Recap 2011- Day 1

After a long sleepless night it was finally time to get ready and make our way to the port to board the ship. We headed to the port rather early, all looking fabulous in our matching cruise shirts (thanks Danielle!)

OMG We're Back Again!

I not so patiently waited for the time to pass until it was time for us to board. Though I didn't have to wait long before we saw Howie sneak around the corner to check in. The rest of the boys were soon to follow. Eventually AJ and Nick walked past us to the restroom and I stole a handshake from Nick. Though in hindsight I probably should've done it before he went to the bathroom and not after.



Me happy after my handshake with Nick

 BSB boarding

After the Backstreet Boys boarded, it was finally our time to board the ship! Walking up that gangway is one of the best feelings in the world because you have the whole trip to look forward to. Love that moment. Only got better when we were greeted by life-size Backstreet Boy cardboard cutouts on the ship. I decided to hold off on grabbing a picture because my first order of business- get lunch. The restaurant was empty so it wasn't hard to spot Brian eating with his family. I felt odd sitting right next to him so we sat a table away. Otherwise it reminded me of going into a  movie and sitting directly next to the only person in the theater. It was definitely cool eating lunch next to Brian again, I had a slight feeling of deja vu because that's how I started off the cruise last year as well. Though I was significantly more calm this time around.

Second order of business- door decorations. This year it took us a little longer to put up but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Our theme was based on the song 'Color my World' so we did coloring book pages around our door and even put crayons up for people to color as they walked by.  To be honest I'm surprised we didn't get more vandalism because I knew we were asking for trouble putting crayons out. Our bonus giveaway was a little mini coloring/activity book that you could take home.

Color My World

Yet again I didn't win, but we had a lot of fun with it. I had a blast putting the decorations up with my roommates, meeting our neighbors, and blasting the BSB channel in the background. And the experience wouldn't have been complete without getting repeatedly run over by the luggage carts going up and down the hall. Note to self- don't put up door decorations while they are still delivering luggage to the cabins.

Sail Away Party

Next activity on the agenda was life boat drill. That's boring so let's move right along to the Sail Away party. Soooo much fun! I particularly enjoyed this because I was in the front row for this event. At least I started off that way, I'm really not sure how I ended up in the third row by the end. But I still enjoyed every moment of it and was able to take some great pictures and fun videos. I love being so close when you hear them talk without the microphone (and of course because they're so close you can reach out and touch them) 

    The boys kicking off the whole cruise with a bang

Lots of fun banter and interactions with the guys. I had a few favorite moments from the Sail Away party. I liked when AJ dedicated Nsync's song 'Tearin Up My Heart' to Nick and they did spoof dancing to it. Apparently Nick like's that song.

I love Brian's ridiculously bright shoes. They're barely in this shot and you still can't miss them.

Also enjoyed Nick and AJ playing with those streamer shooter thingies.

Another favorite moment was getting our first taste of Howie wiggling it up.

Cruise 2011 Anthem

In it to Win It (Group B)

After the sail away party there wasn't too much time before we headed to the Dynasty Lounge to get ready for our game show. I was so happy to see my seats were more centered this year, so I actually had a decent view. Since the boys were running on Backstreet time, I decided to take some pictures while we waited, in typical Laura fashion. I take way more pictures than necessary. Let's not even discuss what my final picture tally came to at the end of the cruise.

Me and Natalie. Im also wearing my dress that I bought when I thought we'd be having white night.


The boys finally came out and the games began. Lots of funny moments. I really enjoyed this game show. Anyone else notice how competitive the boys are? I liked how they did lots of little mini games because it stayed fresh the entire time. The games got progressively more entertaining.



This doesn't have much to do with the game but I couldn't NOT post it

I laughed so much that all of my videos came out shaky. I just like seeing the boys be themselves. We saw Brian goofing around singing to a tiny Christmas tree, Howie ironically not so good at flip cup, Nick excel at kissing a coconut, and AJ really out of shape after Nervous Nelly.

Coconut Smoochie

My only minor issue is that I wished they switched the girls up in between the games as to give more people a chance to get on stage. But again, a minor complaint in an otherwise really fun event. I think they learned their lesson by Group A.

After In it to Win It, we tried to make our way to the merch booth but it was just way too crowded. I peaked my head in at the overpriced merchandise and spotted a few items I'd pick up later. But I have to ask why everything in that shop had a picture of a naked mermaid on it? I really don't know what they were thinking when they designed this logo. That's going in my recommendations for next cruise.

I made my way to the dining room and was quite pleasantly greeted by my friends sitting off to the left and Brian sitting off to the right. I was truthfully shocked to see Brian eating in the main dining room, but no complaints from me. I felt like I was getting spoiled eating near Brian for both lunch and dinner. Why can't all my meals be like that? Plus it would make a great diet. Called the 'Too nervous around a BSB to eat diet'.

Me and the gals at dinner

It was so nice to sit down to a relaxed dinner and catch up with my friends, whom i haven't seen in a while. A moment where we came together after months of anticipation and just enjoyed each others company with Brian only a feet away. It just doesn't get much better.

80's Night

After dinner it was time to tease up the hair and put on those neon bracelets to get ready for 80's night. I had a lot of fun getting ready for this night and seeing how other people dressed up.

Me and Cinzia rocking our side pony tails.

I was pretty excited for 80's night because it was our first deck party and I thought it would set the tone for the rest of the cruise. I ended up having a lot of fun dancing with friends and not getting smushed in the front row this time. The boys were running on Backstreet time, per usual, and showed up around 12:30am. I was so excited to see them all decked out as sphynkter. They looked fabulous! I was so impressed with how much effort they put into the costumes.



Sphynkter!

As for the deck party itself, I thought it was good, not great. I don't mean to sound negative, but the boys did such a good job of spoiling us last year. Though they did a good job of making their way around the deck and using the stage up top, the stage in the middle, the bar, and making their way through the crowds. So it seemeed everyone had a front row at some point. I really only was close as they walked around the deck, which was fine by me. I just wish they had done more activities or went on the mic a bit more to entertain us. I did enjoy seeing Nick struggle with his hair.

By 3:00 my tummy was grumbling so my roommate, Chrissy, and I hit up the pizza place and stole a glimpse of Nick at the bar inside. I swear I'd never get sick of watching him. Even standing around doing nothing I'm in awe of his hotness. We were surprisingly energized and were far from ready to go to bed. Lucky for us Howie shared the same mindset. Seriously though, where has this Howie been hiding all these years? He was up partying until 6 or 7 in the morning. We didn't make it quite that long, but close to it.

I was even able to snag a picture with the wiggle king himself. And the great thing is I finally broke my Howie curse! Finally able to get a picture with him :)


Chrissy, Howie, and I

Realizing that the night couldn't get any better after this, we hit the cabin to get a few hours of sleep and prepare for Day 2 of our Backstreet adventure.