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Thoughts: I feel the need, the need for a @BackstreetBoys Cruise announcement

by | Jan 14, 2020 | Backstreet Boys, Cruise, Opinion, Thoughts | 2 comments

 

The last time a Backstreet Boys cruise was announced was last decade.

I know, that sounds drastic considering it just turned 2020, but the 2018 Backstreet Boys cruise was announced in April 2017, a year out from when the cruise actually set sail from Miami.

While I know everybody is waiting on more Backstreet Boys DNA World Tour dates, I’m sitting here waiting and wondering when we will have our next cruise.

Why?

Because the Backstreet Boys cruise is one of my favorite things to do because not only do you go on vacation, you’re with some of your greatest friends and you’re also with the boys. It’s the perfect mix of everything that I love in the world, besides my cats because they would obviously not do well on a boat in the ocean.

There’s just something special about being on that boat in the middle of nowhere with your friends and randomly running into Howie trying to go into the women’s restroom at 2 in the morning. There’s hardly any sleep and you’re up all night, but you don’t care because you go and eat breakfast after a deck party ends at 5 a.m. and then you get two hours of shut-eye before you have to get up for your group photos at 10 a.m.

I want tour date as much as everybody else, but after attending four shows last year, I don’t know if I can attend that many when tour dates are announced again. But a cruise? A cruise can be paid for weekly or monthly or quarterly.

Again, it’s just something special about cruise memories that are a little different than those you make at a concert.

Some people might think my favorite cruise memory is winning the BSB HQ Trivia game show in 2018 that Nick hosted. Trust me, it’s right up there, but deep down I think my first theme night even on a Backstreet Boys cruise, Sphynkter night, is my favorite. Not only is “Just Want You To Know” my favorite Backstreet Boys’ song, but it’s my favorite music video ever.

That night I was able to give Nick a crisp vinyl edition of Journey’s “Frontiers” album, which he had said a few weeks before was the first album he ever bought because he loved the artwork. This was back before vinyls was a fad again. According to Lauren the next night, he couldn’t stop talking about it.

Later that night after giving him the vinyl, he and Howie were at the deck bar, singing along with “Uptown Girl” and very heavily giggling when they sang “backstreet guy.” I was up there, in the second row of people when the bartender gave them a tray of some type of shots. They started passing them out and Nick grabbed my hand, trying to pull me up to the front, but the girl wouldn’t move that was between us. So he jumped down from the bar, moving past her and poured the shot down my throat asking, “do you like that baby?”

I don’t drink. At all. And it burned like hell and I still have no idea what it was, but yes, I did like it. I was in pure bliss, so much so I ran up my cell phone bill texting and calling people from the boat.

It was my first real “oh my God” moment on a Backstreet Boys cruise, besides the fact that earlier that night while I walked around already depressed for Sphynkter night, running into all the guys in the hallway and Nick giggling at my shirt I designed with a picture of Sphynkter which said “I fucked a member of Sphynkter and all I got was this T-shirt.” AJ loved the outfit, which was topped off with a jean and tulle skirt with layers.

Those are the kind of experiences you can’t get during a show, but God do I love a good Backstreet Boys concert. Hell, every concert is a good concert, who are we kidding? They can sit there and just sing and it would be amazing. They did that on the 2016 European cruise – an acoustic concert which is probably still one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.

Every cruise concert has been amazing – from Kevin coming out during “Drowning” in 2011 (I was in Group B that got lucky), the wildcard songs performed in 2014 like “Hey Mr. DJ” and “That’s the Way I Like It,” the guys singing backup to Nick performing “I Got You” and that Brian version of “Darlin’” in 2016 that sent chills down everybody’s spines and shall we never forget 2018 when they came out with “I Wanna Be With You,” and the reaction from us fans is probably what made them put it as part of the DNA World Tour.

I can’t speak for the 2010 and 2013 cruises since I was not a part of them due to personal reasons. In 2010, I did go to Miami for the acoustic show, but was unable to attend the cruise, and 2013 the cruise went on sale just after I moved four hours away from home to start a new job.

I know everybody wants dates for the next leg of the tour and I’m sure we will get them soon, but deep down I do want a cruise announcement. My opinion doesn’t matter, obviously, but there’s a part of me that wants one almost more than tour dates. I still need to attend a cruise with a few of my closest friends on there. I want to finally go to Grand Turk since we didn’t get to go in 2018.

So in short, this was 1,000 words on why I really want a Backstreet Boys cruise announcement and it’s probably just a bunch of random thoughts and me sounding like a spoiled brat or something, but until you’ve experienced one, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about.

So let a few fans share their own thoughts about their favorite cruise moments:

https://twitter.com/AndieYammine/status/1216423618420211712

https://twitter.com/ElinJakobsen4/status/1216452432408076288