I Bet You Didn't Know...

...Most ships in the Carnival fleet have a distinct theme. For example the Carnival Fascination has a Hollywood theme and the Victory has a sea-theme. The Glory’s theme is color. Last year we were on the Destiny and it had a theme of Fantasyland.

This year we will be on the Carnival Imagination and the theme is, you guessed it, imagination. More specifically the focus is on mythical places and illusion. So what’s the point of the theme? Well the idea is that the public areas will all be named after the theme. Additionally the décor, photos, statues, etc will all tie into this theme. On the Imagination we’ll see places such as the Mirage Piano Bar, the Curiosity Lounge, Shangri La Disco, and Illusion’s Dance Club. These pictures look really cool! I’m excited to see it in person.

Shangri La Lounge

Main Atrium

Pre-Cruise Show and Cruise DVD

2 Recent tweets from the Backstreet Boys have made this particular Friday a very happen one!

We are thinking of doing a lil something the night before RT @@skulleez_69: @backstreetboys will there be a pre-cruise show this year???

Next week! RT @amycishere @backstreetboys when will the #bsbcruise2010 dvd be coming for the love of God? will see you on #bsbcruise2012!

I can't wait for the BSB Cruise 2010 DVD and relive all the great moments! Lets hope its longer than the 50 minutes that it is rumored to be.

And I would be absolutely thrilled if they end up doing a show the night before! I hope they make the crowd a little bigger than last time or there may be a lot of disappointed fans. I also kind of hope its assigned seats this year so we don't have to camp out for a good spot lol. But I think this is such a great idea because it now turns our 3 day cruise into a 4 day Backstreetfest! I'm also really happy they told us this early so we can start to make hotel arrangements and plan our flights accordingly. Hopefully we'll get more details soon.

Icebreakers

I talk a lot about meeting new friends on the cruise. This year especially, I think the cruise will be more about the friends you make than just the Backstreet Boys. Here are a few BSB related icebreakers you can try. I also thought it would be fitting to provide my answers so you can get to know more about me and my Backstreet related antics.

Who’s your Favorite BSB and why?

So my answer varies depending on when you ask me. To be honest I like them all for different reasons. But Nick has always been my favorite, maybe because he's the closest in age. But I like his sense of humor, that he’s young spirited and seems to be very fun-loving. But ironically in real life, I'd usually go for more the Kevin type- mature and responsible. AJ isnt too far behind Nick either, especially after the last cruise. I like that he’s really sensitive under all those tattoos and he’s just so sweet and great with the fans. I feel I could relate to him even if he wasn’t a Backstreet Boy and just ran into him on the street.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for the Backstreet Boys?

Does spending over $2,000 on a 4 day cruise count? I would say so. Aside from that the craziest thing though would be camping out for concert tickets to their Black and Blue tour in the middle of winter. I got so sick from that, and ironically we didnt end up using those tickets since we found better seats. But I was probably only 15 at the time so my dad had to sit in the car and watch us. I still owe him big time for putting up with all that. Side note- Thank goodness for the internet. Camping out for tickets is no fun.

Favorite album?

Millennium. This is when I really became a fan and I have such fond memories of that whole era. Plus the album is just amazing.

Favorite BSB song?

Depends on my mood but I would have to say ‘The One’. I also really enjoy AJ’s song ‘London'

Least favorite BSB song?

They’ve had a few tracks that I usually tend to skip over. ‘Don’t Disturb this Groove’- I just can’t take this song seriously. ‘Its True’- Don’t know why I don’t like it, but I cant remember the last time I actually made it to the end of that song.

Most memorable BSB moment?

I would say two moments stand out for me. I think its cheating to say the entire 2010 cruise (though its true) but more specifically it was during the Miami acoustic show meet and greet. That was really the first time I had ever met the Backstreet Boys. I had been dreaming of that moment for over a decade and it was everything I hoped for, no matter how chaotic and rushed.

I really find just about any excuse I can to post this picture, don't I?

My second favorite BSB moment is quite random, but you remember on the Black & Blue tour how the guys went out to a little mini stage in the middle of the crowd, and then a bridge came down from the ceiling where they would walk from the mini stage back to their main stage? So my friend and I had 12th row tickets to that show and when that bridge came down we were sooo close to them. That was the first time I really saw them so close in person, which is a night and day difference from the nosebleed seats. But what really made this memorable was that AJ sat down on the bridge right in front of us and he was so close that I could reach out and touch him. He sat there for a minute or two, I believe they were singing 'Time', and it just felt like all the other fans in the room disappeared and it was just him singing to me. I'll never forget that.

Which BSB has your favorite voice?

I know this is a weird question but I LOVE AJ’s raspy voice. *sigh* I can never get enough.

What made you become a fan?

I listened to their first album, when they were first becoming popular in the US. But what really converted me from just enjoying their music to becoming a true fan was during the millennium album release. I remember TRL played that same 2 hr special over and over and I was just hooked. Nick especially just drew me in. And then when my friend had an extra ticket to their show…I was done for.

Which BSB are you most like and why?

I’d say a mix of Howie and Kevin. I find I’m like Kevin in that I’m the responsible type who likes to plan everything out (as if that wasn’t already apparent from the amount of detail I’ve been going into with this cruise) Im also a business major and I guess they always joke that Howie is the business man.

Ok- that felt a little bit like I was interviewing myself haha. But, its my blog so I can do what I want :)

I’d love to hear your answers to these questions as well! Feel free to post under the comments section and share your stories. Plus then I’d feel less weird answering my own questions....

PS- Thank you Chrissy for giving me the idea for this post!

I'm Officially Booked!

Yay!! I'm so relieved that I'm officially booked. I've been stressing these past few weeks on who I'm rooming with, which room to get, and even whether or not I should go.

So in the end I decided to room with 2 of my friends from last year- Chrissy and Cory. We got an interior cabin for 3 people on Deck 5. More specifically we'll be in cabin M46, so come say! We were hoping for Deck 6 but did not see any available.

I felt the booking today went pretty smoothly. The site went live a few minutes before noon and luckily we had no problems getting through and even selecting which cabin we want. There seemed to be a little concern around the reservation numbers as some girls had the same one. I speculated that it could be a different set of reservation numbers for the different dining seatings (early vs late) or perhaps the suites were on a different system than the rest. However Jeannie from Rose Tours clarified that the reservation numbers are time stamped and supposedly the first four digits are meaningless, which would then explain why some people got the same reservation number. Not sure the validity of this.

But just in case you're curious..my reservation number is 1136. It also appears that the numbers start at 1100 this year. So in the event that these numbers do matter, we made out pretty well. Just FYI for new cruisers, the reservation number dictates your position in the lounge, which is why everyone is stressing over it (myself included)

So now that the cruise is taken care of, I have to start thinking about making arrangements for the rest of the trip. This includes booking flights, get a hotel room for the night before, await the announcement of an acoustic show (at least I sure hope so) and make plans to extend the trip with some sort of pre-cruise adventure. 3 days is just too short of a trip for me. If I'm going to fly down to Florida anyway, I figure why not? I'm strongly considering going to Disney World for a few days before the cruise. It's only a 4 hour drive from Miami and seeing Disney World around Christmas time is so magical. Plus there's the added bonus of possibly seeing Brian. He took his family last year after the cruise, so there's always a slim chance of running into him.

Aside from all the logistics, I also can start thinking about more of the fun stuff. I plan on buying a new camera, some new outfits, thinking about my door decoration, figure out plans for Nassau, etc.

Lots of fun to be had in the months to come so keep checking back for more updates, tips, and my lovely opinions. If there's anything you'd like to hear about, feel free to post a comment below or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

How did you past cruisers make out today? Meanwhile good luck to Fan Club members for their pre-sale on Wednesday and everyone else trying on Friday for tickets! Let us know how it goes.

Cruise on Sale Next Week!

I just wanted to wish good luck to everyone trying for tickets next week! I’ll feel so much better once I get that confirmation email. As a reminder the past cruiser pre-sale is Monday April 11th at 12pm EST. The fan club pre-sale is Wednesday April 13th at 12pm EST. And finally the general public sale is Friday April 15th at 12pm EST.

If you cruised last year, you should have received an email from Ground Control called “BSB Cruise Past Passenger Booking Info’ that contains information about the pre-sale including a username and password. Thank you so much Cory for letting me know about this! I did not receive the email so I had to call Rose Tours so they could resend me the information. They did have me in their system, which is good, but I still have no clue why I didn’t get the initial email. So if you also did not get the email, I’d recommend calling Rose Tours and have them resend it to you. They open at 9am EST so there is still a 3 hour window before tickets go on sale.

I recently discovered more information about the cancellation policy that I thought I’d share. Rose Tours makes it very clear what happens with the individual who cancels, but not how it affects the other cruisers who are rooming with them. I never thought about this last year because I was in the roommate match program so I was covered. This year I am not. So… should your roommate cancel, you both are responsible for finding a replacement roommate. If you find a replacement roommate, great. All you have to pay is a $100 name change fee. If you are unable to find a replacement roommate, that’s when it could potentially get messy. There is one less person in that cabin, so Rose Tours will alter the cost of that room to reflect the new number of people in there. So say I book a 2 person cabin and my roommate cancels. Now there is only me in the cabin, so I’d be responsible for paying the price of an individual cabin. That’s a HUGE difference in price. Obviously going from a 4 person cabin to a 3 person cabin would not be as significant of a price difference.

The reason I bring this up is that I’d recommend you discuss beforehand with your roommate(s) what your cancellation policy is. I discussed with my future roommates how we want to handle that situation should it arise. While none of us anticipate canceling, you never know what might happen. We all agreed that whoever has to cancel will be responsible for any additional charges the other girls have to incur, if that person would not have canceled. We thought this was the fair approach.

Again- good luck next week! I hope everyone gets their first choice room, unless it happens to be the same room I have my eye on ;)

We Can Pick Our Cabins This Year

Just announced on the official BSB cruise site:

New this year, you will be able to select your exact cabin when making your reservation.
Once you pick your category, you will be able to choose your cabin. Please take a minute to look over Carnival's Imagination deck plan so you are familiar with your cabin options. Click Here to View Deck Plan.
Please keep in mind cabins will go quickly.

Just when I thought I had everything figured out they throw me a curve ball! Even though I’m incredibly indecisive, I think this is a nice addition so you have more control over where you will be staying. It allows you to coordinate with your friends so you can get rooms near each other. The other benefit is that you will know where your room is right from the beginning, rather than having to wait until a few weeks before we cruise. So ideally you can get to know your neighbors that much sooner.

Since we have more control over where to stay, just wanted to point out a few things when selecting your cabin. I would recommend midship as being the ideal location for obvious reasons. You are halfway between both ends of the ship. If you debating between forward and aft, there are a few things to note. Typically if the waves are rough you might feel slightly more motion towards the front of the ship because if you think about it, that’s where the waves meet the boat. However in the aft, you will be right above the engine and the anchor so it could be noisy. When we are coming and going from port, the anchor can get quite loud. Considering we will be arriving in Nassau at 8:30am and leaving at 7:00am, that will not be a pleasant wake-up call (If you’re even sleeping that is).

Since midship tends to be more expensive than forward or aft, I’m personally leaning towards aft myself. I figure I will be awake most of the trip and even if I will be sleeping I’ll be too darn tired to let the noise even bother me. I wish it was Monday already so I could be booked and be done with all the decision making.

***EDIT*** Some people are having are having trouble with the link to the deck plan. If the Carnival site is giving you trouble, you can view the deck plan here as well.

Can you afford a Backstreet Cruise?

Since they just announced the full pricing today, I thought it would be fitting to do a post on how much it REALLY costs to do a Backstreet Boy cruise. Let’s start with the 2011 pricing. You can view the full pricing here but here is a quick glimpse:

Interior rooms range from $699-$1499
Ocean view rooms range from $899-$2099
Suites range from $1949-$4000

Now don’t be fooled at these. That is just the start. When I decided to go on BSB cruise 2010, I saw the cost of the cabin I wanted was $849. Then I thought to myself “Yeah, I could totally swing that” But by the time I got home, unpacked, and calculated what I really spent on the trip, it was significantly more than what was posted on the website and I went waaaay beyond my budget.

Don’t get me wrong, it was totally worth every penny, and I clearly am getting ready to do it all over again. But I think it’s good to know what you’re getting into from the beginning before deciding to book the cruise. All in, the whole trip cost me just over $2,000 and I did it about as cheaply as you could do it. This was my trip a la frugal style:

• $849- Interior Room (4C) for roommate match program. I couldn’t justify an exterior room or suite for the extra cost.
• $239- Tax, Additional Rose Tour fees
• $214- New outfits and accessories for theme parties and the cruise in general.
• $210- Acoustic Show with meet & greet option
• $135- Merchandise on board
• $119- Beach Party Excursion
• $62- Manicure, Pedicure, Hair cut, Eyebrows before the trip.
• $50- Cruise DVD
• $40- Taxis to and from airport (Split 2 ways)
• $33- All food costs in Miami
• $32- Hotel room (After split 4 ways)
• $30- Airfare (I was able to use points so this saved major moola)
• $16- New memory card for camera
• $16- Rental car to get around Miami (had a free voucher and split remaining costs 4 ways)

Grand total: $2045

There are definitely areas that I could have scaled back on, but there are many areas that I didn’t splurge at all on. No alcohol, no excursions, no spa treatments, no fancy restaurants, no fancy cabin, no trip insurance. I also did not spend any money on my door decoration, but I realize many people did. I’m lucky that I was able to use my miles for the flight and that I was flying domestically in the US.

All in all, I don’t think I did too bad coming in around $2000 because I know some cabins STARTED at that price.

And just to make sure I don’t give anyone a misconception about the pricing, I averaged what people indicated they spent last year in the fan club. The average fan spent $3042. Costs ranged from $1800 on the low end, all the way up to $6868 on the high end. All things considering, I guess $2000 isn’t so bad.