Carnival Cove Balcony

[GaryWT]

Hi, looking at booking a Caribbean cruise and Carnival lists some balconies as Cove Balconies and further states they are on deck 2.  Seems a little low for a balcony so looking to see what the actual setup is.  Who has had these?  Sounds like you could get wet.  I have had ocean view at that level and feel the windows get wet.  Just got off a cruise with NCL and we were on the 14th floor.  Anyway look forward to hearing about these.  Thanks

[matymil]

Just now, GaryWT said:

Hi, looking at booking a Caribbean cruise and Carnival lists some balconies as Cove Balconies and further states they are on deck 2.  Seems a little low for a balcony so looking to see what the actual setup is.  Who has had these?  Sounds like you could get wet.  I have had ocean view at that level and feel the windows get wet.  Just got off a cruise with NCL and we were on the 14th floor.  Anyway look forward to hearing about these.  Thanks

We've had these. You can get alittle mist but its not bad at all. I liked the fact it was shaded. Just make sure you check to see what is above you. We were under the galley and had terrible noise almost all night. We said something to guest services and the guy told us "im not going to lie to you...you have one of the worst rooms on the ship for noise"

[burnsrod1]

Only sail with Cove Balconies these days.  Like other poster said just make sure you are not under the gallery.  As far as getting wet, we have had waves up to our balcony only once (forget which storm it was but it was a major one  and we were on the outskirts of it. Most of them have a lifeboat up above and it provides a natural shade when your hanging out on the balcony.  Cove Balconies are private and allow great  viewing of the water below.  Also makes for great viewing of the "running of the drunks" in various ports if you happen to be docked portside,  Very peaceful and night with the sound of the waves over the open sea.  Would highly recommend a cove balcony. 

[Joe817]

We love cove balconies. It's close to the water. On rare occasion, when the sea is angry, you can get a little mist, but not much. The beautiful cobalt blue is so beautiful it's mesmerizing. We've been on 2 cruises with c.b.'s and they are our favorite. You do not get so much sun you'll get sunburned.  

 

[1kaper]

Our last trip we had a cove balcony and I wouldn't do it again.  I just did not enjoy it.  It felt closed in and didn't have as nice a view being so low down.  I had read sometimes you get to see marine life because you are so close but we saw none.  

We were also under the galley.  I was worried about the noise, it was quite loud, but it didn't end up bothering us. I'm sure it would others.  I wondered what on earth they could be doing to make that kind of noise, but was so tired it didn't keep any of us from sleeping. 

 

Some people love the coves.  I do not. 

[crazy4themouse]

Coves are amazing!! You feel like you're the only one on the ship. We love to get one far forward -- the sound of the water against the bow of the ship makes my soul happy. 😊  If we're on a ship with no Havana area, it's cove all the way!

 

[jsglow]

My favorite kind of Balc.

[carlacruz]

On Excel class ships (Mardi Gras, Celebration, Jubilee), coves are on deck 5, and there is another passenger deck below you.  We loved our cove balcony on the Mardi Gras, and I would book it again without a second thought. 

 

[helene109]

Now going to see what is above me on the Panorama on my Cove. We just did NCL on deck 12! Didn’t like seeing people walking below.

[ObstructedView2]

Hi @GaryWT🙂

 

Just something to keep in mind & be prepared for. 

 

If warranted by weather, wind, rough seas, etc...Crew will close the Storm Door on a cove balcony & the balcony will be unusable & inaccessible for a period of time. 

 

This does not happen frequently, but this definitely does occur. Even though some members will say this has never happened to them, it does not mean it doesn't happen. 

 

The cove balcony storm doors are there for a reason & are certainly used when needed. 

 

 

 

 

✌

Edited September 21, 2022 by ObstructedView2

[Rollin Tide]

12 hours ago, matymil said:

We've had these. You can get alittle mist but its not bad at all. I liked the fact it was shaded. Just make sure you check to see what is above you. We were under the galley and had terrible noise almost all night. We said something to guest services and the guy told us "im not going to lie to you...you have one of the worst rooms on the ship for noise"

Ah shucks, we have a Family Harbor Suite booked on the Horizon for Thanksgiving.  Just remembered we're right below the Galley.  Hopefully the noise won't be so bad.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

22 minutes ago, Rollin Tide said:

Ah shucks, we have a Family Harbor Suite booked on the Horizon for Thanksgiving.  Just remembered we're right below the Galley.  Hopefully the noise won't be so bad.

We're looking at these also.  Reviews I've read have not mentioned this as an issue.  

[crewsweeper]

We have a cove on the Mardi Gras coming up!.  Midships deck 5 close to nearly everything we did on the Mardi Gras last year. High enough to miss the spray unless the seas are really rockin.

[Top_of_the_Cube]

Regular balconies are kinda like structures built out from the ship.  Cove balconies are actually openings in the hull.  As some have described, it is somewhat like a cave.

 

On the ships where the Coves are located on Deck 2, it almost feels like we were right at water level.  Great for sea gazers.  There may be a salt film that develops on the balcony railing, floor, and furniture that some find objectionable.  And you may feel spray once in a while.  Those were not negatives for my wife and me.

 

We had rough seas on one of our cruises which slowed down the ship and delayed our port arrival by several hours.  It was fun (for us) to sit out and watch the angry waves rise higher and higher out of the sea and seemingly get closer to spilling on to our deck.  Of course, if it had reached a dangerous level, the crew would secure our balcony door, but you would still have a front-row seat through the large picture window.

 

Of course, Deck 2 is not really convenient to many of the popular venues on the ship, but that's not an issue to us (yet).

[Drazil65]

Our last trip we had a cove balcony and I wouldn't do it again.  I just did not enjoy it. 

 

Same for us, we had a cove one time many years ago and it was not our thing.  Too close to the bottom of the ship (seemed like it was damp with mist all the time while sailing) and too closed in, not the same open air feeling like a regular balcony for us.  We prefer balcony or suite cabins on the upper decks (deck 7 and above).  

 

Try it once and see if you like it, if not, then dont do it again.  

[Cushing985]

My Wife tends to get a bit seasick at times and Coves are great for her (and me).  The lower the cabin and in the middle of the ship as much as possible, makes for a smoother ride.  We've had Coves four times (I think) and if the ship has them, that's what we'll get.

[kona_wahine]

Love them! Would always pick one over a regular balcony. 

[carlacruz]

8 hours ago, ObstructedView2 said:

Hi @GaryWT🙂

 

Just something to keep in mind & be prepared for. 

 

If warranted by weather, wind, rough seas, etc...Crew will close the Storm Door on a cove balcony & the balcony will be unusable & inaccessible for a period of time. 

 

This does not happen frequently, but this definitely does occur. Even though some members will say this has never happened to them, it does not mean it doesn't happen. 

 

The cove balcony storm doors are there for a reason & are certainly used when needed. 

 

 

 

 

✌

On our Mardi Gras cruise, they did close the storm door during refueling on debarkation morning.

 

[sanmarcosman]

Does anyone know if the noise is any more or less noisy than usual on a Dream Class ship near cove cabin 2400? Thank you! 

[JandPB]

Our cove on the Magic was wet, and I mean wet, for the first 4 days of our cruise. We also had cleaning going on above us and had whatever was being washed off onto our balcony. The last few sea days were ok. I'd have to think about doing that again. 

[silvercrikhix]

We like them because they are a bit bigger than a reg balcony. They are more private. Have seen dolphins and flying fish. Many birds too, which was kind of surprising   Very handy for port days. 1 flight down in am and 1 flight up upon return, we really liked that.  Have 2 booked on the Dream in 67 days.  🚢 🚿 🚿 

[txcruiser1234]

We had a cove for the first time last month on the Dream.

 

Loved, loved, loved it.

 

Normally, a regular balcony is just a nice-to-have for us b/c we just never find ourselves out there for any length of time - maybe a couple of hours total over a seven day cruise. We spent at least a dozen hours out in the cove on our eight day cruise (a lot for us). It was nice to be able to sit and actually put our feet up while watching the world go by. The regular balconies we've had on Carnival have tinted plexiglass below the rail that's often hard to see through clearly while lounging, especially when salty.

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by txcruiser1234

[ABQrobin]

We liked our cove balcony on the Magic back in 2014.  Haven't had one since but do think we will sometime.  In port you can look down and see fish in the water.  On Sea Days it can splash a bit onto the balcony so we had a bit of salt on the chairs to wipe off but no biggy.  And they are shady!  Never noticed the noise, but then it was our first cruise and we were so happy about everything we may not have noticed it.

[1kaper]

12 hours ago, sanmarcosman said:

Does anyone know if the noise is any more or less noisy than usual on a Dream Class ship near cove cabin 2400? Thank you! 

 

I believe we were fairly close to that room on the Dream when we had a cove.  I think we were 2412.  It is right under the galley.  As I mentioned in my previous post it was quite noisy.  It didn't bother us but I bet it would a lot of people.  I often wondered what they were dropping up there constantly.  

 

ETA - I just checked, we were 2414.  I was close

Edited September 22, 2022 by 1kaper

[sanmarcosman]

9 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

 

I believe we were fairly close to that room on the Dream when we had a cove.  I think we were 2412.  It is right under the galley.  As I mentioned in my previous post it was quite noisy.  It didn't bother us but I bet it would a lot of people.  I often wondered what they were dropping up there constantly.  

 

ETA - I just checked, we were 2414.  I was close

I was moved to this cabin by Carnival because my 1A category cabin with 2 port holes won't be in service that week. There was no extra charge. Once on a Fantasy Class ship I had an interior under a galley and the occasional early morning thumps from the overhead were more felt than heard. If this is anything like that I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you for sharing your experience.