balconies- covered vs. uncovered and why?

[cruise fairy]

We booked our cruise for Western Carribean in March 06. Staying in covered balcony stateroom on Baja. Now having 2nd thoughts about covered balcony...thinking maybe uncovered.

Do you get any sun with covered....too much sun, uncovered...peeping Toms with uncovered?

Any thoughts appreciated. My hubby says he doesn't care, "just make a decision":p

[Druke I]

I like the partially covered - best of both worlds.

[Toto2Kansas]

The only think I do not like about fully covered balconies is that it makes the room way too dark. Especially when you go into the mini suite categories. With that very long room, the covered balcony just makes the room far to gloomy for my tastes.

[Bonnie&Rob]

We had a fully covered balcony on the Aloha deck last year. The deck is smaller than on the Caribe or Dolphin decks. Not much sun. The major problem we had was the smoke from the surrounding cabins. It seemed to get 'trapped' in the enclosed area, making the balcony unusable at times. You would think with the ship moving the air flow would take care of it, but it didn't.

 

We chose the Caribe deck this time. The decks are larger, with 1/2 covered and 1/2 uncovered. Yes, the people above you can see the uncovered part of the deck. I think Caribe offers the best of both worlds. Privacy and shade when you want it, public and sunny when you want that.

[Genessa]

we have had covered balconies (Aloha deck on Sea - "old one" and the Dawn - several cruises) and a half covered, half uncovered on Caribe deck of the Coral.

 

Despite the fact that the balcony on the Coral was 2x the size of the covered balconies on the Dawn, we prefer the covered Dawn balcony. We have found that the balcony gets sun, but that always depends on what side of the ship we are on and what direction the ship is going in. It is the privacy that we prefer. Not that we are doing anything that can't be seen ;)

but between the balcony being cut out of the hull and it being covered, you get the sense that there is just you and the ocean.

 

The partially covered balconies, especially on Coral, were like being in a movie set to us. Not that we could be seen where we were (and we didn't feel like we were being looked at, either), but instead of looking out onto the ocean, you looked down to see others on their balconies, or across to the bump outs to see others on their balconies, etc.

It was distracting from the ocean view and so much less private feeling.

 

Did it ruin our cruise, of course not. Are we happy we had a half covered, half uncovered balcony on our Alaska cruise - absolutely, because we did have more protection from the elements. Would we book another cruise on the Coral, probably not, unless the deal couldn't be beat or it was a family thing, etc.

 

Not having been on a fully covered balcony on the Coral, I don't know if I would have liked that any better, but I doubt that I would have, unless I was in a fully covered one on the bump out. And that is what I would try if I was to take the Coral again.

[PH8]

Never been on Princess before but am thinking about it......

 

 

I do not like the uncovered balconies at all........I am not sure what deck has covered ones(Island Princess).........

 

Can you please help me out.....thanks!!:)

[Rusty]

Seems that most of the "bump out" sections on the Coral, are at least partially covered. From the pictures that I have seen there seems to be a difference of opinion on what "partially covered" vs. "covered" means.

 

I think most of us who want a "covered" balcony. simply don't want anyone to stare down or up at us. Some may be concerned with the sun, but obviously that would vary with the ship's position with the sun.

 

I guess if you crawled out on the railing, and hung over it, you could see into anyone's balcony.

 

UNcovered means just that, the balcony is open for anyone to look at.

 

Also, the depth of the balcony(the less expensive cabins) measure about 4.5' x 9'. Other more expensive balconies could be wider AND have more depth or stick out further. Therefore they might be "partially covered" depending on where the occupants of the cabin are standing or sitting.

[tep65]

Anyone know if these are covered/uncovered??

 

I didn't even know there was a difference!!

[Figsgrandma]

Anyone know if these are covered/uncovered??

 

I didn't even know there was a difference!!

 

The Baja balconies on the Sapphire are covered - at least the cabin my sister had was covered. We were on the Caribe deck, where the balcony cabins are partially covered.

 

I didn't know there was a difference when I booked our cabin, and while I was a little concerned, once on the ship I was very happy with the balcony. If we wanted privacy, or protection from the elements (we were in Alaska) we sat under the covered poriton. Otherwise, we moved the chairs forward closer to the rail, and were in the sun.

 

Yes, there's a certain loss of privacy, but people seemed to respect other's "space" and didn't stare down at the people below them.

 

I would book this type of balcony again given the choice.

[legalslave]

I like covered or partially covered balconies. I like having that first cup of coffee in the morning in my PJ"s on the balcony. Also like being able to be on the balcony if it is raining. Had E729 on the Star, completely covered balcony and close to the water. That was perfect. Had a partially covered balcony on Caribe on the Grand. Liked the size of the balcony but did not like looking down at the balconies on Dolphin instead of looking at the water. We have C229 booked on the Coral in January. From what I understand, it is covered on the forward bumpout so we will be looking down at the water and not the Dolphin balconies. Had a suite on the Amsterdam and that was covered.

 

Diane

[Kissara22]

I was just thinking about this the other day. Do any of you know if the BC Balconies deck 7, ..starboard forward on the Tahitian are covered or not? I've never had a balcony before so therefore I don't know which one I would like. I just want to know what to look forward to. Thanks :)

 

Sara

[atlcple2]

We will be on the CB on 9/3-9/10 and when I booked our room, I was concerned about the uncovered balconies as well. On Carnival, our balcony was always covered so it wasn't an issue. We opted for the Baha deck room that was covered...if I want to lay in the sun, I'll go to the pool. Being fair skinned and having gone through a skin cancer treatment on my face, I wear a big hat and 45 sun screen on my face...I know now why all these years my grandmother wore a hat in the sun! ; ) Secondly, privacy. The smoke doesn't bother us (I quit 2 1/2 years ago), but being out in the open didn't seem very private, which is what we have been accustomed to. I'm glad they offer both covered and uncovered...everyone likes something different.

[Pam in CA]

I prefer the covered balconies, having had an uncovered balcony on Dolphin deck on the Grand and been subjected to cigarette butts being tossed onto our balcony and being totally exposed to everyone above us. I prefer less sun and more protection if the weather is less than ideal.

[kevinsac]

I want a balcony.....regardless of the ship. That's my first choice. From there, I make the cabin selection based on the cabin category and cabin location I want.

 

I have never had to make a choice of covered or partially-covered or uncovered, because that choice did not come into play once I selected category and location.

 

However, given a choice, I would never go covered. At most, partially covered, preferably uncovered. More than anything, the direction of the ship compared to the location of the sun determines whether or not we get sun. I'm not worried about peeping-toms. I want fresh air, sun light....and a cabin that's not too dark.

 

cheers

[calikak]

I sunburn easily and skin cancer runs in my family (my grandmother died of it). So I prefer a covered balcony, to cut down just a bit on the sun. I figure every little bit helps. Of course, I still put on super-high SPF sunscreen if I'm going to be outside for more than 20 minutes. :)

[cruise fairy]

Seems like covered/uncovered is most popular, then covered. This kind of surprised me, I thought for sure everyone would want the uncovered.

 

My mom read a funny little story, I think on this website, about a couple staying in an uncovered balcony.

 

Seems that a group of people staying in one of the balconies above the couple decided to empty their ice bucket into the 'ocean' late at night while the couple was sleeping with their balcony door open (we do this too, to hear the ocean). They posted that they were jolted out of their sleep by the sound of the ice hitting their balcony:eek: ....scared the bejesus out of them.

 

Happy sailing in whichever room, suite, or balcony you decide. :D