The deck parties were probably the best part of the cruise for me. Just a great energy with all the fans and the Backstreet Boys themselves. Most of the deck parties started after 11pm so it would allow you plenty of time after dinner to get changed. Each deck party had a different theme, which were just recently announced. As a reminder, the themes this year are 80's night, PJ party, and Prom night. You can definitely expect everyone to be dressed up according to the theme, including the Backstreet Boys. Most everyone participated in some way. Some outfits were a lot more involved than others so you don’t have to feel the need to go all out, but I would highly recommend you do something related to the theme or you will probably feel left out.
The deck parties tended to last about 2 hours (weather pending of course). They take place on the lido deck, but note that the pools and hot tubs are closed at that hour. There was not any food at the party, but the bars were open. If you do get hungry, there is food available at other locations around the ship. Overall think of a deck party as an after party, but like 20 times better. They would play a good mix of current music as well as Backstreet Boys songs. They even played some new stuff for us from their upcoming albums, which was awesome! The Backstreet Boys hosted the events from a private area on a balcony above us. The Imagination is set up a little differently than the Destiny so I don't think it will be quite the same. In between songs they would engage the fans by asking questions or just goofing around amongst themselves. There would occasionally be some lulls in the action, but for the most part they were pretty engaged. They would also sing along to many of the songs or ad lib some dancing. And on Masquerade night they also threw some beads into the audience. Maybe they will have more free little giveaways for us on the upcoming cruise. It was all unscripted and just a lot of fun to watch them and be a part of the excitement.
From day one Nick prefaced the entire cruise by saying that if we just act cool, they would come down and party with us. That clearly did not happen. Some of the guys made attempts to come and interact with the fans, but people were still too intense, in my opinion. I’m really hopeful that by the next cruise, most fans will have gotten out of their system so as a group we can be more relaxed and have the guys chill with us. Brian tried to come down once and just walked through the deck to see the fans. He was mobbed so I don’t believe he ever came back down. Howie maybe came down once. Nick came down to the bar on both international luv night and masquerade night. He would ‘bartend’ and interact with the fans. AJ also came down the bar several times and made his way through the crowd to get us pumped up. He was arguably the bravest of the bunch.
A handful of fans were able to hang out on the deck above us with the Backstreet Boys, if they had a VIP bracelet. As I noted in a previous post, it appeared as if they didn’t get too much VIP treatment except that they were a little closer and did have an open bar. I also noticed that the boys would occasionally go over to them and interact a bit, though they were still roped off. I was perfectly content where I was with the majority of fans because I felt like I had a better view and was actually participating in the deck party rather than watching from above.
Some of you have expressed concerns over the crowds at these events. Personally I was never bothered by the amount of people. I feel like I had enough space and never felt like anyway was on top of me. I could leave my spot to go to the bathroom or grab a drink and return with no issue. The only exception to this was if a Backstreet Boy was nearby. If you get claustrophobic, there are plenty of good spots for you on the upper deck away from the majority of the crowds and you will still have a great view. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd rate the crazy factor of these events at about a 5. I've been at events far worse than a deck party, but you are still dealing with drunk girls near the Backstreet Boys thus some sort absurdity is inevitable. Lets not forgot about girls diving in the hot tub and revealing their backside to the whole ship in order to grab some masquerade beads from the boys.
It’s hard to actually describe these events because it’s like nothing really happened, but yet so much did happen. It’s one of those things that you have to experience for yourself to truly appreciate how amazing it was because its tough to capture the vibe in writing. I can't wait for the deck parties this year and am praying that the weather cooperates with us!
