Beach Party Unabridged

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!