The first deck party of the cruise was 80's night. The Backstreet Boys, or should I say Sphynkter, came out very appropriately to Just Want You to Know playing in the background. The boys all looked absolutely amazing in their outfits, they really went all out tonight. Brian had eyeliner on, for crying out loud! Meanwhile I think the crowd was a little thin this evening because the boat was rocking. I know several girls couldn't make it out that night due to seasickness.
Nick- "I don't envy you ladies for having hair. This shit's in my eyes."
So as the night unfolded, if I'm being perfectly honest, not a whole lot really happened. Which is why it took me a while to actually want to write this post. As I think back to what happened that night, I cant think of anything noteworthy. My favorite part of this night was just seeing the boys in their getups.
Most of this event encompassed the boys singing along to the songs the DJ was playing. The one that stands out for me was AJ singing along with 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'. So the boys did this for a little while and AJ eventually asked us if we wanted them to come closer. What a ridiculous question. Of course we do, AJ! In the history of the Backstreet Boys ever asking that question, I'm willing the bet the answer was never "No." So soon after, Nick and Howie made their way downstairs to the bar and handed out some drinks to the crowd. AJ also made his way across the deck to get a little closer to the fans.
Loving AJ in a fishnet top and spandex bottoms.
The other highlight of the evening was the boy's playing beer pong with a few fans. They picked a few fans to go up on stage. AJ did sit this event out, which I'm very happy to say. The remaining boys did play though. This is another one of those events that I'm sure was really fun for the girls up on stage playing, but speaking on behalf of one of the onlookers- it was rather boring. It wasn't a game that was particularly entertaining to watch. And I also think it was in bad taste to do it in the first place and make AJ sit out. It just seems like there are so many other things they could've done.
Howie partying all night
I hate to say it, but that pretty much sums up 80's night. Howie was out with the fans until the wee hours of the morning, which was great. Was it my favorite event of the cruise. No. But it was still an evening with BSB thus I still had a great time. Plus it was a once in a lifetime chance to see Sphynkter live.
Karaoke took place during the last day of the cruise and it proved to be a very different experience than karaoke from the 2010 cruise. Most notably it took place outside on the pool deck, which in theory was a nice concept but due to rain that didn't work out so well. Also, I think due to the railings and karaoke equipment, there weren't too many good spots on deck to get a good view.
But anyway, karaoke of course was running on Backstreet time and they boys were running late. Before they came out, Hal Roseman came out and announced the winners of the door decoration contest. Congrats again Ash and Cort!
At this point Howie announced that they would be shaving a fan named Michelle's head because she was about to start cancer treatment. It was a very touching moment.
About 20 minutes later karaoke finally started. The fans who got to participate were pre-selected and informed via email that they would have an opportunity to sing with the boys. You had to sign up to qualify and give your top 3 song choices. I signed up to participate and was half disappointed I didn't get picked, and half relieved. I would've been a wreck up there. Talk about nerves. So I sat back and enjoyed the show.
One of my other favorite moments was the ending banter between the guys. In fact I think it was the best part of the event. They had some great zingers in there. Just watch...
Nick- “Chestnuts roasting on Rochelle’s dinner plate.”
Karaoke had a lot of sexual comments throughout, which I can't pretend I didn't enjoy. I wish we could see this side of the Backstreet Boys more often.
Karaoke was ultimately cut short due to the weather. I have to say, this was probably my least favorite event of the cruise (which is again probably evident in the length of this post). But still being my least favorite event on a BSB cruise still trumps any other possible activity. So on a scale of 1-10 it may have been a 15 instead of a 20. After all, its still an event with the Backstreet Boys.
There were a number of reasons why it wasn't my favorite. It started off late due to the boys being late and it was further postponed by the head shaving, so I was already antsy by the time they started. I also think that leading into the karaoke with such a somber event set a rather gloomy tone. Furthermore it was tough to see given the setup of the stage. The rain wasn't ideal. Expectations were high from the previous cruise. I felt the boys weren't as into it. And there were a few other reasons for why I just wasn't feeling it.
Gosh, I feel bad being so negative. Again, still had fun, but just not as much fun as say the beach party. The boys are definitely spoiling me and it's not good. Now I call it a "bad" event if there aren't at least 2 Backstreet Boys with no shirts on. All that said, Karaoke did have various elements that I did like. I thought it was very well organized in how they picked contestants. I like that it was pre-selected randomly to give everyone a fair shot. It minimized chaos at the event. I think it's nice they give the opportunity to a lot of fans to be on stage with them. Plus I enjoy the fact that you can't really get that kind of karaoke experience with BSB anywhere else. It's unique to the cruise.
I personally think they should retire doing karaoke but if they do bring it back I think they need to bring a new twist to it. Maybe have the boys split into 2 teams so they can go head to head. The boys seem very competitive so I think they'd get more into. It just needs something to make it fresh again.
PS- Thanks again to Anne Marie for letting me borrow her vids.
Prom night Backstreet style was themed as 'A Night to Remember'. And what made this night memorable to me was the guest appearance by Kevin. Very special indeed.
The boys were running on Backstreet time per usual, but it was definitely worth the wait. Kevin was the only Backstreet Boy who wore a classy classic tux, the other 4 boys all decided to take a more goofy approach. Howie wore a white tux like Tony Montana from Scarface, Brian sported a turquoise tux, and Nick and AJ took inspiration from Dumb and Dumber with an orange and light blue tux respectively.
So the boys came out and threw out some shirts into the audience. Howie immediately starts dancing like a mad man and the boys went around introducing their outfits. Kevin indicated he "wasn't very creative" with his classic tux. Truthfully, his was my favorite. But since all the boys were trying to be based off a movie character, Nick assigned Kevin's outfit to be based off of Meet Joe Black; Howie assigned him to be from Chicago; AJ deemed him as 007; and Brian appointed him to be from Men in Black. Whatever you call it- he looked good.
AJ iterated that he and Nick never went to prom so they had to make that the best prom night ever. And that was pretty much the entire intro. Short, sweet and to the point.
Credit- Justin Segura
Nick- “We’re adults now I can see things now like shit. Back in the day we would’ve gotten in trouble and I would’ve been spanked”
The highlight of the evening was the boys singing I Still with Kevin. Absolutely amazing. Definitely sent chills down my spine:
I Still with Kevin. Simply magical.
In my opinion, the evening peaked early with this moment. They segue into playing a bunch of music and Nick hops on the drums.
Next on the agenda was for the boys to "pick" their prom queens, which were in fact pre-selected randomly by plastic crowns placed in goody bags. Had I known these existed, I probably would've stalked those goody bags and sneaked one of those crowns away before they made their way to the cabins. Heck, at one point during the beach party I half-contemplated running around Nassau buying every plastic crown on the island hoping one of them would match. But I just couldn't tear myself away topless Backstreet Boys.
Anyway, the boys had their prom queens and discussed what song they would be dancing to. Then this conversation happened:
Nick- “See I think it’s better to do the Perfect Fan versus that song that AJ used to grind to on the stage.”
AJ- “That’s not a prom song.”
AJ- “I was 15 when we cut that. What do I know about sex at 15?”
Howie- “You had no business humping that stage.”
So Jen goes on and crowns all 5 boys as the prom kings. Then the 5 ladies were crowned as prom queens. They go do their dance to the Perfect Fan and Nick was incredibly goofy with his dance, which was cute to watch.
The rest of the nigh was largely uneventful, except of course to the 5 gals who were chosen as prom queen. The boys did some classic line dances like the Cha cha slide, Electric Slide, and YMCA.
Nick- “I wouldn’t recommend this to anybody. I’m sorry. They’re still doing it. You look like cattle…May as well call that the sheep dance.”
Nick's enthusiasm for the line dancing was just bursting out of him. I tended to agree with him though. So they finish up their brief line dancing and then Brian allows all the prom queens to do their shout outs. Nothing horribly noteworthy happened after that.
Well that's all folks. I wish there was more to write, but that was pretty much how the night ended. My personal experiences with prom night was not as magical as I had hoped, which is largely evident just in the length of this post as compared to some of the other events. I think the night was super special to 5 fans, but the majority of the rest of us had nothing much to do but stand by and awkwardly watch them have their moment. Or maybe that was just how I felt. Now I do place a lot of the blame on myself for having such high expectations for the night, but I still think the deck party was lacking overall. The only saving grace was seeing Kevin sing I still.
One last thing, in case you're curious, here were a few songs they played throughout the evening:
I Know You Want Me, I Gotta Feeling, I Still, Gold Digger, Crazy In Love, Be Faithful, Up in Here, Party Up, This is How We Do It, Bring Em Out, Turn Me On, Get Busy, One More Time, Don't Stop Believing, Party Rock, Baby Got Back, The Perfect Fan, Crank That Solider Boy, Black & Yellow, Electric Slide, YMCA, What's My Name.
These theme parties are a little tougher to do a recap for, but as always, I'll be doing my best to at least hit all the highlights. My personal favorite night was PJ night, so I'm starting there. (Advanced warning- this will be a long one)
The evening started off in a bit of chaos because the location was rerouted to the main atrium as opposed to the lido deck. The crowds quickly formed in order to get a good spot for our last night on the ship with the boys.
Act 1: The Intros When the Backstreet Boys first came out, I think we all knew this would be a special night to remember. We had Mr. Carter dressed as a Ninja Turtle. AJ was in some sort of odd looking onesie with huge plastic feet. Howie donned a silk robe a la Hugh Hefner. Lastly Brian was clad in a cute Elmo ensemble.
The boys start with their intros. AJ thanks us all for coming and tells us that this cruise was way better than last years. Meanwhile Nick was doing some judo-like movies, completely not paying to attention to AJ...
Nick not paying attention to AJ
Next up was Howie. He also thanked us for coming and said they had an "awesome time." He also made sure to point out that the cruise was far from over and that "we're still drinking and we're going all night long."
Brian was the next one with the mic and he played up his elmo costume a bit by doing a cute elmo voice. Some more talking and he ended with his cute little Brian hip thrust.
Last and most certainly not least was Nick...
Nick- “Just so you know its past my bed time. And I’ll probably get in a lot of trouble for the things I’m gonna be doing tonight. So I might get a spanking if you want to spank me. Just be nice cause my bum is like really pale.”
Nick (voice cracking) “Does anyone else got this shit going on with their voice? No its not just us, right. You ever hear of people getting sick on a cruise ship so you can be like ‘Yeah I got sick from a fuckin backstreet boy. You can blame it on us.”
After the boys danced around a bit to Straight Through My Heart, AJ announces that they will have one last event for us. Truth or Dare.
Credit- Justin Segura
AJ- “We have one last event to end this cruise on a good night. We’re going to play, I cant believe this, truth or dare. So this could be your one and only chance if you get a truth to ask us anything you really don’t already know.”
Brian- “Why wouldn’t you chose dare, AJ”
AJ- “Well, I don’t want to get in trouble.”
Nick- “I say we make a rule. None of us can choose truth. We can only choose dare.”
AJ- “But what if the truth question is really gritty. Like really gritty.”
Nick- “I don’t know. Seeing you do some stuff like walking down the hall with your pants down would be pretty funny, AJ.”
AJ- “But that’s like a Tuesday afternoon for me.”
Act 2: Brian Doing the Worm
The DJ started playing The Call and a few other fun songs. Out of no where the crowd started chanting for Brian to body surf. In my head I'm thinking 'there's no way that's going to happen.' Then Brian actually starts motioning the direction in which he intends to body surf. I still thought it must've been one of his jokes. But lo and behold, I was proven wrong. He dove into that crowd and actually body surfed. I couldn't believe my eyes. He did fall at one point, which prompted his bodyguards to pretty much carry him the remainder of the distance. I was still incredibly impressed at how carefree he seemed.
While Brian was crowd surfing, Howie kept chanting the infamous line "Protect ya tings." AJ also revealed he went crowd surfing once.
AJ- “First of all, how fucking cool was that? Brian crowd surfing. Never in the last 19 years did I ever think that I would see that.”
You and me both, AJ.
Its also at this point that the boys start throwing marshmallows into the audience. Nick decides to take it one step further. Actually, he took it like 50 steps further. He puts a marshmallow in his mouth and then proceeds to feed it to a fan via his mouth.
Act 3: Truth or Dare
Next they segue nicely into Truth or Dare. The following 30 minutes was a blur of hilarity and sexiness. The fans we're preselected by Hal, which I'm going to bite my tongue on. Though my dissatisfaction is directed at Hal, not the fans, just to clarify. Nick also picked one lucky fan from the audience to participate.
Brian's Dare
Brian was up first and he boldly chose to do a dare. His dare was to do the worm on the bar, and Nick added onto that and challenged him to also add a shot in there. When Brian found out his dare, he didn't even bat an eye. He seemed quite confident he could complete this, no problem. So confident that before he started, he uttered "Suck it Howie" and did the best darn worm I've ever seen. I also loved how they had 'Shots' playing in the background. It was reminiscent of cruise 2010.
Brian- “Im playing by the rules. Normally I cheat”
After the worm, Brian was supposed to take his shot. And to the natural eye it seemed like he took one. But in actually he threw it behind him. You can also see him wiping his cheek off afterward. Brian's quite the tricky one. He then took his "real drink" which was a pretty looking 'girly' drink.
Next one of the fans opted to do a truth. They asked her if she's ever kissed a girl. She did, and her name was Denise. So AJ joked that its also his mom's name. Which somehow led to this conversation:
AJ- “Where do you think I got it from?”
Nick- “Where you’d get what? Wearing ladies clothes.”
AJ- “Why are you asking me?”
Nick- “Because you wear girls clothes sometimes.”
AJ- “So? Don’t be jealous. I’m just better.”
Nick- “I am jealous.”
Howie's Dare
Howie was the next lucky Backstreet Boy to do his dare, which he was reluctantly coerced into. So glad he was. As Jen sifted through the various dares, Nick started acting a bit childlike, which i found absolutely charming. He thought she was trying to pick an easy dare and whimpered, “Why are you doing that? You are protecting him? Don’t you protect him. Favoritism!”
Turns out Jen was in fact not protecting Howie. His dare was to make out with a pillow, tongue and all. AJ bursts into laughter in the background. Love it. Then Nick chimes in again “No no no no no no. Can we add to that? He has to have sex with a pillow?” One of the smartest comments he made the whole trip. The rest of the boys (read as AJ and Nick) continue to egg him on. They tease him that they have to pretend that pillow is the girl he lost his virginity to. Fun fact- apparently the girl Howie lost his virginity to was named Jennifer.
Nick and AJ continue to egg him on and you can tell how reluctant Howie is to do this. He finally snaps and says "don't tell me how to make love to my woman!"
Almost as amusing as watching Howie with the pillow was listening to AJ and Nick's commentary in the background.
AJ- “Lay her down. Lay her down. Be gentle Howie. There you go. Spank her ass. Howie, spank her ass. There you go! Good boy. Now give her a big kiss. That’s what these girls want to see. C’mon Howie, show that pillow what you’re made of. Pump howie pump. Pump. Pump. Pump. Pump.”
Nick can also be heard in the background with frustration in his voice, “Howie, get on the ground with that thing. Go doggie style. Get on your knees homes.” He continues, “That’s not how he normally does it. Trust me.”
Really Nick? I dont want to know how you know that.
AJ's Dare
Next up is AJ's dare. He has to be tickled by fans for 30 seconds. Nick seems to be getting way too much joy out of this dare. You can see AJ squirming and wriggling around in discomfort.
Nick- "Go for his knees"
After Howie's dare, AJ's seemed pretty tame.
Nick's Dare
Nick's dare was interesting as well. At first he was supposed to give a fan a sensual massage. At first I'm thinking all of my jokes about getting a massage by Nick are now becoming a reality. However AJ changes up the dare and says that he now has to be the recipient of a massage by fans.
Nick reluctantly makes his way to the bar with the other Backstreet Boys egging him on. I love how he screams out "oh my god" throughout the 30 seconds.
Nick- "Honestly, I kinda liked it."
Time to move on to the fans' dares. One fan had to dance in between Nick and AJ. Both of the guys got pretty into it. The next fan had to beg Howie and Brian to spank her. I was wondering how Brian would work around that...but he found a plush toy to spank the girl with. Still nothing I'd ever expect to see Brian do. If I wasn't there in person to see it with my own eyes, I'd never believe it. Meanwhile Howie found a belt to spank her with. Once again I found the funniest part to be AJ's narration.
AJ (I'm hoping speaking on behalf of the fan) “Please please spank it Howie. Please, please spank it harder. Please smack my butt.”
Act 4: The Antics Ensue
At one point the boys joked about that 'Protect Ya Tings' sign.
Howie “Protect ya tings. Use a rubber every time.”
Fast forward a bit more. Pillow fight time. The boys are fighting each other and the fans.
Of course no bias at all when I say this was one of my favorite parts of the night.
Brian and AJ seem to disappear a bit after that. Meanwhile its evident Nick and Howie have a few too many drinks. The evening continued with general craziness and fans continuing to violate the boys whenever they were on the bar. I personally thought it went a little too far with fans groping their private areas. To be clear, this is not me speaking out of jealousy. I just think its wildly inappropriate to grab someone in these unmentionable areas without their permission. Plus you can hear Nick say things like "That really hurt" and Howie saying “Don’t hit my butt. Don’t do that. Don’t do that. I’m a married man. Ow, ow, ow. That really hurts.” I'm not sure what part of these statements are unclear. It just was very uncomfortable to watch how uncomfortable it made them. Sorry, venting over.
Back to the fun stuff. At one point in the evening AJ seems to be spanking an inflatable doll for the better part of 2 minutes. Howie strutted around with his robe open, exposing his bare chest, to Moulin Rouge. The other highlights of the evening included Howie singing 100 kisses.
Howie singing 100 Kisses
Last highlight of the night was Nick singing, or should I say oddly dancing to Burning Up.
Nick dancing to Burning Up
The rest of the evening was mostly watching Nick and Howie drunkenly dance to whatever the DJ was playing. The evening finally came to a conclusion (in my eyes) when Nick walked around with the greygoose bottle in his hand. I guess he gave up on the formality of actually having a mixed drink at this point. It wasn't long before he took off for the night. Thus left Howie, once again, to close out the night.
And thus marked the end of the night
Other Items I haven't Covered Yet...
Here is the sound track for the evening (Not complete and loosely in order):
LTL, Tempted to Touch, STMH, The Call, Yeah Yeah Yeah, We Found Love, Party Rock, Tootsie Roll, Jump on It, Cha Cha Slide, Me So Horny, Moulin Rouge, Jenny from the Block, The Right Stuff, Step by Step, IWITW, 100 Kisses, Just One Kiss, Burning Up, Baby One More Time, Wannabe, Jump, Up in Here, Empire State of Mind, Drop it Like its Hot, All the Single Ladies
I was so happy with how this evening turned out. I went into it with relatively low expectations based on the prior two nights. Not that I had a bad time, but it wasn't nearly the level of BSB antics that I felt we experienced for PJ night. The evening had all of the elements of a fantastic party. Backstreet Boys, fun costumes, drinks, friends, fan interaction, good music, activities that were enjoyable for the crowd to watch, and tons of sexual innuendos. I think my only complaint was the lighting in the room sucked for picture taking. Speaking of which, I do wonder if this night would've been as successful outside on the deck. I guess we'll never know.
Above all, a night I won't forget in a long long time.
One last thing, I want to profusely thank Chrissy and Anne Marie for letting me use their videos/pictures. Thanks gals!
Since I was in Group B- I'm going to recap Group B's game show. I still haven't decided if I'll do a version for Group A or not, I'll see how the mood strikes me later. But since the shows were quite different, there's a good chance I will. For now let's focus on Group B's In it to win It. I'll run through the boring stuff real quick and explain how the game was set up. Then we'll get into the good stuff.
This was the first event that took place in the main lounge and it was based off the TV show- Minute to Win It. So for this Backstreet version of the game show they brought up 4 fans and 4 Backstreet Boys (obviously) to participate in various challenges that each lasted one minute. They were split into 2 teams. Yellow team consisted of AJ, Howie and two lucky fans. Blue team consisted of Brian, Nick and two lucky fans.
Now for the fun stuff.
Of course the boys start off with some general antics. I wouldn't expect anything less. Brian enters in a life vest. Then they start by stretching out.
AJ- "It's like jazzercise with the Backstreet Boys."
Then the smack talk beings.
Nick- “Hey, team pee pee because of the yellow shirts. You guys are so dead.”
AJ- “Team blue balls. Whatever. Its all good. We got this.”
Nick- “Hey at least we got the cajones man.”
Then enters the voice of reason, Brian- “You know what. My wife is here.”
And Brian effectively ends the smack talk...for now.
1. Nervous Nelly - The first game was called Nervous Nelly and the goal was to see which team could rack up the most mileage, measured by pedometers worn on their arms and legs. Nick and AJ went head to head in this round. Without having even been there, you probably could guess who won. AJ isn't exactly the most in shape, as he would later point out himself joking that he "needs to quit smoking."
Howie also joked that he wanted the song "we work out" to play during this challenge. Nick also asked if anyone has seen Black Sheep before the game began. I haven't seen it, so not sure what the reference was getting at.
During the game the AJ and Nick were running around stage flailing their arms. Nick tried laying down at one point (not sure his logic there) and also tried jumping jacks. Brian tried to go hold AJs arms down at one point, thus AJ went and tried to do the same thing to Nick. Unfortunately AJ's efforts didn't pay off and the blue team won.
2. Nose Dive - This was quite the interesting game to watch. No idea who comes up with this stuff. The rules for this game was to see which team could get more cotton balls from from a bowl A to bowl B in 60 seconds only using their nose covered in petroleum jelly. So random.
Howie- “Wait, my nose never gets between balls. That’s for sure. AJ, you gotta do it”
So all the boys are running back and forth on stage with cotton balls on their nose. After time was up, Brian started arguing that the yellow team didn't technically have all their cotton balls in the bowl, they were spilling over the side. I never realized just how competitive he was before!
AJ- “I have to say for once, I’m actually glad my nose is as big as it is.”
(Picture from Justin Segura)
Oh by the way, the muppets song was playing while the game was going on, which made Nick happy. Nick and AJ started singing some muppets at the end while they were tallying up points. Winners were finally announced- yellow team ended up winning this one.
3. Orange Pass - Here's where the games started taking a turn into a more sexual direction. As the name suggests, basically you had to transport an orange from one end of the stage to the other. The twist is that each BSB was paired with a fan and they had to move the orange by keeping it in between their chins. Both teams took a different approach on how to go about this, causing the judges to want to throw this round out. Blue would've won, so Brian didn't want to redo the round. He claimed they "played betterly." Nick chimes in and repeats the rules because he felt they obeyed the rules. AJ wants the audience to vote. Jen declares it a tie. Nick starts whining that it isn't fair.
The only simple conclusion- play the round again. Now they decide to play the game as it should be played. Thus they do it relay style and pass the orange down from chin to chin to chin to chin to bowl. Blue team still doesn't get the concept and does the exact same thing as last time. Nick's solution- steal the yellow teams bowl of oranges and run away with it so they can't play. The whole thing turns into a cluster but its incredibly amusing. I don't think they ever ended up declaring a winner for this game, so moving right along...
4. Coconut Smoochie - This was the highlight of the event and all hell broke loose. Each Backstreet Boy was paired with a fan and they had a coconut placed between them and...well you know what. Just watch:
Highly entertaining to say the least
Nick and his partner ended up winning this round, giving points to the blue team. Brian can also be seen after the game juggling the coconuts, and then holding 2 coconuts inappropriately. Seriously- who is this man and what did he do with Brian?
5. Wreath Relay Pt 1/ Pt 2 - The boys started getting us in the holiday season with this event, donning their cute little Christmas hats. Once again the boys lined up, this time holding hands and the goal was to pass a Christmas wreath through all 4 people and back without using their hands (notice a theme). Before the game got started, Brian had fun serenading a tiny Christmas tree. In a high pitched voice he started singing "oh Christmas tree." The whole room was laughing, with the exception of the other Backstreet Boys. I think since they're around each other practically 24/7 they are just so unaffected by Brian's antics. Brian also starts imitating Justin Bieber, with the fake hair flip and all. I find that quite amusing. He then starts singing Jingle Bells to the tree during the yellow team's round. Then he starts making fun of AJ for clarifying the rules, so he does his imitation of AJ with no butt. Basically a lot of Brian antics this round. I was too busy laughing to actually watch the event.
Brian looking cute in his santa hat
Yellow team did relatively pretty well. Howie ended up dropping the wreath at one point. Blue team went next and they skipped a person. You could very easily see AJ and Howie making a hubbub in the background over the blue team cheating. They weren't about to let them get away with that so easily. Their complaining must've paid off because yellow team ended up winning.
6. Laundry Day Relay - This was certainly a fun one to watch. Each member of the team had to wear a bunch of articles of female clothing, run to the other side, undress, and then their teammate would do the same. Nick goofed briefly in the beginning and ran over with just 1 article of clothing on but he recovered quickly from his mistake. In the end, Brian was the only BSB who didn't have a chance to go.
I never thought I'd see Howie in a bra. AJ yes, but Howie no.
I found it most amusing to see the Backstreet Boys operate the bra. Nick actually put it on properly and even hooked up in the back. I was impressed. Though in the end he slipped it off like a pair of pants. Why he didn't go over the head, we'll never know. Howie seemed to slip it on from the back, like a jacket. And AJ seemed to know how to get it on properly as well. No surprises there.
In the end, yellow team prevailed this round.
7. Mini Bikes - Yet another fun game to watch. The players had to pedal a mini bike across the stage and back, through a few minor obstacles. They were almost going to let them carry the bikes across the stage, but Brian immediately yelled "No! No, no, no, no, no, no." as if we were trying to commit some sort of felony. Nick offered that since he is the tallest and still felt he could pedal, that they should be okay. Then the game began.
Howie fell twice. Nick fell three times and was clearly struggling. I couldn't really count AJ's mess-ups because in essence he walked his bike across the stage. And Brian rode that bike like a pro. Made me think that when he's not being a Backstreet Boy, he's practicing mini bike riding in his free time. He literally completed his whole portion in the time AJ went 2 feet. He put everyone else to shame.
Brian was also very sweet and helped his teammates steer the bike/stay on. This match was too close to call so they had the audience vote- causing the blue team to win.
8. Balloon Pop - As the name suggests, the team who could pop the most balloons in a minute would win. After Jen explains the incredibly simple rules, she states "Now lets make sure Nick understands this." Now that she pointed it out...he really did need a further explanation for the majority of the games. Meanwhile AJ got very concerned over the fact that the blue team had 2 players wearing heels and the yellow team only had 1 player with heels. Jen dismissed his concerns and the game commenced...
Brian and AJ randomly start 'wrestling' in the middle
Im pretty sure the blue team ended up winning this round.
9. Flip Cup - A college classic. However as they pointed out, not all the Backstreet Boys went to college to know their way around a flip cup game. So in case you're like any of those boys- the idea is to drink all the liquid inside a cup, in this case water, and then you have to flip the cup 180 degrees so its standing up right on the table.
Howie apparently was complaining that his water had ice in it. Though he ended up having bigger problems than the ice. It took him 21 attempts to get it flipped over. Despite Howie's set back, the yellow team took a commanding lead. So Brian thought that would be a good opportunity to cheat a bit and blow AJs cup over as he was trying to flip it over. Enter Howie to jump on top of Brian to prevent the blowing. Despite Brian's best efforts, yellow team ended up taking the win on this game.
Howie somewhere around attempt #17
The final score ended up being Team Blue with 3,375 points and Team Yellow with 3,400 points. Thus team pee pee won. The boys were good sports about it though.
Brian and AJ hugging it out
Overall this was a ton of fun to watch. They also did little commercials in between the mini games, which was a nice touch. They mostly consisted of commercials from their earlier days; a lot from overseas. Nick seemed to really be into watching those.
I'm truly surprised Brian participated in some of these events, but so glad he did. I wished they had switched up the fans in between the events to give more people a chance to play, especially since they did that for group A. Could've increased my odds ever so slightly getting a chance to do something amazing like that with them.
What I learned from this event. All the boys are very competitive. They also are willing to cheat on numerous occasions to make that happen. Many of the boys also don't know the rules to seemingly simple common knowledge games.
This was another of my favorite events of the cruise. I'm going to recap Group Bs concert, because thats the one I attended. I don't anticipate recapping Group As just because I think they were largely the same. If anyone out there in Group A wants to do a post for me unique to that concert, I'd LOVE you forever. Per usual- just email me.
I went into this concert with quite high expectations just because I knew it was going to be a surprise set list and I knew we'd hear some songs we don't normally get to hear. Even with my high expectations, the boys totally blew this one away. I'd even venture to say it is one of my favorite Backstreet concerts of all time.
Intro (Kanye West Power)
We all walked into this concert having no idea what to expect. The stage very simply just had their band set up and some Christmas lights sprinkled around the stage. No fancy props, backdrops or anything. It very practically set up, not much more than you'd see at an acoustic show. They started promptly on time and with no opening act. I really could get used to no opening act by the way. Just bring out our boys!
Incomplete (Remix)
The boys jumped right into the concert with no fancy intro or anything. No boxing rings, flying on surf boards, or jumping through screens. Which is fine, I dont need fancy intros. I just need the boys on the stage as soon as possible. Then I heard the musical intro of Incomplete but a version I had never heard before. Let me tell you, I LOVED this remix. I was too caught up in the excitement of this new version to enjoy AJs solos, which I typically love. I also thought this was quite an unexpected start to the concert, but definitely no complaints.
Larger than Life (Remix)
Before Larger than Life started up Nick asked if we had fun the night before, at the beach, and if we were ready for prom night. Lots of cheers and clapping. Then the boys did a remixed version of Larger Than Life. Very high energy. Towards the end of the song they blended a very tiny bit of 'Party Rock' with the lyric 'Everyday I'm shuffling'. Quite random, but for these singles we've all heard them sing so many times, its nice to change it up a bit.
Howie: "All I can say, you girls want some bad bad boys"
Personally I wasn't as gung ho as everyone else seemed to be about the boys singing If You Want it to be Good Girl. I enjoyed it, but mostly because its something I've never heard them sing live before. It's definitely not one of their best songs and I personally would've preferred to hear them sing something else. The boys didn't sing the full rendition of the song, they did a medley with Get Down, during which they came out into the audience. Always popular with the fans.
Inconsolable
Nothing out of the ordinary with this rendition of inconsolable so I'll just let you all enjoy the video.
After Inconsolable, Howie asks AJ when we were going to hear some of his solo stuff. Then AJ says that each of the boys will be doing some solo songs and spending some one on one time with the fans. At this point I start freaking out that I may actually get to hear AJ sing London. I kept chanting to myself "Please sing London. Please sing London. Please sing London." And then I hear those beautiful first few beats to the song and I jumped up and down with delight. Once again, I'll let the video speak for itself because I'm clearly not capable of explaining it well enough to do it justice.
After the song, the rest of the boys came back out and Nick says that he "fucking loves that song" and that he's "really jealous because its such a damn good song." He also explained when the boys first heard the song, they begged AJ for it and how they "were going to highjack it from him." This just proves that I'm not the only one who adores this song.
Helpless When she Smiles
AJ segued into this song by suggesting each Backstreet Boy bring up a girl to serenade on stage. As they went into the audience, they sang 'Everything I Do' by Bryan Adams. Very unexpected surprise. So they brought up four lucky fans and sang to them. I won't even pretend that I wasn't jealous. Who in their right mind doesn't want to be serenaded by them?
Siberia
Next on the set list was Siberia. The boys say down while they sang this song. Brian of course did his rendition singing "If you want to talk, you can email me." I'm almost starting to think these are the actual lyrics.
After Siberia the boys pointed out that Nick left the tag on his coat. I love Nick's face when he was imitating Josh. Just watch...
AJ- "But now that he took the tag off, its now Nick's personal wardrobe"
Brian's Solo- Mary Did You Know
Brian gave us a little intro to the song and told us it wasn't your average Christmas song, which was right on the money. This was probably the most touching performance by Brian I've ever seen. You could hear a pin drop throughout the entire song. In case you missed it, he actually got choked up in the middle of the song, wiped away a single tear, and took a few seconds to recompose himself before continuing to sing.
Bigger
Before the song starts up, Nick gave a shout out to all the Japanese fans in the audience because that's where they filmed the music video for that song. Then AJ revealed that Nick almost got in trouble with the Japanese mafia and AJ himself was chased down by the cops. No idea what this was about.
The boys then started talking a bit about the next cruise (woohoo!) Nick was joking they should do a Backstreet Fear Factor. Brian indicated that they wanted to do the next cruise in the summer time in order to a bit more "economical friendly" for us. Then one of my favorite Brian moments of the cruise occurred:
Brian imitating a fan, "Thank you. God bless you. Because my pockets are empty. I have my room key and some chap stick"
Then the boys deliver yet another wonderful rendition of Bigger. AJ did switch up his one lyric and sang "You are bigger....than Kevin" They always keep it interesting for us.
As Long as You Love Me
You can tell the boys didn't do the song as planned because during the instrumental part of the song, they all look around at each other confused, start laughing, and Nick lets out "I'm sorry." I assume they were going to try to do the choreographed dance for us. Truthfully I prefer these sort of unplugged moments because they make me laugh. Towards the end of the song they start heading into the audience, which was a perfect segue into the next song.
All I Have to Give
The boys went up top to sing this song, which I thought was very sweet of them. Once they made their way back to the stage, they mess up yet again and realize they were singing the wrong version of the song. They all start laughing and said they were supposed to do the hat routine but Nick sweetly asks us for a "get out of jail free card" because they were up so late the night before partying with us. Only because you asked nicely, Nick, we'll give you the get out of jail free card. They attempt to atone for their mistake and half of BSB does the hat dance:
Brian and AJ do the hat dance
I Want it That Way
This song gets voted for the best intro of the concert. After several attempts of AJ trying to explain the song and the band cutting them off, its apparent that they are about to sing I Want it That Way. Brian then asks "Can we do the little boy band thing where we shake our butts?" Nick continues to be very confused and asks which version they're doing because they've "got like three versions." More confusion unravels before the jump into the song:
Nick- "I forgot where I was."
Howie- "You're on a boat"
Even once the song has started, Nick still looks over to AJ and gestures that he doesn't know which choreography they are doing. Geez, since I actually took the time to write out this review, I realized Nick really was the culprit for messing up a lot of these songs. He's lucky he's so good looking so he can get away with it. Miraculously, by the time the chorus rolled around, they were able to figure it out and actually nailed the routine.
During Howie's part of the song, he changed up the lyrics a bit. He even added the word "Kevin" in there as well. I was anticipating that if Kevin were to come surprise us for the concert, it would be for this song but sadly he didn't.
Howie's Solo- Lie to Me
Hearing Howie sing this song really makes me want him to do a solo tour. Flawless performance. We really need to get this man some more solo parts.
Howie singing Lie to Me
Don't Want You Back
This also gets my vote for best intro to a song. You all should know by know I can never make up my mind. Okay, Nick starts off by setting us up for the song where they were "building a stage, " which obviously would've been The One. AJ cuts him off and asks if they can do the song that should've been the single, thus Don't Want You Back. Though I kind of missed the ladder-like poles they climbed on during the Into the Millennium tour. Those things were fantastic.
AJ- "No, no, no. Can we do the song that should've been the single? And the only reason why it wasn't was because you called TRL. Your fault."
Nick- "Do you understand the concept of TRL? Its voting. THEY voted for it.
AJ- "No I know it. Carson called me personally."
If I Knew Then
The most noteworthy part of this song was Nick declaring he forgot the words. I think this is Nick goof #5, though I lost track a while ago. Brian immediately came to his rescue and started singing his part. Oh Nick, I don't know what we're going to do with him.
Nick's Solo- Burning Up
Another comical intro from AJ and Nick. AJ- "Ladies, ladies, I dont know about you ladies, but I am Burning Up. I'm on fire... Nice segue."
Nick- "Just start the freakin song."
AJ- "You know what, I love you too."
You can really feel the love. The song was great though. Tons of energy in the room. And Nick's signature Burning Up dance is really growing on me.
That strut move I like goes into full effect at 1.18
Shape of My Heart
Nothing super noteworthy with this rendition. Just another beautiful version of this song.
Everybody
This is one of their singles that I will never get sick of hearing them sing live. In typical fashion, the boys ham this one up. Nick even gets them to do some of their classic choreography.
After the boys finished this song, they take their bow and leave the stage. After some chanting they finally come back out for the last song...
Drowning
This was the moment that made being in Group B all the worthwhile. Out comes all 5 Backstreet Boys. The shrieking decibel is absurdly high in the room. The highlight was Kevin singing singing his solo part. Though it was hard to actually hear him due to the screaming. Kevin really looked like he was having a good time up there and the rest of the boys welcomed him right back in. Perfect way to the end the perfect concert.
Drowning with Kevin
As I said in the beginning, I thought this was such an amazing concert. I really hope they do this format again and let the fans pick the set list in a more unplugged set up. My favorite interactions are where the boys are more themselves and not as much their stage persona.
PS- Another huge thanks to Anne Marie for letting me borrow a ton of her videos.
One of my favorite events of the trip was the sail away party because it set the tone for the rest of the cruise. So in case you missed it or want to experience the magic again, here's how it went down....
Immediately after life boat drill, girls started filling up the lido deck in anticipation of our 4 favorite men to show up. And before we knew it- Nick, Brian, Howie and AJ made their way out to the center stage on the lido deck. All the boys except for Brian gave us a nice little welcome to the cruise.
Howie started us off with some nice comments welcoming us to the second annual Backstreet Boy cruise and thanking us for coming.
Howie: "We're gonna get our drink on, our groove on, and our party on."
I still don't think Howie's statement was an adequate enough warning. Anyway, AJ and Nick were up next. First of all, AJ pointed out how they are doing all the events twice, as if its a positive thing. Yes, AJ, that would be phenomenal if the fans actually got to attend everything twice. It does me no good if I don't get to go the event twice. Grrr. Okay, rant over. AJ continued his intro and starting talking about Sphynkter night...
Nick: "I love to see AJ in tights. Its really sexy."
AJ: "Im anxious to see me in tights as well."
Nick: "His junk hangs out. Its scary."
AJ: "I'm not ashamed to put a sock in there at all."
Nick: "No a banana! Is that a banana in your pocket AJ?"
So that conversation happened. At which point I don't think Brian wanted to follow that up and they jumped right into some Backstreet tunes. From the best of my recollection and piecing together youtube videos, they played the following songs (in this order): Larger than Life, I Gotta Feeling, Living on a Prayer, Bad Girls, Poison, Party Rock, F-ck You, Billie Jean, Gimme More, Tearin' up My Heart, Everybody, Hollaback Girl, 99 Problems, Sexy and I Know It, Snoop Dogg, Thats the Way I Like It, Shining Star, Masquerade, Hey Mr. DJ, The Call. I'm sure I missed one or two and probably messed up the order a smidgen. But I did my best.
At one point a fan gives their sun glasses to the guys. Brian, Nick and then Howie start playing with them.
Howie: "I'm a Puerto Rican fly
Nick and AJs faces are equally as priceless during this stint. Nick then dedicates the song 'Bad Girls' to all the fans and ask how many bad girls there are in the audience. Everyone cheers.
When Party Rock started playing, the boys were given streamer shooters and were shooting those off inappropriately. Meanwhile Brian was running around elsewhere on the deck.
I love how AJ gets so into these streamers
So at this point it somehow turns into AJ's dedication hour starts. AJ makes his first dedication to Howie. 'Gimme More' by Britney Spears starts playing. Though Howie has a clueless look on his face and inconspicuously asks the other guys "What is this?" since he clearly doesn't know what song it is. Kinda sad that he was just on tour with the woman yet he doesn't know her latest single. Oh Howie. But I give him props for doing a quick Britney imitation dance.
The next song also from AJ goes out to Nick. The one and only 'Tearin up My Heart' starts playing. Ill let the video speak for itself because I thought it was hilarious. I totally just lost it at that point.
Nick: "I really like this song though."
During 'Everybody' Howie did some rapping as did Nick. They tried to get Q to rap, but he clearly wanted no part of that.
Brian was very monkey-like running around throughout the deck party. He was climbing on the wall kind of like Spiderman and went 'surfing' on a hand rail. I'm surprise this man doesn't get hurt more often.
AJ's dedication hour continues, this time its for Q and his security team because AJ has "99 Problems but [they] ain't one"
When Snoop Dogg started playing, Nick pointed out how Kevin looks like Snoop Dogg, "He's the white Snoop." I still let out a laugh despite it not being the first time I heard that joke. After all, they really do look alike.
Next the DJ played 'Thats the Way I Like It'. Definitely an oldy but goody, as AJ pointed out. Nick and AJ were goofing around during the song, trying to remember the old choreography. AJ seemed to remember it decently well. Though some fan threw their shoe on stage so Nick joked that they must not like AJ and his dance moves. Nick decided to interrupt AJ again to make a rather crass (in my opinion) observation. Nick pointed out "If Weird Al had a version of our song... That's the way I wipe it." And yes he turned around and motioned as well. I wasn't sure if I should laugh, be disgusted, or just grateful I had a nice view of his backside. Regardless, I won't be able to listen to that song the same way ever again.
Nick then dedicated 'Masquerade' to Brian. See video below for some unique dance moves from Nick and Brian.
Nick (referring to Brian listening to Masquerade): "He wants to throw up."
Only a few more songs and the sail away party came to an end. The boys were there for around 45 minutes in total though it felt a lot longer. Personally I thought Nick was the star of this event, or at least he seemed more engaged than usual. In my opinion he was a lot more interactive on the mic than he typically is- making a lot of jokes and doing funny dances. Howie was on the other end of the spectrum; I didn't see too much of him. But we all know that wasn't the case for the rest of the cruise.
Overall I loved the sail away party and thought it was a delightful way to start the trip. What did you all think of this event?
I already gave you a high level look at the cruise from my perspective, but now I want to dive into each event and give you a complete 360 degree look at everything that happened independent of my experiences. This is a new mini series on my blog called the ‘Unabridged Series’. Expect very thorough details. My goal is that if you went on the cruise, for you to be able to go back and relive every minute. And if you weren’t on the cruise, to make if feel like you were right there with us the whole time. Sound good? I don’t plan on doing the posts in any specific order, really just whatever strikes me at the time so I’m going to start with the beach party. Again- you've been forewarned that these will be long posts with lots of detail. I'll do my best to keep it exciting throughout.
The beach party started rather early in the morning. People started meeting at 9am to be bused over to Cable beach. Though I think ‘bused’ is probably too generous of a word. More like ‘Vanned’ over to the beach. But we did get some interesting history of the island from our driver on the way over. Apparently lots of celebrities use Nassau as a secluded vacation spot, including Chris Rock.
The van dropped us off in front of the Wyndham Nassau Resort where we were given a wristband and then escorted through the lobby and casino out back to the beach area. It had pretty much everything you needed for a fun day in the sun- a pool, several bars, lunch buffet, volleyball courts, sandy beach area, a little cove, and most importantly a stage with 5 microphones on it.
The first part of the day was just your regular day at the beach. The fun started around 1:45 when Nick, Brian, Howie and AJ finally made their way out to the main stage. Remember that some fans had been there since 9:30 waiting by the stage for the boys to show up, but keep in mind that the itinerary said the games would begin at 1:30. So even though it felt as if the boys were running on Backstreet time, technically they weren’t too bad.
The boys came exploding onto the stage with lots of energy. I felt a higher level of excitement all around with the anticipation of Kevin joining. They kicked things off by throwing bead necklaces into the audience.
Nick: "I have a question Howie- You said you had too many bahama mamas or too many bahama mamas?
The fans quickly saw Kevin making the long trek from the hotel to the stage and when he finally got there, it was such a joyous reunion. The rest of the boys were teasing us that we need to keep Kevin away from the jet skis. Not sure what that was about. But when Kevin finally made his way up on stage, he told us how nice it was to be back and asked if we had fun partying with Sphynkter the prior night. Kevin also revealed that he would be joining us later that evening for prom night in his tux. Of course girls erupted in cheers at the thought of snagging Kevin as their prom date. The 5 boys then posed for a picture. I wish they would’ve turned around for us, but at least Kev posted his picture.
Picture courtesy of Kevin
The boys gave us a bit of their personal history with Nassau. Nick divulged that the last time they were in the Bahamas was when they recorded Black & Blue. Apparently they rented a house for 3 weeks and had a lot of fun while recording. Kevin also said the first time they left the continental US was to come to the Bahamas for a performance.
Nick: "Girl, look at that Kevin. He works out."
The boys didn’t waste too much time before starting onto the games. I’ll preface by saying fans had already been selected by Rose Tours staff on who would participate in the games. AJ indicated that they would be playing twister, limbo, musical chairs, duck duck goose, and a three-legged race. He also joked he’d be setting up a kissing booth. If only he wasn’t joking. And they never did get around to duck duck goose. Probably for the best.
As the staff finished setting up the first game, AJ thanked us again for our love and support for his upcoming wedding. The boys sang ‘Im on a Boat’. Then Nick joked that he was going to leave our ship and go on the ship docked next to us for the ZZ Top cruise.
Kevin: "Was Howie a good boy last night?" Fans: "Nooo" Howie: "Oh no you didn't!"
First game on the agenda was musical chairs. So AJ called all the fans up and someone had to explain the rules to him because he admitted he didn’t know how to play due to a “deprived childhood.” Brian was the first Backstreet Boy to be eliminated during the second round, though if you take a closer look he really shouldn't have been. He was chivalrous and gave his spot to one of the fans playing. Howie was the next BSB down.
The remaining boys continued to dance their way around the chairs and some of them cheated along the way. Nick and AJ- I'm looking at you. They were going backwards, passing other people and adjusting their pace so they wouldn't get kicked out. Kevin ultimately won the game at which point Nick chimed in "Is that foreshadowing something?" Not sure if Nick really thought the statement through, but it was one of many clues that Kevin would be returning to the group.
This was my favorite round of musical chairs with Nick and AJ cheating the majority of the time
The next game on the agenda was twister. I wouldn't say much horribly exciting happened for the purposes of retelling the event.
AJ getting ready for some twister showing off those legs
Howie was the first Backstreet Boy eliminated from twister and he took on the role of commentator. Brian, AJ, and Kevin quickly followed Howie's elimination and in that order. Brian made some jokes on how the girls were conveniently trying to work their way closer to Nick. Nick eventually won the twister game.
Brian having some fun with Nick during Twister
They didn't waste any time and moved right into the limbo game next. Nick and Kevin were the official pole holders (most likely because they're the tallest of the group). I loved how the first round Howie just walked under the pole without having to bend at all. AJ danced his way under the pole every time, which was enjoyable to watch. Brian spiced things up one round and jumped over the pole. Such a rebel that one. Nick tried to get him kicked out for that maneuver but no luck there.
Howie and Brian walking under the limbo stick
AJ and Brian were eliminated from limbo mid-way through leaving Howie as the last Backstreet Boy standing. Conveniently he excels in the game where being short is an asset ;) Though in the end a fan from Holland ended up winning this game. After the official competition, Nick took his turn but ended up falling. At least he tried.
Just as the boys were about the leave the stage, they did a last minute acapella rendition of the Safest Place to Hide with Kevin. They sounded absolutely amazing.
Safest Place to Hide
They also did a seemingly impromptu wet T-shirt contest. What I personally liked about this event was that the Backstreet Boys themselves picked the fans to participate. All the girls and AJ lined up and braced themselves to be squirted with water guns by the other 4 Backstreet Boys. Of course 'Im Sexy and I Know it' was playing in the background as everyone got soaked. AJ got way too into this event and was totally hamming it up. But isn't that why we love him?
No caption can do this justice
At this point, the boys took a little break. Thus the area in front of the stage cleared out significantly. During that down time they were just relaxing, grabbing a bite to eat and some of the boys were doing pictures and autographs.
Brian signing autographs during his downtime. Such a sweetie.
After some down time the 3-legged race took place off to the side of the stage and the whole thing couldn't have lasted for more than 30 seconds. 5 lucky fans had one leg tied up to a different backstreet boy and they had to stumble their way across the beach. Brian and Kevin both took a few tumbles leaving Howie to win this event.
Three-Legged Race
After the 3-legged race, Jenn made a few announcements. The important one being that if you found a crown in your goody bag that you were a prom queen. Now you have 5 incredibly happy fans and 1,495 incredibly disappointed fans. But that was quickly forgotten when Nick told us to go meet him and AJ in the water because they would be jet skiing. I'm sure you can just imagine the crowds that started forming in the water in anticipation for AJ and Nick in the ocean. Those same crowds would also cause both Nick and AJ to leave the beach party immediately after they finished jet skiing.
AJ Jet skiing
Meanwhile Brian and Howie stuck around on the stage playing volleyball with the fans. The fans weren't too spectacular at volleying the ball, so eventually Brian decided to move the game to the actual volleyball court. Seeing as how the court was already in use, Brian and Howie just joined the group of middle aged men that were already playing. It was quite funny to hear the body guards explain to these men what was going and actually introduce them to the Backstreet Boys. Even though I could identify these 5 guys from a blurry picture of their knee, I forget that not everyone is as familiar with them as I am.
Before you know it the court was surrounded by hundreds of females. Brian and Howie joined opposing teams, and not too much later, Kevin came and played on Howie's side.
Brian playing volleyball
While I was bummed that fans didn't get a chance to play with the boys, it actually was a lot more fun to watch them play with people who could actually get a volley going. The boys were playing for a good 20-30 minutes before they were pretty much forced to leave. I think Brian would've stayed there for several more hours if he could've. He seemed to be having a lot of fun.
There you have it. Pretty much everything you could've wanted to know about the beach party and more. This was one of my favorite events of the cruise for so many reasons. The boys were there for a solid 3 hours, interacting with the fans, lots of fun games to keep us entertained, great weather, and its just such a unique way to interact with the boys that you can't get anywhere else. I can see them do concerts and meet & greets anywhere. But I can only hang out with them on the beach on a Backstreet Boy cruise. I loved every minute of this event and I think it will be very hard to outdo themselves next time.
PS- Many pictures/videos credited to Anne Marie and Chrissy. They're just better photographers/videographers than I am. Thanks a bunch!
