getting older – a tween and a teen – we need more room. Share with me what you think (anyone!) – the upgrade to CBR from a Vaule resort room – is it worth the extra cost? Is there more room to make you feel a little more comfortable? We feel ‘squished’ in a value room! I especially like the murphy bed @ CBR. (Pirate rooms to me are way over-priced – thx for the review.)
Any opinions appreciated! Thanks!
I think the Royal, or Princess, or Whatever they’re called, rooms at Port Orleans Riverside operate on a similar principal. Extra theming to justify being further away from the main buildings and action. I have no idea why they cost so much extra- it’s definitely not the location! And anyways how much are you really in your room anyway?
I agree with you entirely! We had the misfortune of being marooned in one of these rooms last October when we visited WDW. I was at the check-in desk hoping to get one of the newly refurbished rooms, as I had seen pictures from other guests. When the lady informed me that we were getting a “free upgrade”, I knew we were hosed! If my 9yr old daughter hadn’t been there to overhear it, she got excited at the prospect, I would have turned it down. Because I already knew they were located in BFE!
So we stayed in a pirate room….. yippee…. The walk was long to get to the pool, the buses were incredibly crowded AND slow. This was the one and only time we have and will ever stay at CBR.
Tom, it’s refreshing to read a review of a WDW resort that actually is willing to talk about whether they’re worth the money. They’re pretty rare to see, and your reasons for not feeling they’re a good value make total sense.
If I’m being honest with myself, I think very few of the Walt Disney World resorts are actually “worth it,” even accounting for their location. Disney simply isn’t good at running hotels, and so many real world operators can run circles around them.
Still, I am willing to pay the prices quite often for theme, so from a less-objective perspective, many of them are “worth it” to me. The Pirate Rooms most definitely are not.
Tom,
Not just theme, but convenience of location to the parks, Extra Magic Hours, and transportation to and from the airport add value in ways that other hotels cannot match. We have been to WDW seven times, and stayed in Disney resorts six of those. With the room as primarily a place to sleep (and take the mid-afternoon nap, as we get older), all we want are clean, comfortable rooms. The additional amenities of a traditional hotel would not make our stays at WDW appreciably better. However, that does not make all Disney rooms equal, and it is good to know when some of them fall short of the others, especially when you pay a premium.
You might want to put the lid down on the toilet when photographing bathrooms. This has become my #1 pet peeve of room review posts everywhere. I’m ok with assuming it’s clean, I don’t need a close up.
Wow if you have such a problem don’t read these reviews. I’m Sorry but It’s just rude. Tom does not have to do these reviews and great photos.
Perhaps therapy could help you.
Agreed!! We’ll be staying in a pirate room this Oct, but I am fully aware of the downsides. Had I not gotten a great deal on the room we would have booked elsewhere. Thankfully we’ve been to WDW plenty, and are looking forward to a more slow paced trip this time- so hopefully the quiet and remoteness of the room will make up for the walking distance to Old Port Royale. I have a feeling I’m going to regret those beds though…
If that’s your approach, I think you’ll be fine. Enjoy your trip! 🙂
Absolutely true! We stayed here last December (2014) and immediately asked to switch rooms closer to the food court and pool. I loved the food and the pool was nice. Also what was very bad was the bus service. It took forever to get on a bus that was going to Magic Kingdom. There were so many stops before us, the bus was full. They would blow right past us and not radio to any one there was an issue with a stop not having a ride for over a half hour! We called the front desk who eventually got us all a bus to Magic Kingdom. We will not be staying at this resort again. I was bummed out because I wanted our son to have the pirate room and we were excited about the Caribean theme. That’s for telling others about this. This was our 2nd time to Disney and we were not happy……
That’s interesting that you had a difficult time with the buses at Caribbean Beach. We were there the first week of August this year, so it was still pretty busy everywhere, and we never waited more than 5 minutes on a bus. I felt like we were the end of the bus line in Trinidad South but most of the time we had a seat and there were lots of buses going to the parks and Downtown. That was actually one of the better parts about staying there for us.
AMEN. our family booked the pirate rooms last January. We rented a car so we didn’t care about the distance thing. Not only are the mattresses about 4 inches thick and the beds tiny, the room smelled like someone unloaded a can of raid and a can of Lysol about 45 seconds before we walked in. We were moved to building 12 and l loved the rest of our vacation. (I had to buy the kids pirate t shirts to make up for the loss of the pirate beds, still waiting to be reimbursed – joking)
The mattresses are definitely thin (in all of the Pirate Rooms) but the Lysol thing is something I had not heard before. I wonder if housekeeping had *just* finished in the room and the previous guests had some issues?
I’m taking my nephews to WDW in December and considered these pirate rooms until I realized they aren’t queen size beds. After reading your post, I’m so glad I booked at Beach Club instead. I have a question maybe you can answer… why is Disney so incredibly slow to replace the old rooms photos on the website? The photos of the regular Caribbean Beach rooms are still the old decor. You would think they would want guests to see the renovated interiors.
I have absolutely no idea. I wonder that myself. For maximum ROI on the new rooms, you’d think they would update the website the day they were done. They are probably losing bookings at Caribbean Beach by not showing the dramatically improved new rooms. So odd.
My family of 5, with 3 boys (10 months, 5 and 15 years old) stayed there in 2013. We had a great time, and I’m glad we did it, but now that we have I am more than happy to never stay there again. I loved the theming, and did not mind the walk (we drove our own car), but the beds were not the most comfortable. I was not a huge fan of the theme of the regular rooms during that visit, but since the refurb the regular rooms look outstanding! But even now, I’m not sure I would be able to resist staying in the pirate rooms if I’d never stayed there before. You know, for my kids, ahem!
There’s nothing wrong with doing it for your kids, but I think you just have to realize that, and not think it’s truly something special. I say it on here a lot, but kids like to eat boogers and play in boxes–they aren’t exactly the best judges of quality.
A lot of times on Facebook or elsewhere, I see someone ask a question about whether something is worth it, and the response is commonly, “Yes! My kids loved it!” That doesn’t strike me as a helpful response. If a kid loves eating a booger, does that make the booger worth $300? 😉
I agree 100% with your assessment. We were there just 3 weeks ago and we were “upgraded” to the pirate rooms. In my opinion, these were the worst rooms we have ever stayed in at Disney. They were very dated and while clean like most Disney resorts, I would prefer even Pop Century rooms over these rooms. If you are choosing between Coronado Springs or Riverside versus Caribbean Beach pirate rooms – take the former. You don’t even get a set of real box springs under that cheap mattress but maybe its to make you feel like a pirate stole your bed… 😉
Or just take the regular Caribbean Beach Resort rooms. You still get some pirate theming of the resort itself, but rooms that are actually nice and modern.
We stayed in these very rooms this past May; and I agree with your review. They were ok, but we will be staying at a different resort I think. Being in Trinidad South and thus, so far away from Old Port Royale, took away from the resort itself. We’ve stayed at Port Orleans- French Quarter and Art of Animation and I’d rank this behind both. We still had a great time, were still treated “magically” and I’m glad we tried the resort. But next time, we’ll be trying a resort we haven’t stayed yet.
We stayed 2 times in these pirate rooms. This past October and in 2013. We liked it even with the walk but I would definitely choose a new room if I went back there now. We are going back this November but are trying a different resort. Not because we didn’t love it there just because we want to check out a few.
I agree with you. Unfortunately, Disney pulled a fast one on me this year. I booked a moderate room at Caribbean Beach regular room for this year Sep 19-26th on advice from Authorized Disney planner that they would be offered under free dining promotion (thinking Port Orleans Riverside would not be offered). When free dining was announced it was restricted for the regular rooms for that week, so we had to choose between paying for our dining, for a family of 6, or a Pirate Room. So, we will be pirating in 26 days! I felt a bit ripped off, but still looking to make the best of it rather than walking the plank!
I think in your case, it totally makes sense to just suck it up and deal with the Pirate Rooms if that means getting Free Dining. They are still fun rooms–especially for kids–just don’t get your expectations too high!
Thanks for the response, Tom! And thank you for this blog. I have read a lot of it, including the restaurant, resort, and attraction reviews, as well as the 100 tips. There is definitely a pretty good sized Tom Bricker thumbprint on the itinerary for this upcoming trip.
Farthest from the main building, $50 more per day, not as nice as updated rooms…the only attraction being a pirate themed room? No thank you. I’d rather spend the money on having my child made up as a pirate than waste $350 for a seven night stay. Usually, the only time kids are in the room at Disney, they’re sleeping. Total waste of money.
Agreed. I’d definitely go for a trip to Pirates League to make the trip “special” for a pirate-obsessed kid rather than paying more for these rooms.
I agree Tom! We love the Caribbean Beach Resort, but we always try to get rooms as close to Old Port Royale as possible. Those rooms look cool, but….
Yes, the Caribbean Beach Resort is not the swankiest digs in the area, and it’s really spread out, but it’s so laid back and relaxing vs the hectic pace of the park. You can really unwind, and at a reasonable price.
The food courts are Ok, too.
I think Old Port Royale Food Court is very good (and underrated), the pool is great, and the lush grounds are wonderful.
All of that PLUS the newly renovated regular guest rooms makes Caribbean Beach Resort a real winner for me.