Day 1 on the SS Backstreet 2011

Friday, December 2nd, 2011
We boarded the Carnival Imagination ship around noon. Our cabin wouldn't be ready until after 1:30pm, so we headed to the Lido Deck to have some lunch. When we got to the buffet, Brian and his wife were having lunch as well! We sat a few tables away, close enough that I could say I ate lunch near Brian Littrell. Knowing I would soon have to turn off my phone, I had been texting my sister furiously telling her how amazing the first few moments had been. I decided to call my mom - one last time - and I nearly squealed into the phone that from where I was eating lunch I could see Brian (her favorite). Then I bragged to my sister about grazing Nick's hand (her favorite) while they were boarding. She had officially become jealous, and I turned off my phone. After lunch, Charlene and I headed to our cabin on the seventh deck. We had checked on it a couple of times, but it was still not ready. We decided to drop our bags off and explore the ship while we waited. We still hadn't met our third roommate, Brandy. We were hoping our cabin would be finished before the mandatory emergency boat drill so we could put our door decorations up.

With an hour to spare before the boat drill at 3:30pm, our cabin was finally ready. We met Brandy in our room, and the three of us began to decorate our door. I'm not going to take credit for our very creative and well done door, it was all Brandy and Char - I just helped put it together. Char created the stage and all it's bits and pieces, while Brandy had hand-painted dolls to look like the Backstreet Boys did in the Just Want You to Know video as Sphykter. The detail on the dolls were absolutely incredible. We had the dimensions of the door wrong, so the stage Charlene had built didn't fit. We put it on the wall next to our door, and used the door for the marquee - which lit up - that Brandy had made. Even though I had little to do with the pieces of the door, I was quite proud of the way it turned out.

After the boat drill, ladies started filling up the Lido deck even though the Sail Away Party wasn't scheduled until 4:45pm - and we were now on Backstreet time. This would be the first deck party of the 2011 Backstreet Boys cruise, and was sure to set the pace for the next couple of events. We had gone back to our cabins before heading up to the Lido deck. I had been so worried about seasickness prior to the cruise, so I had plenty of Gravol. When it was pointed out that we had set sail, I hadn't even noticed that we were moving! I thought of this as a good sign.

The Sail Away Party was the perfect way to kick off the cruise. In the middle of the Lido deck there was a small stage. We positioned ourselves around the stage and waited for the boys to arrive. All four of the gentlemen joined us on the Lido deck. Brian, of course, brought his wife who interacted with the crowd just as much as any one of the Backstreet Boys themselves. Each boy welcomed us and thanked us for joining them in their own way.

The Sail Away Party consisted of goofiness, music, streamers and of course the four boys. AJ talked about that night's theme - Sphynkter 80s Night - which resulted in Nick rambling about AJ's in tights. At one point the boys were given streamers to set off, and naturally AJ and Nick did it in the most inappropriate way they knew how. AJ took some time to dedicate songs to each of his band mates. Howie received Gimme More by Britney Spears since he had been touring with her. Nick got Tearin' Up My Heart by none other than *NSync. Brian felt that this was an appropriate time to imitate *NSync, it turned out to be quite humorous. Nick then dedicated Masquerade to Brian, who showed off his 'impressive' dance moves. Brian also spent a large amount of time running around like a child. He was climbing on railings to meet fans and jumping on hand railings to surf. He was a wild child!

At one point, Nickolas Carter decided to point out how rocky the boat had gotten. He mentioned that he use to live in the area, and it's some of the roughest waters. I had been desperately trying not to notice, but as soon as Nick pointed it out I couldn't ignore the swaying of the ship any longer. By the time the Sail Away Party had wrapped, and we headed back to our cabins I was completely seasick. We had a three person cabin with one bed that folded out of the wall. Char had claimed her bed, and we had all of our stuff sprawled out on my bed. Char and I were booth feeling queasy, and just wanted to lay down. Brandy called for someone to come turn down our bed, but they refused to do it while we were in the room. They would only come if we went to dinner. It was awful! So I curled up on Char's bed to have a quick nap before the In It to Win It game show that night. We were group B, so our event was scheduled for 6:30pm with the doors opening at 6pm. I thought that if I just shut my eyes for a moment and try to collect myself, I'd be okay to make it to the game. I was wrong.

I got up shortly after 6pm, grabbed my camera and headed for the stairs.. There was no way I was going to survive. I turned around and went straight back to bed. Charlene came back to the room after the game show and was quite seasick herself, so we crawled into bed together to have a buddie nap. With encouragement from Cortney's mom, I made it to dinner. She thought I should try to put something in my tummy. I had a piece of watermelon from the fruit salad I ordered, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Brandy said I got some color back in my face after the ice cream. Char looked terrible at dinner, so she went straight back to the room. Cortney, Brandy and I went to do some shopping. Like a wave, the seasickness hit me again - but harder. I had to lay down if I had any hope of making it to Sphynkter 80s Night - which I so desperately wanted to attend.

When I got back to our cabin, I quickly laid out all of my 80s wear so that I could quickly get dressed when I got up. I laid down - on my own bed this time - and shut my eyes. My room mates came and went. I knew I was running out of time to feel better.. I wasn't going to make it to the first deck party of the 2011 Backstreet Boys Cruise. I was so upset, and I was nearly in tears. I was starting to panic. I was terrified that I was going to spend the entire trip in the same state. The first thought I had was, "I'm paying the $7 a minute to call my mother, and she has to get me off this boat!" It was drastic, I know - but I was SO sick. Hoping the next day would be better, I eventually fell asleep.

More photos!