Cove or regular balcony?

[Mysticalbama]

I am considering upgrading to a balcony and was wondering what the difference is. Is the Cove one obscured by a lifeboat? How will I know if I get a good balcony? We have never had a balcony and would love input. Is it worth the money? We love the sound of the water and think that would be nice to sit out late at night and just enjoy it. Give me your inputs please.

[bury me at sea]

What ship?  My answer applies only to the Dream, Magic, and Breeze.

 

My opinion -- where is your cove?  If forward of the mid-ship elevators, I would keep it.  It probably has a lifeboat above, which obstructs your view only if looking up.  Meanwhile it provides at least partial shade.

 

If behind mid-ship elevators it is probably under the galley, running the risk of a lot of noise.

 

Where is the regular balcony and what's above and below it?

 

The cove balconies are a bit larger than normal balconies, and a bit more private, and a lot cooler in the summer.  I think they are close to the best bargain on the Dream class ships.

[mexicobob]

Just now, Mysticalbama said:

I am considering upgrading to a balcony and was wondering what the difference is. Is the Cove one obscured by a lifeboat? How will I know if I get a good balcony? We have never had a balcony and would love input. Is it worth the money? We love the sound of the water and think that would be nice to sit out late at night and just enjoy it. Give me your inputs please.

A Cove balcony will be closer to the water.  Will not have a lifeboat in front of it.  Regular balconies will be higher up with a better view.  Depends on what you want.  I prefer a Cove balcony in most places.  Most balcony cabins are going to be the same, just different location.  Cove balcony cabins can be hard or impossible to book unless you do so very early.

[cruisecraze96]

Cove balcony’s are below the life boats nd closer to the water.  It tends to be cooler because you are enclosed in more. 

 

We we had a cove on the Vista and this is just my thoughts on it. 

* it was neat to be close to the water

* it feels more private and quieter than a normal balcony 

* I would have rather had more direct sun 

* We had to dodge a hurricane so they moved all the patio furniture into our room and locked the doors and windows so you could jot use it or get light

  

 

Depending on the ship but I found my favorite is the balcony rooms we get on the Breeze in the Spa Balcony on deck 11 forward.  For me I don’t think I would book a cove again.  

[Mysticalbama]

I will be on Dream, May 5

 

[bbtbear]

For what its worth, not all cove balconies have lifeboats above them. There are gaps along the sides of the ship in the rows of lifeboats, and cove balcony rooms below those gaps. We are booked in the Dream 2289 for Feb 23. There is no lifeboat above this cove balcony room.

[GTO-Girl]

1 hour ago, cruisecraze96 said:

Cove balcony’s are below the life boats nd closer to the water.  It tends to be cooler because you are enclosed in more. 

 

We we had a cove on the Vista and this is just my thoughts on it. 

* it was neat to be close to the water

* it feels more private and quieter than a normal balcony 

* I would have rather had more direct sun 

* We had to dodge a hurricane so they moved all the patio furniture into our room and locked the doors and windows so you could jot use it or get light

  

 

Depending on the ship but I found my favorite is the balcony rooms we get on the Breeze in the Spa Balcony on deck 11 forward.  For me I don’t think I would book a cove again.  

 

Our one and only cove balcony we happen to run into a little hurricane called Super Storm Sandy!!!.  

 

Not only did they move all the patio furniture into our room and lock off the balcony but once we got into 20-30ft waves the structure of the cove balcony started making a continuous banging sound that never stopped 24/7!!  It was 3 days before we made it back to Canaveral and there was NO way to sleep with all that noise.

 

I know that was an unusual circumstance, but because of that experience I will never book another cove again!!

Edited February 4, 2019 by GTO-Girl

[cruisecraze96]

Ouch , thankfully ours was only the 1 day and night and they honestly skirted around it so we did not get the banging that I noticed.  

 

On a positive I am glad it did not deter you from crusing again 🙂 

 

 

[Cafedumonde]

If you are on Dream, definitely upgrade to get off the second floor.  That floor is hot and sticky.  Other floors on the dream are normal a/c wise.

[bakersdozen12]

6 minutes ago, Cafedumonde said:

If you are on Dream, definitely upgrade to get off the second floor.  That floor is hot and sticky.  Other floors on the dream are normal a/c wise.

 

I’ve stayed in a cove on the Dream and this was definitely not our experience at all. Nothing wrong with the A/C in our cabin (2256).

 

To the OP: I highly recommend coves. They are my favorite type of balconies on ships that have them. Being that close to the water is amazing. And I love having a balcony that is not only shaded, but bigger than the regular balconies. 

[Cafedumonde]

2 minutes ago, bakersdozen12 said:

 

I’ve stayed in a cove on the Dream and this was definitely not our experience at all. Nothing wrong with the A/C in our cabin (2256).

 

To the OP: I highly recommend coves. They are my favorite type of balconies on ships that have them. Being that close to the water is amazing. And I love having a balcony that is not only shaded, but bigger than the regular balconies. 

 

Unfortunately it wasn't just our cabin on the Dream but the floor.  Just walking down the hallway was unpleasant.   Totally different on every other floor.  

[Cafedumonde]

5 minutes ago, bakersdozen12 said:

 

I’ve stayed in a cove on the Dream and this was definitely not our experience at all. Nothing wrong with the A/C in our cabin (2256).

 

To the OP: I highly recommend coves. They are my favorite type of balconies on ships that have them. Being that close to the water is amazing. And I love having a balcony that is not only shaded, but bigger than the regular balconies. 

 

Unfortunately it wasn't just our cabin on the Dream but the floor.  Just walking down the hallway was unpleasant.   Totally different on every other floor.  

[MommytoAsquared]

I've never been in a cove balcony, but my biggest complaint about a regular balcony is the site lines...When I sit in one of the deck hairs, I cannot gaze out onto the water because all I can see if the balcony rail.  I either have to duck down below the railing or stand up.  I cannot do what I want to do which is sit in the deck chair and stare out at the ocean.

 

Does a cove balcony solve this problem?

[babe97]

1 hour ago, MommytoAsquared said:

I've never been in a cove balcony, but my biggest complaint about a regular balcony is the site lines...When I sit in one of the deck hairs, I cannot gaze out onto the water because all I can see if the balcony rail.  I either have to duck down below the railing or stand up.  I cannot do what I want to do which is sit in the deck chair and stare out at the ocean.

 

Does a cove balcony solve this problem?

The coves don't have the same glass with a rail on top like the other balconies. They are just metal railings. Great for propping your feet up on. 

[babe97]

3 hours ago, Mysticalbama said:

I am considering upgrading to a balcony and was wondering what the difference is. Is the Cove one obscured by a lifeboat? How will I know if I get a good balcony? We have never had a balcony and would love input. Is it worth the money? We love the sound of the water and think that would be nice to sit out late at night and just enjoy it. Give me your inputs please.

We have a cove on the Dream in a couple weeks. We've had one before. I love them for the balcony themselves. Don't care for being down on deck 2,just because of the distance to everything else. We've had several balconies on the Dream and if you don't get a cove, I suggest getting one on Lido or higher. The way deck 5 wraps around the ship really cuts down on your water view and your privacy on especially deck 6 but somewhat on 7 and 8 also. We didn't notice deck 5 as much from our Lido balcony. 

[Drose716]

Take me with a grain of salt (ha... keep reading) because I'm the rare cruiser that isn't a balcony fan. I had 1 in 10 cruises. Deck 7 aft on Vista. There was so much salt all over the thing...

 

That said... If I ever were to do a balcony again I think I'd take a cove. I imagine being closer to the water would worsen the salt situation. However, I've fallen in love with OVs on the lower decks because sitting in the window watching the water so close is just 🥰🥰 If I spring for a balcony & know that they get salty even on 7.... I'd rather have close water views. 

[opensaysme]

I have never experienced a balcony other than a cove so I have nothing to compare it to however, we really loved it! This was on the Dream. We loved being that close to the water! We could watch the flying fish and beautiful sunsets and sunrises with a great view of the horizon. The shape of the balcony does give you a cove feeling in a cozy kind of way. There are lifeboats up ahead that block the sun in a way that I can appreciate. I will share some photos that will reflect it in a beautiful way.

 

 By the way, in 2016 we didn’t have any issues with heat on the 2nd floor. It was quite cozy actually.  

[renza]

We only get balconies on all our cruises. If on carnival we get the cove balcony. We love it, it’s private and cool. We do not care about the other balconies because there is know privacy. Anyone can look up from deck 5 and see you. I love to stay in my pjs and watch us pull into ports and tie up. It’s difficult to see on other floors because of the outdoor space on deck 5. Go for cove. They r great. 

[wms99]

CoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCoveCove

 

I think that covers my opinion.

 

[mcgore83]

Love the cove!  Much more private than regular balconies.  As a poster stated above, try to get one mid-ship.  You will not regret it!

[shoptom]

Cove for the win!

[tandemcruzr]

We too are Cove fans -- flying fish and fishing birds are entertaining.  🙂

 

[BIGA961]

On 2/4/2019 at 2:45 AM, opensaysme said:

I have never experienced a balcony other than a cove so I have nothing to compare it to however, we really loved it! This was on the Dream. We loved being that close to the water! We could watch the flying fish and beautiful sunsets and sunrises with a great view of the horizon. The shape of the balcony does give you a cove feeling in a cozy kind of way. There are lifeboats up ahead that block the sun in a way that I can appreciate. I will share some photos that will reflect it in a beautiful way.

 

 By the way, in 2016 we didn’t have any issues with heat on the 2nd floor. It was quite cozy actually.

 

Thanks for these pics!  I just booked a cove on the Horizon for this fall, and every review showed pics of the cove from inside the room--which really didn't help much.  This looks awesome--I can't wait!!! 

 

[maldenmusic]

We love the cove balconies on the Dream!

[Sweetiepie3]

We had a cove balcony on the Breeze. It was wonderful. Everyone warned us to move because we were under the galley but there was never any noise from above. Love, love love the cove balcony.