The days go and all I do is think of you...

**BSB Cruise 2014 Vacation**

October 24, 2014 - October 30, 2014

Miami, FL * Half Moon Cay, Bahamas * Ft. Lauderdale, FL

I have started and restarted this post several times now.  I know I'm so far behind in my writing and I want to make sure I get this post done but I keep changing my mind about how much I truly want to include in this post.  I know that I had many different experiences than others on the cruise so I definitely want to hit those points.  However, I also know that I have readers who are friends that want to read about the whole cruise experiences as a whole, while those who were on the cruise already know what happened during all of the events.  I do want to eventually hit on all of it to satisfy anyone who makes their way to this blog to read. 

So what I think that I have decided is that I will just hit on my personal experiences and how they fit into the overall cruise first.

New Friends on the Airplane
In typical Chrissy fashion, I did my travelling to and from Chicago alone.  I would just be meeting all of my friends there so I had to endure a bus ride and flight all alone.  Because of work, I had not been able to check-in for my flight the minute that I was allowed and because of this I had an awful boarding position.  But as I searched for a single window seat that might be left, I saw two people starting to wave at me with an aisle seat open.  They were fellow BSB Cruise travelers!  Apparently they had seen me in the airport with the Cruise bag from last year and had been saving me the seat.  They were first time cruisers from New Jersey (their flight from the previous day had been cancelled so that were on a lay-over in Chicago) and had plenty of questions for me as a veteran cruiser.  It made the three hour flight go much faster than it normally does and I was so happy to meet even more BSB fans before my trip even began.  So I have to give a shout-out to Brittany and Christine....I hope you girls had an amazing time.

Wylee Party

Me with the Wylee Trailer

You better believe that as a Brian Littrell and Wylee fan that I was going to be attending the Wylee Party before the cruise.  I was even one of the winners for the contest to win a ride in the Wylee Hummer to the party.  While I was super excited about this ride, several things happened before the party that made me begin to think that my vacation as a whole was not going to go well.  First, my cruise roommate, Cory, and I walked to the hotel in which we were going to be picked up in the Hummer.  A half mile into the mile and a half walk, it started to pour down rain on us.  The drowned rat look is always what a fan girl wants before seeing her celebrity love.  Then, the Hummer was an hour and a half late to pick up the first group of winner.  Brian was driving the Hummer but not everyone could fit.  When the Hummer came back for the second and third group, Brian was no longer driving.  I didn't think this was fair at all.  I hadn't even expected him to drive even one group but it was a nice surprise when he did show up for that first time.  Then that high feeling crashed quickly when he wasn't there for the next round.  I was in the last group to go and we weren't even picked up until 7:30....the party started at 6:00.  So while, I got the privilege of riding in the Hummer, it wasn't much of a prize at all in the end.  I missed half of the party and when we got there I was terribly afraid that I was not going to get a chance to shop AND get a photo with Brian since there was only an hour left in the party and it was still incredibly crowded. 

Cory and I took the chance to shop for Wylee merchandise first after waiting in line for Brian for a good 20 minutes or so based on the word of some guy that approached us (I think he might have been a Wylee person) and said that he would guarantee that we would still get our photo with Brian after we shop.  My worst fear was that by the time we finished shopping, Brian would be done with photos.  My anxiety was sky high by this point.  But, I shopped and I found two items that I loved (I never leave a Wylee party without buying something).  And that is when another misfortune occurred.  As I went to pay for my merchandise, I realized that I had left my debit card back in the hotel room.  I wanted to cry.  Luckily, I had transferred my cash over to my purse and by getting an additional $5 from Cory, I was able to pay for my merchandise.  I now had $0 in cash to my name for the rest of the trip that included the cruise and a two day stay in Ft. Lauderdale (other than the cash that was already set aside for specific things like transportation, tips, etc.).  I figured things could only get better because next I was going to get my Brian photo - more importantly I was going to get my Brian hug.

Me with Drew

The line had definitely gone down but we still had a bit of a wait.  And just when I thought things could only get better, I dropped my brand new, three hundred fifty dollar camera.  I couldn't quite tell if it was okay at that point and really by that point, I just kind of wanted to give up on everything.  And then we got to the front of the line and Brian was within eye sight.  it doesn't matter how many times I meet the guy, my heart starts to flutter and my stomach gets into all kinds of knots.  But first, I had to talk to my favorite body guard, Drew, and get my photo with him.

And when it was finally my turn to get that amazing Brian hug, I did not want to let go.  I mentioned what a bad day I had been having to him and that I needed to just hug him.  I already thought Brian Littrell hugs were amazing but I cannot put into words just how beyond amazing the hug he gave me then was.  He just stood there and squeezed me for the longest time.  And I cannot thank Cory enough for the photo she got of this hug.  You can just see by the look on his face just how one of a kind this hug was.

Hugs from Brian

Even if I would not have gotten an "official" photo at that point, I would have been happy.  All I had wanted was to see him, get that Brian hug, and speak with him.  He did compliment me on my shirt (Wylee of course) and we took our typical huggie pose photo.

Me with Brian

Me with Leighanne

After I finally got my photo with Brian, I got a chance to talk to Leighanne for a bit too, even though the party was supposed to have been over by then.  I told her what a bad day I had been having and even started tearing up a bit.  I was just an emotional mess by that point because of the mixture of feelings between the bad day I had been having and the incredibly good interaction with Brian, I had just had.  This was not exactly the way I had wanted to start my vacation and I hoped it wasn't a sign to how the rest of the trip would go.

Day 1

Getting ready to board

Day 1 was a bit different then the last few years because our group was split up a bit.  I didn't like not being with everybody as we boarded the ship.  Some of the girls had to drive down to Florida from Delaware and didn't get there until we had already boarded.  Part of the group was on the other side of the port terminal because they would be boarding with those with accommodations due to some medical issues she had been having.  While our whole group wasn't together, I was with some girls I knew well and some new girls that I would hang out with for a large portion of the trip.

While waiting, we checked out our goody bags and saw that there was something new this year...a Scavenger Hunt!  Each cabin was to pick one of the guys and follow the clues to win a personal event with that guy.  Well, you all know that I would have normally been all over that Brian scavenger hunt.  But, my cruise roommate, Cory, is an AJ girl and because she is a single mother of two and lives in Oklahoma where the guys rarely go, I decided it would be nice to do the AJ portion of the scavenger hunt for her.

Winning AJ Scavenger Hunt

After reading the first clue, we knew exactly where we had to go once we got on the ship.  Since we had been one of the first one to the port and knew exactly where to station ourselves to be a part of the first group on the ship, we were able to find the first clue before anyone else did.  You can see more specifics about the scavenger hunt in my AJ Scavenger Hunt post.  It took some time, following some fake clues, walking right past two Backstreet Boys (Howie and Nick) and giving up on photo opportunities, searching for clues in the rain, and some help from some friends, but in the end, Cory and I ended up winning the AJ Scavenger Hunt!!!!  When we got our notice that our event would be Sunday, we had no idea what we would be doing with him but knowing we were going to have a personal interaction with him made us very excited.  It was a huge turn around from the very bad day before.

So close to photo with Nick

The sail away party was pretty uneventful for me for the most part.  I was very close to getting a photo with Nick though even though I could just tell how over taking photos he was as he made his way on our floor (1st floor overlooking the atrium).  Because he was so over taking the photos, I'm not sure I would have liked how the photo turned out.  But, it is such a rarity to get photos with Nick that I had to try.

I wasn't sure what to expect with the BSB Loves the 90s game show but I was overall pleased with it.  I think the Boys just had fun with it based on the dancing and talking they were doing.  I love it when events like this can just show the casual side of the guys.  While this is work for them, you can tell that they are just having fun with one another.  I believe it gives us a brief glimpse into how they might interact with one another when no one else is around.  You can view all my videos from the cruise on my YouTube page but some of my favorite moments are below:

We found out at the game show that our itinerary would have to be changed because of the weather in the Bahamas.  Now, everything on Saturday would be on Sunday and vice versa.  Cory and I also figured this would mean that our AJ event would be changed from Saturday to Sunday, as well. 

70s Night

The first night was the "Get Down" Studio 54 Party and it had to take place in the Atrium because of the weather.  The last time a deck party had to take place in the atrium, it was the best deck part of all time (PDA Pajama Jam Night - BSB Cruise 2011).  This one, not so much.  Overall, it was pretty uneventful. 

It was nice because we were able to stand next to the handicapped section where my friend and her roommate was so we weren't separate from them like we were a lot of the other events during the cruise.  AJ did happen to make it to that section to take photos so because of where we were, I was able to get one as well.

Me with AJ - 70s Night

Me with Jodi - 70s Night

As is tradition, once the deck party started to die down, our group made our way to the pizza and waited in the long line.  While waiting, I saw Jodi (good friend to Brian and Leighanne) waiting in line, as well.  I had seen her the previous day at the Wylee Party but had not been able to get a photo with her.  I took my chance here.  Jodi is always so super nice and I love running into her around the ship.

Bed time this evening was an early 3:45am. 






Day 2
While we had started putting our door decoration up earlier in the previous day, we had not been able to finish since we had spent the biggest majority of when we boarded doing the scavenger hunt.  So we finished putting up our door decoration the first thing the next morning before we had to get to our group photos.

So, the idea behind our door decoration came to me in February during one of my very restless nights.  That night my mind could not stop thinking about all of the songs that the Backstreet Boys have that mean something to me or that can be helpful when I am in certain moods.  I started to wonder what these songs might mean to others out there, as well.  So, the idea came to me to display the lyrics to every single one of their songs somehow.  I came up with the idea to have each song written on a CD and then to hang these strands of CDs from the ceiling around our door.  As you can imagine, it took some time to handwrite the lyrics to 250 songs that were recorded as a group, solo, or collaboration.  We also left some blank CDs on the door so that fellow fans could share their favorite/most meaningful lyrics with us. 

 

 

Door Decoration

 

Usually our photos are done on the last day of the cruise but because of the change in itinerary, they were now going to be on the second day.  Usually when I am standing in line waiting for my photo, there is a feeling of sadness because I know it is the last day.  When that feeling started coming across on this day, I had to remind myself that I still had a whole day left after this day was over.  Once that feeling passed, the nervousness that usually occurs when I'm about to see them kicked in.  I've lost track at how many times I've actually met the guys, especially Brian.  However, it never fails that I become a hot mess as I am waiting in that line.  A million questions start to go through my mind.  Do they remember me?  What am I going to say to them?  Am I going to sound like an idiot when I talk to them?  Part of the problem when a fan meets them like this is that there is so little time to say anything to them that a fan has to make it count in the few seconds that she is actually with them.  Then there is mixed with that the fact that I just feel like a teenage girl when I see them and my heart starts to race and I get butterflies in my stomach.  I know that I am about to see my first loves and that transports me to the 14 year old I was when I first became a fan.

The truth is that I never know what to say to Howie, AJ, or Nick....ever..... because I just don't ever feel like I have anything in common with them like I do Brian and Kevin.  At least this time I was able to tell AJ that I would be seeing him later that day because my cabin won the scavenger hunt prize for him.  He seemed very excited about it.  I just told Nick and Howie that it was good to see them again.  As I hugged Kevin, I asked him if he thought there was any chance Kentucky could beat Mississippi State that day but I moved onto hugging Brian before he could answer.  Then, I was in the arms of Brian Littrell, which is seriously one of the best feelings in the world.  He complimented me on my dress (I was wearing Wylee of course) and when he went to stand for a normal photo, I explained that we were doing huggy pose.  The I felt his face right up next to mine and all was right with the world.  He always makes sure he's right up against me when we do that pose.  Then Kevin turned to me and told me that he thought Kentucky could beat Mississippi State as long as they played well.  It made me so happy that Kevin had made the effort to answer my question even though several moments had passed.  I hope that he realized that I was a true Kentucky fan since I was able to actually talk about a specific team, rather than just one of those fans that just wear Kentucky to get the attention of Brian or Kevin.  While I always get extra attention because I wear UK gear, I wear it because I am a die hard fan.

Overall, I like our photo....except for the fact that AJ failed at the huggy pose.  There is always one that always seems to get it wrong.  But I'm really close to Brian and it makes for a great cropped photo too. 

 

Official Group Photo

Waiting for "Don't Forget the Lyrics"

After our photo, several of us decided to grab a good spot next to the stage for the "Don't Forget the Lyrics" event....even though some of us were a tad bit hungry and probably should have eaten first.  Luckily, we were brought a plate of hot dogs by one of the girl's mom and that was enough to hold us over until the event was over.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this event.  Would they be singing other people's songs?  Or would they be singing those songs of their own that Nick usually has to Google during sound checks?  Would fans play?  Or would it just be the guys?  While, I have been on four of these cruises now, there are always questions going into new events like this.  In the end, it was a good event overall.  It was a play on the karaoke they did the first two years (that we were all kind of over after the second one) but the guys were more involved in this since they were actually singing and competing against fans.  However, where we were standing, we could really only see two of the guys when they were sitting down because we either had the pole for the stage in the way or the TV screen they were using for the words.  Still, there were some priceless moments like....

Howie attempting "Let It Go" and even though he has children, not knowing the words at all (he got some help from AJ and Brian)...

 

 

Brian having to sing that other boy band that I refuse to name and confirming what we all already know about the group...

I was kind of disappointed because this was the only time Brian got to sing during this game and it was so short.  And he's the band member that really knows the words to EVERYTHING.  I really would have liked to see him get another shot at another song.

Then, there was Howie doing a great impression of Enrique Iglesias...

Then we got some Kevin love right in front of us on the cat walk...

 



Backstreet Cutout

After this event, it was time for us to get ready for our private AJ event!!!!  If I thought I had been a mess earlier in the day with the group photo, I was wrong.  It was nothing compared to what I was feeling as I was getting ready for that event.  Cory and I were about to have some real quality time with one of the Backstreet Boys!  I had not planned on this happening at all when I had packed for the cruise.  What was I going to wear?  Cory and I decided to wear our tank tops that we had on when we had boarded the ship because we thought he would get a kick out of them.  Then after some photos with the cardboard cut outs (before they were stolen by some eager fans), we started our wait at the Atrium Bar with the winners of the Howie event (who were to meet there at the same time as us).



Winners!



The time that the staff member was supposed to meet us came and went.  After 15 or 20 minutes of waiting, we made a visit to the hospitality desk and found out that our event hadn't been changed like we assumed when everything else had been changed.  Our event was still going to be the next day but they did not have a specific time for us.  This news was pretty disappointing but in a way I was relieved.  I had been afraid that we would get our event with AJ and it was going to be such a great experience that the rest of the cruise wouldn't be able to compare to the experience.  By moving our event to the last day, this would help circumvent that situation.

Our dinner group for the second night was much smaller because three of our girls had won the scavenger hunt with Kevin (we were a very lucky group this cruise) and were at his event the same time dinner was occurring.  I will say, it was a good thing that I had changed back into my Wylee dress I had worn earlier for the group photos (the fabric she uses for her clothing is amazingly easy to clean and is great for travel) because one of the girls threw her wine at me!  Really it was that the boat happened to sway at just the right moment as she was holding it to drink.  Still, I like to remind her how she just threw her wine all over me that night.  Now, I probably would have been a bit more upset if it had been a red wine, instead of a white wine since it was the Wylee dress I had just bought two days earlier.

Then it was time for our concert!  I cannot even begin to explain how amazing this concert was.  I would say it is probably in my list of top 5 Backstreet shows to which I have ever been.  What made it so wonderful?  Everything.  They sang songs that I have never gotten to see live...I've only seen in videos.  They sang songs off of the "This Is Us" album, which many fans thought they would never see live again once Kevin came back since he was not with the group during the recording of that album.  The show was more informal so the guys kind of each just did their own thing and did not have to worry about certain choreography, although some old school stuff was still pulled out every now and then.  Each guy was able to introduce different songs and different parts of the show so its always funny to see what they come up with for their part.  I would have to say that Kevin's introduction to "Straight Through My Heart" was the best.  They sang a cappella.  Brian waved at me twice and pointed out my Halloween costume.  It was just an amazing show.  I got pretty much everything on video that is not normally seen during the regular In A World Like This tour.

Halloween Night

It was then time for the Halloween Deck Party.  We had no idea what those boys had up their sleeves for this deck party.  Let's just say when they did come out onto the stage, I could not believe my eyes when I saw the Wicked Witch, the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion come out onto stage.  All that was left was Dorothy and Nick wasn't on stage yet.  Nick Carter was NOT going to be Dorothy?!?!?!?!  And then there he was in that blue dress with a basket carrying Toto.  I could not stop laughing.  It was so good! 

Then it started raining a bit.  It wasn't enough to really keep me from leaving the party.  Because I didn't I got to see this...

I mean who would have imagined when they first became a fan that Nick Carter would be singing and dancing to a song like that dressed as Dorothy.  It just makes me laugh everytime I hear the song now because I just picture the above.

Then, it REALLY started raining on us....

Soaking Wet Baseball Player
 

It looked like they were going to be setting up to continue the deck party in the atrium once it really started to rain so I hung out there for a bit.  I was soaking wet from being out in that rain.  But I didn't even really care.  I mean, I was on vacation, on a ship with my favorite guys and my favorite girls!  When it looked like the party was done for the evening, I headed back to the cabin.  The beach party was the next morning and we had to be up early to catch the tenders to the island.







Day 3

Me with Julie

Day 3 meant beach day.  I was so used to being on the beach on the second day that I had to keep reminding myself that this was actually the last day of the cruise.  But I had my AJ event to look forward to in wrapping up the whole great trip.  The beach party was pretty typical for the most part.  The guys came, they played games (some new and some old), and then they kind of all went their separate ways to do their own things.  I did actually finally get to meet a new Instagram friend in person so that was awesome.  Julie, from Germany, it was so great to finally meet you! 
 

So close to being picked

We were once again lucky enough to get a spot right in the middle so that when they split the audience down the middle to play games on the beach, we had a front row spot to see everything.  And when it appeared that there were not enough girls for the game and Brian started to look to pick someone, he looked right at me.  I so thought he was going to pick me!!!!  But, I guess one can only have so much luck on a Backstreet cruise, as he went down the line and chose someone else.  Can I say how excited it made me that he was wearing a UK hat though during that beach party???  Probably way more excited than I should have been. 

During the games on the beach, Nick was literally laying right in front of me.  Brian was just off on the other side.  I thought it was a perfect opportunity for some "beach selfies."

Me with AJ

After the games, the guys all kind of dispersed.  A couple ran into the water so the crowd followed them.  That meant that when AJ went back to the stage area, an opening became available for us to stand in case he came around to take photos.  He did and I got one....or so I thought.  Apparently, either there was user malfunction or camera malfunction but when I went to go look at the photo, it wasn't there!  I had never had this happen to me before where I have gotten a photo opportunity but no photo to show for it.  Thank goodness for friends because they were able to at least capture photos of me "taking" the photo.  At least it is a different type of photo than the typical selfie.

Volleyball with Nick

I was hoping Brian would make his way out but when he didn't, we decided it was time for us to get back to the ship to prepare for our AJ event.  Then, on the way out we saw that Brian and Nick and snuck off to play volleyball and there wasn't a very large crowd there.  It has been my dream since that very first cruise in 2010 to play volleyball with Brian.  Here was my chance.  I got in line but was actually on Nick's team.  That was fine with me...I was playing volleyball with two Backstreet Boys.  When I stepped out onto the court, Nick made a comment that it looked like he had girls who looked like they knew how to play.  I told him he was looking at Miss Volleyball 2002.  He seemed very excited about that as he high fived me.  I did not live up to my bragging rights though.  I was so nervous that I didn't return a single ball that was hit to me.  And the one time I was able to serve, I didn't make it over the net.  Granted, I had no warm up time and my shoulder has been bothering me for about the past year....still.  When I did serve though, Nick basically yelled out saying what a good form I had and that I really did know what I was doing.  So that made it better. 

We basically got our butts handed to us by Brian's team very quickly, which meant that I wasn't on the court for very long with Nick.  But, as soon as the game was done, I headed over to Brian's side for a hug from him.  I didn't even like high five or hug Nick again before I ran right to Brian.  I'm so awful!  Anyway, I asked Brian for a hug and he happily obliged and told me it was good to see me again.  I always love hearing those words from Brian's mouth.  I should have had us turn really quickly for a photo because Laura was right there with two cameras.  When a fan is around the Backstreet Boys though, we don't always think clearly.  At least Laura got the photo of us going in for the hug.

More Brian Hugs

 

 

Lucky Volleyball Girls

Cory and I were ready to leave so we could get ready for our AJ event but some other girls in our group decided to play volleyball after us.  We had to stick around to support them.  Once they were done, we headed back to the tenders to get onto the ship.  I found out once we got back to the ship that once Nick had left volleyball the crowd had cleared out a bit and Brian took a photo with every single person that stayed at that volleyball court.  Dang it!  This is one reason why Backstreet cruises can be so difficult especially when the Boys aren't together.  When do you leave an event?  With which guy do you wait in line for to try to snap a photo?  We had made the decision to leave for AJ and in the process missed the opportunity with Brian.  You better believe I'm kicking myself for that.  I can never have too many photos with Brian!

Half Moon Cay

 At some point we went to the Lido buffet to eat.  It must have been after we got back from the beach party and changed but before our AJ event because I was wearing my yellow Wylee tank when Brian and Leighanne walked by after eating and Brian complimented what I was wearing.  I love how he supports his wife's business by always addressing the fact when I am wearing Wylee.

The next part of the day was essentially freaking out about getting ready for our AJ event and the actual event itself.  Again, I've reviewed the actual scavenger hunt in an AJ Scavenger Hunt post so head there if you didn't read it yet.  Because I've already reviewed it, I'm not going to type everything here again.  I'll just give you some brief details.  Our event was having coffee with him in the coffee shop.  He ordered what seemed like everything on the menu, we ate off the same piece of carrot cake, we talked about cruising, recording albums, the concert the previous night, his jewelry line, his clothing line he will be making, his obsession with Friends, touring, and many other things.  We seemed to jump from one topic to another easily and AJ didn't have a filter when it came to some topics.  It truly was an amazing experience that I will never forget.  It was an experience that I thought I would never have, especially with AJ.  I just never pictured me having the opportunity to have an event like this because I'm always so focused on Brian.  But, it was amazing getting to know a Backstreet Boy other than Brian on a level like we got to know AJ with this event.  I was asked after this even if this made AJ move up my list at all.  I think he is still in the 4th spot, but he is much closer now to that spot above him. 

Me with AJ

Scavenger Hunt Winners with AJ

 



When the event was over, AJ left with his coffee but left his milkshake sitting there on the table.  We may or may not have taken it with us and may or may not have drank out of it as well.





Who's Milkshake????



Because of our event, we were slightly late getting to the Show 'Em What You're Made Of documentary preview.  We missed about half of the preview but the part that I did see had me in tears, much like the rest of the venue.  Several of my friends have already seen the documentary and have told me especially to bring tissues.  I cannot wait to see it when it comes out in January.

 

More celebration

Celebration

On the last night at dinner we celebrated what a great trip it had been and just how lucky our group had been this cruise with a few toasts.  At our table, we had the girls that had won the AJ, Howie, and Kevin scavenger hunts.  We had two girls who had won the chance to play Blackjack with Howie in the Blackjack tournament.  We had one girl who got chosen to play one of the games at the beach party and had been paired with her favorite Backstreet Boy, Nick.  Two of us had gotten to play volleyball with Nick and Brian.  It was finally our year.  We had all gotten selfies with at least one Backstreet Boy.

The Luckiest Table on the Cruise

 

 



The last night at dinner can always be difficult because all that is left is the last deck party of the evening.  One of my major dislikes of the cruise is that there is no real goodbye on that last night.  While there is a deck party, the Boys tend to just kind of disappear at the end of the night like they do at every other deck party, without really saying goodbye.

Brittany, Me, Christine

As I dressed for the ABC (Anything But Clothes) Deck Party that night, that sadness of knowing it was almost over hit me.  We wanted to get a good spot for this deck party because we could only imagine what these boys would be wearing...or not wearing.  I was able to incorporate the University of Kentucky into another theme outfit by making a dress out of a UK shower curtain.  Once out on the deck, I realized that I had forgotten my new UK earrings and made my way back to the cabin.  On the way back, I ran into my new Jersey friends and made sure to get a photo with them.  They seemed like they were having an amazing time on their first cruise.

I also had an interesting run-in with a Rose Tours staff member.  he noticed my UK themed outfit and we chatted about the fact that it was a shower curtain and not a flag like he had originally thought.  I showed him how it was even connected in the back with shower curtain rings.  He then asked how many people were in my group as he pulled VIP bracelets out of his back pocket.  Score!  I got four bands for the four girls that were with me at the deck party.  However, as I made my way back to the deck, I debated whether or not I was really going to use it.  The previous year, Laura and I had received VIP bracelets for the Halloween night.  We had been in the VIP section when the guys had come out in their Village People costumes and had not seen a thing because we had been all the way in the back hoping that they were going to come out on the top balcony and not the center stage.  The guys had also not come to the VIP section when I had been up there.  I did not want a repeat of that this year.  However, I also didn't want to be down on the Lido deck if they did go up there and I couldn't get up there because it was too crowded.  I had to make a choice and I decided to head to the VIP section before it got way too crowded.  Because I was one of the first up there, I was able to get a great spot to watch the deck party from.  I didn't have to deal with people in my way and had a great view.  My photos were even better from there then if I would have been on the actual deck.  While I wasn't super close, I wasn't dissatisfied with my spot.  Overall, their themed outfits weren't as risqué as I thought they might be but I still enjoyed them.  Nick had used the luggage mat that goes on the bed, Brian had used Priority Shipping envelopes, Howie had used Hershey Kisses, AJ had used popcorn and candy boxes to become a walking concession stand, and Kevin became everyone's lost luggage.

While I was pretty content where I was standing in the VIP section, I shouldn't have been.  AJ had been taking photos just on the other side of the VIP barrier.  I had seen the line form and he was there for what seemed like forever.  Probably because it was a nice orderly line and people weren't being crazy.  However, I did not take the chance.  I also saw a line forming on the balcony on the other side of the ship.  At first I thought it was Brian but found out it was Kevin.  It took me some time to make the decision to get in line because I figured by the time I got over there, he would be gone.  Eventually I made my way over into the line and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  I was about 10 people away from getting my photo with Kevin when he decided it was time to stop and go to bed.  I was SO close!!!!  If I just would have made the decision even 10 minutes earlier to get in line, I would have gotten a photo.  What really made me upset was that there were two girls off to the side who had not been waiting in line that stopped Kevin and proceeded to take about 10 photos each with him.  They just kept snapping photos.  That upset me because he could have taken that many more photos in the line in which people had been waiting and gotten through more people by not taking all of those photos with two girls who hadn't sacrificed their time to wait.  Oh well, that's the way it is in the Backstreet world.

Once Kevin went to bed it appeared there were no Backstreet Boys left.  Then I saw Howie partying in the Rose Tours area.  There appeared to be a lot of people around him but I assumed they were Rose Tours people celebrating the end of a successful cruise.  Then I realized that they had moved the fan VIP section over and it was all of the VIP people that were over there.  Boy was I there in a heartbeat.  Now, keep in mind that even though I had gotten VIP writ bands for my three friends, not one of them really used it so I was pretty much by myself the whole night.  Not the ideal situation but I guess that was my choice.  Howie must have pretty much taken photos with everyone there already because he was just kind of dancing around with no girls swarming him.  We had free access to alcohol and many girls were taking advantage of that.  I pretty much just got my photo with Howie and Mike (Nick's bodyguard) and then got out of there.  I didn't know anyone and I wasn't drinking so just kind of sitting there wasn't much fun.

Partying with Howie in the VIP

Me with Mike in the VIP

And that really marked the end of the cruise.  I spent the rest of the late night taking down the door decoration and packing.  That's always the saddest part of the trip because you then know it is truly over.  I did see the guys debarking the ship the next morning which was kind of nice because I got to see them one last time.  So the cruise was officially over but the vacation was not.  I still had two days of relaxation in Ft. Lauderdale with some of the girls.

View from hotel room

We had learned a very valuable lesson last year...taking a post cruise vacation was the way to go.  It extended the trip and allowed us to relax with one another.  Instead of heading our own separate ways and each of us slipping into our post-cruise depression, we got to talk about the cruise with one another in person and relive the entire cruise and our favorite parts as we floated in the lazy river of our hotel next to the beach.  We had decided it was a must do again.  This time, instead of nine girls, we were only going to have five.  Then, two of the girls had to cancel at the last minute on us so we were down to three.  It wasn't exactly what I had in mind but I was still going to get some much needed rest and relaxation with some good friends.

Our Limo

Riding in Style

We had originally just ordered a van from a local limo company.  When I received the call that our driver was there and he would be pulling up in a limo, I was surprised.  The good luck we had maintained on the cruise was going to continue!  With the way things had been going, I halfway expected one of the Backstreet Boys to be staying at the same hotel for some much needed relaxation as well.  It didn't happen but it's still nice to dream. 

Last night together

This post cruise vacation wasn't quite the same as last year's.  Two of the three of us were sick and the third ended up getting sick as well.  We didn't float in the lazy river nearly as much as last year and with there only being three of us, there weren't nearly as many stories to tell from the cruise.  However, sitting out in the Florida sun still made it very much well worth it.  We also had a very nice dinner on the hotel patio overlooking the beach on the last night.  It was a fantastic setting and there was great food. 

Sunrise

Once again, we had to leave much too early on our last morning to head to the airport for our flights.  Seeing the sun rise was a great way to end the trip.  The only problem was that I didn't want the trip to end. 

Even though the post--cruise vacation wasn't quite the same, I would do it again in a heartbeat! 







Title Credit - "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" - Backstreet Boys - Backstreet Boys

Give me a moment of your time....

**AJ Scavenger Hunt**

BSB Cruise 2014

October 24-26, 2014

 

Anybody who has followed the link to my blog from this blog knows that I am a huge Brian Littrell fan.  But what happens when each cabin only had to choose one guy when we were presented with the Backstreet Boys Scavenger Hunt and I was rooming with an AJ fan?  What do you do when that AJ fan is a single mother of two young girls and rarely gets to attend Backstreet events because she lives in Oklahoma where the Boys never visit?  The answer is simple…we go for the AJ clues in the Scavenger Hunt! 

Actually, my roommate (Cory) and I read all of the clues first to see which might be the easiest to find.  We knew right away where the first clues for all five guys would be hidden and we decided we would, in fact, go for the AJ clues.  We had no idea how this Scavenger Hunt was actually going to work.  Would there only be one clue when we got to the destination so whoever found it first would actually be pretty much guaranteed the win if they found all of the clues?  Or would there be several clues so that multiple people would have to battle for the prize?  We had no idea and we didn’t want to waste any time once we got on the ship to start looking for these clues in case there was only one clue.

Our first clue read:

“Clue #1 - We all know AJ is covered in body art.  Since the ship knew we were coming they wanted to honor him and display a picture close to his heart.  Find this piece of artwork and you could be the one to make AJ twerk.”

We knew that where we had to go to find this clue was right there when the ship is first boarded and we were lucky that we were one of the first groups to board the ship.  As soon as we boarded, we headed to where the first clue was placed.  However, we didn’t see the clue at first.  It wasn’t until a second sweep around the location that I spotted the “picture close to his heart.”  And underneath that picture….an envelope with the Rose Tours logo!  We quickly opened it up and read the second clue:

“Clue #2 - AJ loves to bet and roll the dice and some may call it a vice but it is really one of his special trades.  You will find the next clue on his favorite card the Ace of Spades.”

We took off to where we knew the next clue would be.  We later found out that we were able to take the whole first clue and not just the envelope.  When we went back to see if the “picture close to his heart” was still there, we were disappointed to see that it had been taken.  I guess we weren’t sure if the envelopes would be replenished or not as people came to find the clue and we wanted to waste no time in case they were and we weren’t the first to find one of these said envelopes.  We even walked right past Howie going up the stairs to our next location.  It would have been the perfect time for photos but all we did was say “hi” and just kept on going.  We wanted that one on one experience with AJ.



Big Bird is resting after a
difficult morning of
scavenger hunting

We knew exactly where we needed to head for the next clue and went straight there with all of our luggage still in hand.  We weren’t going to waste anytime going to our cabin first to drop it off or to eat lunch even though my tummy was rumbling.  We started searching the next location and there appeared to be a Carnival staff meeting occurring as we were searching.  One of the staff members saw that we appeared to be looking for something so he asked if he could help us.  We explained that we were doing a scavenger hunt and showed him the clue.  The staff member went into a Carnival Office and came back out with an Ace of Spades and a stuffed Big Bird.  He gave us the Ace of Spades and told us that the Big Bird was our next clue.  Well that clue was a bit more vague than the previous two clues but we immediately associated the toy with children.  We knew that there were several children’s clubs around the ship and suspected that was where we were going to find the next clue.  Truthfully, we had no idea how many clues there were total for each guy and how much longer we would be searching.  For all we knew, there were twenty more clues we still had to find. 

As we were walking to the first location to find the next clue, we walked right by the arcade where we just so happened to notice a slew of Big Birds just like ours in one of those claw machines.  It seemed like as good of a place as any to start our search for this next clue.  We searched all over that arcade with no luck.  Maybe it was in one of the kid’s clubs after all.  There were three of them on the ship due to each of them serving a different age group.  We looked in the first and found out that because there were really no children on this cruise, these rooms were being used as storage space for Rose Tours.  While trying to find the second kid’s area (or maybe it was the third, I don’t remember now), we somehow ended up in the Spa area.  And who was standing there?  Mr. Nick Carter.  There was not another single fan around and it would have been a perfect time to get that elusive photo with him that everyone attempts to get on the cruise.  But, we continued on with our scavenger hunt search instead.  After finding nothing in the second and third kid’s areas we made our way to the back of the ship and the water slides.  Nothing there.  We rechecked the arcade where we originally saw the Big Birds but nothing had changed…there was still no clue there.

That was when we decided to head back to the original location that Clue #2 had led us.  On the way, we ran into the Rose Tours staff member who seemed to be in charge of the Scavenger Hunt.  After we showed her what we were given as the next clue, we discovered that these were fake clues!  The Carnival staff members had nothing to do with this Scavenger Hunt so this staff member that gave us Big Bird had sent us on a wild chase to search for non-existent clues!  I was really afraid by that point that someone else had happened to stumble upon the real Ace of Spades we were supposed to have been searching for this entire time, especially since we searched and we searched and we could not find anything.  Apparently, fellow cruisers that walked by picked up on the fact that we were looking for something and they decided to do some looking of their own, even though we found out that they had no clues of their own to have had led them there.  It was at that point that we figured out that there was really only one set of clues for each guy and as long as we could find all of them, we were going to have a special event with AJ.  I can’t even tell you how long we spent at that location looking for that clue.  I think we even gave up a time or two and just left the location because we were frustrated.  We were getting tired of carrying our luggage around so we decided to take a break and drop our stuff off in our room. 

It must have been much easier to search for clues without our stuff in tow because once we returned to the location, Cory found that dang Ace of Spades card!  Attached to it was an envelope with our next clue:

“Clue #3 – You are well on your way to winning but now let’s take a break and maybe grab something hot to drink.  Just relax and maybe you will even find some new FRIENDS, you never know!”

We knew where to go right away and made our way there.  This new location was much smaller than the last so we thought we would have a much easier job of finding this next clue.  However, there were more people in this much smaller place than in the last and we wanted to be careful with how we approached our search.  The clue wasn’t anywhere obvious so when we started to lift chairs to look under, we were given strange looks and asked what we were doing.  We were truthful and explained that we were looking for the next clue for AJ’s Scavenger Hunt.  Once again, we couldn’t find the clue. 

Cory and I were taking a moment to rethink the clue when we were approached by Laura and her cabin mates.  They told us the exciting news that they had just won the prize for Kevin’s Scavenger Hunt!  Because they were already done with theirs, we figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask for some help in completing ours.  And it is a good thing we did because I’m pretty sure Ana found the clue in the first place she looked.  So now it was time to open the envelope and find out where we were going to be sent next…. 

“Clue #4 – Last year AJ was so excited for this event but the rain caused it to FLOP.  Go where the event was supposed to be held and look for the sign from it and the final clue will be on top.  You might want to get close but be careful not to fall in.”



the sign after we met him and he signed
it for me

My first thought was, “Is this clue really where I think it is?  Where pretty much everyone on the ship is right now eating or getting ready for sail away?  It has to be long gone by now!”  So we went outside in the rain and attempted looking for the clue.  There were so many places it could be hiding.  Were we looking for a sign specifically from AJ’s Belly Flop event or were we looking for a sign for the location that the event was supposed to occur?  And then Laura pulled through for us!  The sign for AJ’s Belly Flop competition with a soaking wet envelope attached to it.

Because of how wet the envelope was, we took the greatest care in opening it so that whatever was inside it would not be destroyed.  Based on the number of clues that the Kevin group had received, this envelope was supposed to be the announcement that we had won the prize.  Sure enough…

 

We WIN!!!!

We had won!!!!!!!!!!  The trip hadn’t even officially started yet and we were guaranteed a personal event with one of the guys!  And we were the only ones that were going to get this prize for AJ.  We went to the hospitality desk and turned in our clues to collect our prize winning envelop that would tell us everything….except all it told us was when and where we needed to meet a Rose Tours staff member to take us to our prize and we had no idea what it was.  So of course, we spent all of our free time speculating what it might be. 

Waiting for our prizes

Our original event was supposed to occur on Sunday night but when it was announced that the itinerary was being switch, we assumed our event was then changing to Saturday night.  So, on Saturday night we headed down to where we were supposed to meet Rose Tours and shared in the excitement of our event with the girls we knew who had won the Howie Scavenger Hunt and were also waiting for their event.

Because we are very used to Backstreet time, we didn’t think a lot about the time once 6pm came and our Rose Tours person wasn’t there yet.  However, fifteen minutes later took us to the Hospitality Desk to find out that our event was still going to be on Sunday but that there was no set time yet.  Apparently, Rose Tour had been trying to call our room and had left several messages for us.  Seriously, who is ever in their room during a Backstreet cruise???  And even though our red message light was on, when we tried to check them, it said we had no new messages.  We never did figure out how to get those messages.

This meant that our event would be after the beach party on Sunday and we figured we would maybe have to leave a little earlier from the beach than we normally would to ensure that our wait for the tender would not keep us from getting back to the ship to prepare for our event.  This was especially the case since we still did not have a concrete time for our event when we set off to the island on Sunday morning. 

Once we noticed that the Boys were kind of all doing their own separate things at the Beach Party (and after we got our photos with AJ by the stage), we decided to make our way back to the ship to start getting ready for our very special event.  First, we had to take a small detour when we saw Brian and Nick playing volleyball.  After a quick game or two with them, we finally made our way to the tender.  By that point, I was really getting nervous about our event.  We still had NO idea what we would be doing with AJ. 

We finally got our call from Rose Tours to establish a time when we were in the cabin getting ready.  That had been one reason we wanted to get back at a decent time.  Because we could never figure out how to check our messages, we wanted to miss nothing associated with the event….including what time we were going to have to be there.  5pm was the established time so it gave us plenty of time to finish getting ready and then having enough down time to really start freaking out about doing something with AJ.  A few short minutes later, another call placed to us stated that AJ wanted to push it back to 5:30 (during the event we found out it was because AJ had been taking a nap).  That would give us even more down time to get our fan girl minds going about what we were about to have in store.  It also meant that I knew we would only have about 30 minutes with him since our documentary preview event was at 6pm.  The Kevin girls had done their event the previous night and had said that their event was also about a half an hour so I guess it wasn’t a total surprise.

We were tired of waiting in the room so we made our way to the meeting spot early.  We saw a Rose Tours person approach eventually but he was the guy for the Howie girls, who weren’t quite there yet.  Finally, our guy came and told us that he would be right back.  At least we knew that we had not been forgotten but we had no idea where he was headed. 

Being escorted to coffee with AJ

That was when we saw him walking back….with AJ!  AJ was personally coming to meet us for our event!  There weren’t a super huge amount of girls around in the meeting area but we got a small glimpse of what the guys might feel like as they stand there and girls are just looking at them.  I felt a little bit like a celebrity as girls tried to get his attention and he graciously told them that he could not take photos at the time.  His attention was now 100% on us.  That was when we told us that we were going to go have coffee with him.  I loved it!  It was something in which we could just relax and didn’t have to focus on doing something.

We introduced ourselves as we walked to the coffee shop and he kept repeating our names over and over again.  He said that “Chrissy and Cory” sounded like it could be a TV show.  He also apologized to us if he forgot our names later.  I knew the feeling exactly because I am awful at remembering names, as well.

Now, I will begin this next part by saying that our group talked about a lot of different things and the conversation jumped from topic to topic pretty quickly.  So specific details may have been forgotten.  There are also some things that Cory and I would like to just keep to ourselves because we feel like they were more private moments among the three of us.  I will say that AJ has absolutely no filter on some of the information he was sharing with us.  Basically, I am not guaranteeing that everything that was discussed during our time with AJ will be covered here.

Ordering from the menu

We arrived to the coffee shop with AJ and was placed at our table.  AJ turned his back slightly to the main concourse so that it would be less likely for fans to recognize the fact that he was there.  I was actually quite surprised that more fans didn’t gather around the coffee shop during that time but security did a really good job of keeping fans moving so that they wouldn’t gather around our personal time with him.  Thankfully, Laura was able to get some photos for us since Justin was not at our event like he was at the Kevin event.  The first order of business was ordering.  AJ joked around about how the most expensive item on the menu was the bottled water, other than those “spiked” coffees which he specifically stated that he had to stay away from.  I was so proud of him.

Carrot Cake Temptation

AJ was not shy one bit about the amount of stuff he ordered….iced cappuccino, a vanilla milk shake, and a cookie.  Then later Jodi (for those of you who do not know who Jodi is, she is Leighanne’s best friend) came by carrying a huge piece of carrot cake.  AJ decided he wanted a small piece of that too.  He was told that it was already sliced and that only the very large pieces were available.  I told him that I wouldn’t mind having some (I love carrot cake) so we shared a piece.  Yes, I ate off of the same piece of cake as AJ McLean. 

 

So here are some of the things that were discussed:

Future BSB Cruises:  Before this cruise, I had heard rumors that there might not be any future cruises because out of the four that have occurred, only one has sold out.  However, AJ mentioned “the next cruise” as we were walking to the coffee shop because he explained how each cruise became more and more difficult to top themselves.  So this information tells us that there might be another cruise but it might not be next year. 

New BSB Album: AJ mentioned some of the producers/songwriters that he would like to work with on the next BSB album.  The only one that I recognized was Ed Sheeran.  I feel like he said that they would start production at the end of this year/beginning of next.

New AJ McLean music:  AJ is working on releasing an EP.  This way, between his last album and this new music, he can give a two hour show, rather than a one and a half hour show like he would have had to do if he would have toured for his last album.

AJ’s Jewelry Line:  We all know that AJ seems to start things and not finish them so we asked about his so called jewelry line that he had hinted about but never followed through.  He mentioned that he is actually working on starting a clothing line first, then a children’s clothing line, a sunglasses line, and then the jewelry line will be released.

AJ and Drinking:  I asked AJ if he ever felt the pressure to drink on these last two cruises because he is surrounded by alcohol.  He stated that now that he is a father, he really has no desire to drink anymore. 

AJ and Friends:  AJ obviously chose coffee as his event because of his love for FRIENDS.  They even had the Central Perk sign displayed on the TV’s in the coffee shop during our event.  AJ explained that one of the reasons that he loves the show so much is because it is one of the “things” that Rochelle and he share.  He stated a “thing” that each of the guys might share with their wives and this happens to be his.  That was how he had to explain it to the guys when he first became a fan of the show.  He talked about each of the characters and what he likes/disliked about each.  It was at this point that we brought up Laura’s FRIENDS themed door and he stated that everyone kept telling him about this door and that he had to see it.

Halloween Night: According to AJ, it was his idea for the Wizard of Oz costumes on Halloween night.  He explained that it had come down to Nick and Kevin as Dorothy and that the final decision was based on the fact that Nick was younger.

Scavenger Hunt:  AJ also stated that the Scavenger Hunt was his idea.

Cruise Concert:  We told AJ how much we had absolutely loved the concert the previous day and the reasons why we loved it.  AJ started a bunch of songs that they wanted to sing.  He said that some songs they couldn’t do because they couldn’t get good quality audio files for them.  I thought that was very interesting.  He talked about how the concept came about because they didn’t want to spoil the “In A World Like This” show for those who had not seen it yet (he had asked if we had seen it and when I told them I had six times, he seemed impressed) so they wanted to mix the show with some other stuff.

AJ was given the signal that he had to wrap it up and we were able to get some things signed.  As Cory was having AJ sign Big Bird, we had to quickly explain how the Big Bird came about.  He seemed to get a kick out of that one.  I had him sign the Belly Flop sign that our last envelop had been attached.  Then we got our photos with him.  We were each able to get an individual photo and a photo of the both of us.

 

Once we were off the ship, the Backstreet Boys Instragram posted the photo of both of AJ and us.  Thanks to some comments by some friends that we were the one’s in the photo, BSB then actually tagged us in the photo and then they followed us on Instagram!  That made me even more happy about the event overall! 

So, was it worth it going for the AJ event instead of the Brian event?  Absolutely.  It was an amazing experience and while I was sitting there I almost forgot that I was having coffee with a Backstreet Boy.  It was just as if we were three old friends getting together and having coffee.  I’m not sure if they are going to do anything like this in the future, as I know a lot of people were unhappy with the way that it was implemented.  If they do not, I am happy that I was one of the five luck cabins to get this opportunity.  If they do it in the future, I am sure it will be much more competitive and the chances of me winning again won’t be as high so I am glad I got this opportunity when I did. 

I want to thank Rose Tours, Backstreet management, and AJ for giving me this opportunity - an opportunity that I never imagined happening 16 years ago when I became a fan and an opportunity that I never imagined happening even at this point in my fan career.  This event is just another reason why I will be a Backstreet fan for life. 

 

Title Credit: "Try" - In A World Like This - Backstreet Boys