Close Encounters of the BSB Kind

I am very happy to have another guest blogger for you all- one of my cruise roommates and a great friend of mine- Chrissy. She is a Brian fan from Indiana. Seriously, if you want to talk about anything related to Brian, she's your girl. We met on last year's cruise and immediately hit it off. Maybe it works so well since we're not fighting over the same BSB ;) She also has a great blog dedicated solely to her Backstreet adventures that you should definitely check out: From the First Day

I know that Laura has written about her experiences about meeting or seeing BSB around the Cruise Ship.  I thought I would give everyone a taste of my close encounters so that one might be able to see how one’s experience with this might differ. 

First, let me introduce myself.  My name is Chrissy and I met Laura last year on the fan club when I was looking for someone to share a hotel room with my roommate and I, the night before the cruise.  Laura is one of my cruise roommates for this year. 

I, of course, saw the Backstreet Boys at the same times everyone else did....at the events, deck parties, etc.  The encounters I am about to discuss will be points at which others may not have seen them or gotten to interact with them.

1. First Night Dinner - My friends and I were lucky the first night for dinner because we sat at what we deemed “The Princess Table.”  We sat to where we overlooked the Backstreet Boys, their families and friends, and Rose Tours staff.  I have to admit that it was extremely hard NOT to stare because they were right there.  We got to see them interacting with their friends and family in ways that others may not have seen them interact before.  For example, Nick and Lauren were completely making out as it got further into dinner.  After all, the group had a good amount of privacy considering they were completely surrounded in the dining room by their fans.  And since we were sitting right by the stairs, we got plenty of Backstreet Boys coming and going right behind us.
   
   

   

   Right over our shoulders is where the VIP section was

   
   
2. Second Night Dinner - During the second night of dinner, we actually had two close encounters.  That day we had been in Key West and had found a shirt for AJ that we thought about purchasing for him because it would be perfect after some of the things that were said during the Everybody Feud game the night before.  At one point, AJ walked by us and we were able to stop him to show him the photo of the shirt that we had taken.  I thought it was so cool that he even stopped in the first place.  After he saw the picture, he kind of giggled and thanked us for sharing with him.  It was super exciting to get that interaction with him.  The second interaction also occurred with AJ.  We were sitting with Jessica, the girl that AJ danced with at dinner that night.  I think most of us didn’t realize what was happening until AJ actually took Jessica’s hand because we were watching one of our friends dancing with one of the waiters.  We then saw Howie heading towards AJ and Jessica.  Jessica’s face when Howie started dancing with AJ instead of her was kind of priceless.  After the dance, Brian headed toward our table and hugged Jessica.  I do have to say that I can get jealous at times, but there is no better person that this could have happened too.  Her mom and her were just such nice, genuine people.
   
   

   

   Howie about to take AJ from Jessica

   
   
3. Day at Sea On The Slide - I had several encounters during the Day At Sea so I will break them down and talk about them one at a time.  The first happened as I was playing on the water slide with Pru, the daughter of Jodi, who is Leighanne’s best friend.  As we were playing on the water slide and just hanging out in the pool, there were several times where we saw Baylee walk by and go down the slides.  At one point, Baylee was only a few people ahead of Pru and me.  The next thing I know, he is standing next to Pru and I and he was very upset.  He told us that he couldn’t go down the slide anymore because he was too short, even though he had been going down it all day.   All of a sudden, Leighanne came up and was discussing something with the crew member that was working the slide.
   
   Apparently, what really happened was that the crew member had grabbed Baylee by the back of the next and had pulled him back to keep him from going up the stairs to get to slide.  However, it was not because he was too short.  It was because the crew member was trying to get Baylee to stop running.  I guess Brian’s security guards had seen this and that was why Leighanne had made it up there so quickly.  Brian was not too far behind her.  Let’s just say that I have never seen Brian so upset before.  I saw him as a father protecting his child, not as the famous Backstreet Boy.  He told the security guard that it doesn’t matter who’s kid it is, you don’t grab any child like that.  As Brian was “discussing” things with the crew member, Leighanne walked up to Pru to see if she wanted to go see the Captain with them.  Pru politely declined and we continued to play on the water slide.  I just could not believe that this all happened a few feet from me.  There were probably only 10 people up there total and I was one of the few people up there that was part of the BSB portion of the cruise, so I don’t think many fans know this even happened.
   
   
4. Chili Cheese Fries during the Day At Sea - Okay so this encounter doesn’t really have to do with the Backstreet Boys per se but it does have to do with one of their employees.  One of my favorite foods in the world is Chili Cheese Fries.  So for lunch during the Day At Sea, I got some from the grill part on the Lido Deck....yes that was all I got.  As I was walking to go sit down in the buffet, Justin (BSB’s photographer) was walking right next to me.  He told me that the chili cheese fries looked really good so I offered him some.  He gladly accepted and took some.  After the cruise, I told people how I ate lunch with their photographer.  So it is a little exaggerated but who else got to share their chili cheese fries with Justin?
   
   
5. Howie encounter during lunch on the Day at Sea - Shortly after we sat down in the buffet for lunch, Howie walked by our table.  Then a large group of girls ran by our table to try to catch up to him.  Jessica’s mom yelled for them to stop and just leave him alone.  I don’t think they heard her.  Eventually, Howie came back and walked by our table again, heading back out to the Lido deck.  I just called out hi to him and he asked how we were all doing.  Of course, we were fantastic!  So it wasn’t a deep, meaningful conversation but I wonder if he said anything to those girls that were chasing him.
   
   
6. Black and Blue Deck Party - So I am sure that like me, many of the cruise goers were upset by the events that took place on the last night of the cruise when they moved the deck party to the club.  Like so many others, I was one of the fans that never made it into the club.  Before we had even gone inside to get in line for the club, my friend Tammy had decided to leave with Jessica and her mom.  When we saw the line to get into the club, Laura and her brother decided they were going to go into the employee entrance (her brother worked on the Destiny).  Cory and I decided to ask the security guard if they were going to be limiting the time girls spent in the club to ensure that everyone would get it.  After all, we paid for a deck party so I think everyone should have had the opportunity to go in the club since that was taking the place of the deck party.  I was told that I didn’t miss anything but it was just the principle of it.  
   
   When we were told that they were going to be sending people in as people came out, Cory and I knew our chances of getting in were slim.  Cory decided to go back to her cabin and start packing since we would be debarking the next morning.  So then there was one.  I was left all alone and I wasn’t sure what to do.  I had heard that Nick and AJ were in the club for sure but had not heard anything about Brian.  So, I wondered if he might still be out on the Lido deck and decided to go have a look.  Sure enough, Leighanne and Brian were still out there without about a dozen and a half fans or so.  They were just kind of hanging out and taking pictures.  The DJ was still playing music.  I was wearing my University of Kentucky gear for Black and Blue night so was super excited for Brian to see me.  I am usually not one who pushes in front of others or calls out for photos.  I like to be polite so I was waiting patiently for Leighanne and Brian to get to me since they seemed to be coming down the line.  However, right before they got to me, they told us all that they had to get going.  Dang it. 
   
   So, I started heading down the stairs.  Just as I stepped onto the landing of the floor that BSB were staying on, Brian and Leighanne stepped out of the elevator.  There were about 10 fans standing there who were different then the fans who were up on the deck.  So, I am not sure if these fans just kind of hung out there during the cruise waiting for the Backstreet Boys to come to and from their rooms.  Brian once again started getting photos with some of the fans and I once again decided to wait my turn.  And once again, they told us that they had to leave to go to bed.  I later found out that they actually went down to the casino.  After this encounter,  I now try to be a little more confident in myself when it comes to the Backstreet Boys.  By doing this, I hope to actually get a photo with one of the Boys this year.

Brian still partying on the Lido Deck after everyone else had left

So, that is my story about my close encounters with the Backstreet Boys on the cruise.  I hope that the same holds true for this year and that I have even more.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of my awesome Backstreet adventures, including an amazing review of the NKOTBSB tour with videos of every single song performed, at From the First Day.