Very busy time. Everyone had to check in just like any airport in the world. Metal detectors. Explosive sniffing dogs (darn you, Al Qaeda!). Tons of teenagers (and others) hoping to catch a glimpse at Aaron (I don't know why, they are going to spend about 100 hours on the same ship with him). Once on board, everyone got a buffet lunch and tried to access their stateroom. I was with a single mom and her daughter when, lo and behold, there was Aaron playing ping-pong on Deck 9 with someone. In the frenzy that followed, a dozen or more cameras started to explode in Aaron's face. In my pictures, these are the ones, with Aaron looking quite relaxed (and in a shirt). After having enough, Aaron disappeared down the forward stairwell.
I want to point out that I utilized a Nikon camera with a zoom lens and 800-speed film. This allowed me to be in Aaron's face without "being in Aaron's face".
During the afternoon, Aaron had an obligatory interview with Radio Disney. This involved him playing basketball with one of the DJs. This went very routinely, except for the fact that there were about 100 spectators for the basketball match. The basketball court was on Deck 10, just below the bridge.
Basketball became the pivotal event of this cruise because this is where the Little Prince of Pop held court for most of the cruise, day or night.
Ummm.... considering how much time he spends playing basketball, you would think he would be better at it. More than one spectator had commented that Shaq had nothing to worry about (Sorry, pal!). To his credit, he played team ball or one on one with anyone and was very gracious considering this was his personal time. Apparently the cruise was the Carter family reunion with many relatives converging on the ship. This is in addition to his staff, dancers and musicians.
At any given time during day, you could find Aaron on Deck 10 playing ball. Anytime anyone wanted to know if Aaron (or later Nick) was playing ball, they just needed to turn on the TV in their stateroom. The view from the bridge was broadcast on ship's TV 24 hours a day and the basketball court was just below the bridge. From the get go, a swarm of fans was constantly around Aaron...loads of pictures...and it was incredibly hot! I was asked why I had so many shirtless pictures of Aaron during the cruise. Well...that was because he never showed up on deck with a shirt.
The ship departed Port Canaveral (Florida) and there was a departure concert on deck (you know, Disney characters, etc). They introduced Aaron and told us of the few planned events and that this was supposed to be a vacation for him. Most of us felt that this was cool and would respect his space. Some wouldn't...
The first day was probably the most trying for him in that a huge number of people were not yet used to Aaron Carter the person as opposed to Aaron Carter the star. On a few occasions, he could be seen retreating. Nick and Bob were still in Daytona at the Offshore Grand Prix (speed boating) and had not boarded in Port Canaveral. The rest of the family was now on board.
By nightfall, things seemed to quiet down and Aaron had some personal space. He easily found some people his own age and he began interfacing with them. He played basketball with the guys and talked with the girls or spent time in the pool with them. The adults on the cruise were impressed with how easily he made friends. It appeared he never had less than 5 to 10 girls around him at any one time, When he left for the night, he gave each one of the girls a hug and a kiss. We adults just looked at each other. The deck was awash with teenage hormones for the entire voyage.
The pre-teen females, meantime, had a better idea...they went on a search and destroy mission to find Aaron's stateroom, which they did (and quickly).
Unfortunately for me it was only several doors down from mine on Deck 7 forward. (Actually, I'm glad it was because I ran into him several times during the voyage because of it).
Every night during the cruise, I could hear the pitter-patter of little hooves through the hallways. No one got much sleep.
The first time I ever met him in my life was in the 7 forward hallway. As I was going to my stateroom, he literally bumped into me going to down the hall with 5 girls in tow followed by two huge, frantic security guys who didn't see where he went. I pointed both hands over my head and said "That way"!
I found out later that my stateroom was on the edge of Carter Country. His entourage, I was told, entailed about 14 separate staterooms and about 30 people.