baflagg

14 hours ago, PATRLR said:

So if I just hand the young ladies $6 as a donation, does that all stay with the local troop?

Yes it should stay right with the troop.   A few years back when cookies were $4 we used to make quite a bit of extra money.  Customers would hand you a $5 and say keep the dollar or a $10 for two boxes and keep the change.  One year we kept all those extra cash tips aside and used it the following year to purchase an entire Thanksgiving meal for a family in need and at Christmas we sponsored two children from different families with gifts. One of the girls only asked for a Christmas tree because she had lived in a shelter her whole life and never had one.  A tiny fake tree with ornaments and gifts were waiting for her on Christmas morning.   When cookies prices increased to $5 it was a big loss of money to the troop to do these types of things.  

8 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

In a previous life, I worked for the Boy Scouts after having been a Boy Scout for nearly my entire kid life. We had popcorn. Not nearly as yummy or as easy to sell as a box of baked crack. Gosh, those cookies are good! 

 

I'm pretty sure the way the cookies work is similar to how the popcorn works. Percentages might be different. For the popcorn, 33% went back to the vendor, 33% went to the local Boy Scout council (think of a council as a McDonald's franchisee), and 33% went to the local unit (that group of kids marching in the Memorial Day parade or cleaning the roadside). So, 66% of the profit went back to the local area. 

 

In our case, each unit decided how to divvy up their 33%. Some units gave each boy (I guess there are girls in the Boy Scouts now - it's been a few years) the entire 33% into their "Scout" account that could be used for a variety of things. Boys could use it to fund their week of camp. Or their participation at a local/national/international event. Some units allowed kids to purchase certain camping gear, like tents, knives, compasses, flashlights, etc. Kids that sold $5,000 worth of popcorn could really have no out of pocket expenses for the entire year as a Scout. It helped us poor (I was a poor kid too) kids go to camp, go on adventure outings like weeklong backpacking or canoeing trips, etc. It's how I funded a lot of activities I wouldn't have been able to on.

 

The council also gave prizes based on the amount of popcorn sold. Some were stupid, cheap little trinkets. But some were actually good prizes, like a backpacking stove, flashlight, the ever popular Swiss Army knife or leather man, and other items. 

 

Anyway....all that to say, it's very similar to what happens with Girl Scouts cookies. The girls keep some, the council keeps some, and ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers keep the rest. I don't know how they divvy up the percentages though as I'm not as experienced with cookies as popcorn.

 

You're welcome. I bet you never thought you'd know all that. 🙂 

 

BTW @thesnoopster2 - you should totally set a table up at the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet. I bet us curmudgeons would love that...send me that girl's cookie link. I'll buy some so she can go on the cruise (actually, I think that would break the rules here, so probably don't). 

Our troop gets .98 for each box sell. We only earn that much because we got a bonus for renewing memberships early in 2023, sold a certain amount of fall products and our girls are older so we can opt out of prizes.   Each troop starts at .75 per box then you can increase the amount based on various qualifications.  Cookies are sold for $6 per box

Our first cruise we brought wine onboard and honestly for us we thought it was kind of a pain having to carry it around all day until our room was ready.  Yes you get better choices by bringing your own but there are some good selections on the ship.  You do pay more then bringing your own but for us we prefer the convenience of just buying what we want onboard. 

I've been a Girl Scout leader for 13 years, no way in the world I can even imagine hauling cases of cookies on a cruise ship.   Cookie season is a crazy time of of year, enjoy your vacation and forget about cookies for a week. 

I love the Robert Mondavi Emblem.   Last summer it was only available by the bottle which was still a good savings with the premium package.  Of course two years ago it was available by the glass and we didn't have the premium so we just paid the difference. We purposely bought the upgrade for last years cruise but then they changed it to the bottle only but we still enjoyed a few.

We had 3 cabins this past August on the Joy and I had magnets made to put on each door celebrating our cruise.  I think on day 2 our room steward told us nothing was allowed on the doors, no big deal we took them off and put them on the walls inside our rooms.  Meanwhile, halfway down the hall to the elevators there was a cabin with a door fully decorated the entire cruise.  I guess it's just a matter of whether or not the room steward wants to enforce the rule. 

It's worth it to keep checking online and once you get on board. We sailed on the Joy twice this summer with per-purchased vibe passes and both cruises there were guests in the Vibe that purchased them when they got on board.  

We have a group of 5 adults and 2 teens cruising on the Joy in August.  The adults all got the Vibe passes, we expect we'll pretty much see the teens for dinner.  Last year my daughter made a ton of friends in Entourage and we hardly saw her so we expect the same for this cruise, especially since she's bringing her best friend. 

When we cruised last year we received the video multiple times before both our cruises, I think because they no longer have in person muster drills they send it many times in hopes that everyone will watch it at least once.   I'm expecting start receiving reminders next week for our July 9th cruise. 

We love the Vibe and immediately go their on embarkation day.   To us that is where we spend pretty much all day, every day of our cruise.  We're early risers so after we grab a coffee we are sometimes the first ones there.  I love to read and vacation is really the only time these days when I actually have time to. To others it may not be worth the extra money but to us it definitely is.   Love relaxing in the quiet during the day then enjoying the rest of the ship at night.   Whatever you decide, have fun

Looking for feedback from anyone that has had experience with the Consent to Travel form.  We are traveling on the Joy in August NYC-Bermuda and my daughter is bringing a friend who will be 16 at the time of travel.  We have 2 connecting balcony rooms, myself & husband in one room and my mother-in-law, our daughter and her friend in the other. Whose name goes on the form as the parent/guardian taking responsibility for the friend.  Would it be my mother-in-law since she is the one over 21 years of age in the same room or do my husband and I put down our names?  

Is the form just for checking in and getting on the ship then departing when we arrive back in NYC or does it need to be shown if we get off the ship in Bermuda and when we return to the ship?.   Just trying to figure out plans and the need for this form after we are checked in on day one.  Example some of the group want to go jet skiing while others are going to the beach. If the friend goes jet skiing with those not listed on the Consent to Travel form can she get back on the ship with them or do they need to hang around in the Dockyard waiting for us to get back from the beach.  Can I list all of the adults on the form?

Also does not appear the form needs to be notarized, I thought it did but looks like it just needs to be signed by the parents with a copy of their license attached.

Sorry for the all the rambling questions.  I will reach out to NCL but figured I would ask her for those that might have had some experience already. 

We just booked a last minute cruise to go in July and would only make sure we picked a date where Vibe passes were still available to us.  We've sailed in the Haven 3 times and for us personally if we're able to get Vibe passes we would not choose the Haven.   As much as we love the Haven, to us it's not worth the high price if we can easily get a Vibe pass.  When we sailed last August we pretty  much spent all day every day in the Vibe and plan to do the same in July, not sure we are even going to get off the ship in Bermuda. We have a second family cruise in August also on the Joy, the adults have Vibe passes as the teens will pretty much be doing their own thing and since most in the group have never been on a cruise or to Bermuda we'll be doing all the touristy things then.  

The cruise I've been looking at now has the 2nd person cruises for free option but it's the same price it has been the past few weeks I've been watching prices. They basically doubled the price person then put a slash through it and show the price person to what is has been all along. 

We've been considering a Bermuda cruise but not sure if we can plan another cruise in addition to what we have already booked for August. The price for an inside cabin has been $899 per person, with the black Friday sale the cost is $2,178 per person but with the 2nd person sales for free it is marked down to $1,089 per person.     I would of hopped on this cruise in a minute if it truly was a sale.

Not the Marriott but Margaritaville Resort Time Square is a fun spot

Aug 7th when we were on the Joy was the first day of the change to coke products

7 hours ago, sunshine4me2 said:

Made our final payment for our NYE Prima cruise.  Read a recent blog report of a current traveler on the Prima, and it was mentioned the pool area is smaller than other NCL ships.

As we have never bought passes for the Vibe on other cruises and the passes or the Vibe are $269 each, I'm wondereing if Vibe is worth it.  If someone out there is currently Prima, would appreciate your opinion.

For those of you NOT currently on Prima and have bought Vibe passes in the past, could you share anything about it,  I know they have have hot tubs, adults only, private bar, and food service, but is there a mad scramble every morning to get a chaise, as you would on the pool deck?  are there areas where you can be out of the sun? If I pre=purchase Vibe passes, and change my mind, can I get a refund?

  My thoughts, if you are paying $269 pp for Vibe, then there should be enough seating to accommodate people any time without having to "dibs" a chaise at 8 am!

No mad scramble for seating. We've had Vibe passes a couple of times on other ships, no need to wake up early to be sure you got a seat.   The only issue on our recent Joy trip was the lack of Umbrellas but the bar staff said they were planning to get more but more than enough seating for everyone with passes.

4 hours ago, kjquilts said:

I loved the original Creme Brulee but wasn't a big fan of the raspberry version....even though I love raspberries.

Same, had the raspberry at Cagney's on the Breakaway and was happy to see it, two of my favorite things but nope, it was a miss

5 adults in one room?   I'd 100% volunteer to take the balcony room and make the trips to the Haven

This just might be my favorite post ever

We've been on multiple cruises including the Breakaway dining in both Cagney's & the Manhattan room.  My husband has never packed a pair of pants and has never had an issue at any restaurant.  

12 hours ago, prov2727 said:

I tested at the Miami Airport in January. You can get results in 24 hours or pay for a rush and have results in an hour.

 

http://www.covidtestmiamiairport.com/

Thanks for posting this link.  We are flying down to Miami the Friday before our Sunday cruise.  My initial plan was to go to the walk-in medical center for same day testing before we left but my mother-in-law booked our flights to early to do that.  I was trying to figure out the best way to test and was planning to do the self proctored test once we got to Miami but seems like it's just as easy to test at the airport

On 3/22/2022 at 2:03 PM, styles27 said:

We have used the at home proctored tests for our last cruise and plan on using them again for our Boston to Bermuda cruise next month.
 

Even though we only live an hour from Boston I like having control over the test and the very fast results that they send via email. 
 

You had asked about logging in just once and having 8 people take the test. 
No you can’t do that. Each person in your party needs to create a profile with a login and then each person needs to login individually and follow the prompts from the tech. 
 

We used our IPhones when we did ours. For some reason my IPad didn’t work. 

How exactly do these home proctored tests work?   We sail out of Miami in June and flying down on Friday to spend a couple of days before sailing.  Initially my plan was to go to the walk-in medical centers to all get tested before we leave but my mother-in-law booked early flights so that is not going to work.  I know there are places in Miami to get tested but we won't have a car and not being familiar with the area I have no idea if there will be some place within walking distance of our hotel (which I still need to book),  So, thinking the home testing is probably the best way to go when we get to Miami on Friday but just wasn't 100% sure how it works.   Thanks.

We will be sailing this year for the first time since buying stock. Do you get the $100 OBC once per year or on every cruise you take?

We sail June 12th on the Breakaway out of Miami but I'm going to do some research this weekend and book a beach hotel somewhere within driving distance to have a backup just in case.  Our final payment is due 2/2 would rather not pay if there is a chance the cruise is cancelled but not sure they would cancel that far out.  

I prefer to use a travel agent and have used the same one the past few years.  They offer perks in addition to what NCL offers plus we get even more additional perks for being repeat customers.  I've only used just the one agent because I've always had such a great experience so I can't speak for other travel companies but I would guess the also offer things in addition to the cruise line.