Q&A: Do You Know of Any Cruises for Paranormal Enthusiasts?

Back in October of 2010 I got an email from a reader named Renee wondering the following:

I am looking for a birthday cruise next year 2011. I will be 30 on October 28, 2011 and love your cruise idea!! I’m looking for rates if you have them. And group rates as I’d love to bring my friends/family. As my birthday falls just days before Halloween, I love the paranormal events. I am a big fan of ghost hunters, paranormal state, the haunting.(tv shows) if you could reply with info that wood be great.

I meant to write a response post well before now, but, well…how do I say this delicately? Um, I can’t. The fact of the matter is I got behind and never did it.

I did respond to Renee’s email at least. However, I had planned to see if I could find any paranormal cruises for her other than the ones I wrote about before.

Other than The Gothic Cruise, which really puts on a great event aimed at Goths, but which plenty of non-Goths (or “norms” as they’re called) attend too, there really aren’t any paranormal cruises.

Although, I did recently come across a Halloween “Ghost Ship” that sets sail and takes cruisers on “a 75 minute ride of horror.” Voyages begin October 14, 2011. The ship sails out of Newport Beach.

But what about regular cruises? Longer ones? The vacation type?

Anyone who’s followed this blog for a while knows my passion for cruising. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the five I’ve taken so far, it’s that there is plenty of paranormal to be found in the ports –if you know which ports to choose.

When I say ports, I mean both ports you stop at as well as ones your cruise originates from or ends up at. It’s not always easy to find a cruise where every single port on your itinerary boasts ghosts, though.

I think of cruises in terms of categories. Meaning, I view cruises as having 25% or under haunted ports, 50%, or 75%. (Still searching for a 100% haunted ports cruise, so that category remains empty.)

For instance, our last cruise to the Western Caribbean was sort of a dud as haunted ports go, but for adventure and eco tourism it was wonderful. (And we were in search of warm weather and snorkeling spots at the time, not ghosts.)

However, it still weighed in at the 25% category, because it left from and returned to New Orleans. That gave us an opportunity to explore that very haunted port city. (Which is filled with more than just ghosts, such as witches, vampires, and zombies.) Technically it could’ve even been bumped up to the 50% category since there were two stops in Mexico. I had been hoping to find haunted Mayan ruins. I completely spaced the cryptid trek factor. I should’ve been looking for chupacabra!

 

 

At first blush, our cruise to Key West and the Bahamas might’ve seemed like it should fit in the 25% or, at best, 50% category. I’d place it in the 75% category now. Not only is Key West loaded with haunted sites, it’s also home to Robert the Doll and a pretty neat cemetery. It’s a great place to beat the cold when winter’s waging in other parts of the country. Plus, most of the cruise takes place in the Bermuda Triangle. If that’s not spooky, I don’t know what is.

I also place our Canada and New England cruise in the 75% category. Actually, I’d place it more in a 90% category. Of the nine ports we visited, only two weren’t haunted.  (Well, really only one: Sydney. I learned about Saguenay’s winter ghosts and mummieswhen we were there. And while Sydney didn’t turn up any ghost stories –even though it was an odd, albeit quaint, little town that surely must’ve had some– we could’ve taken excursions while docked there to the Fortress of Louisbourg or the Cape Breton Mine. Both of those places were rumored to be haunted.)

From New York City (our embarkation port) to Newport, R.I., Gloucester and it’s ghosts, UFOs, and sea monster, Halifax and it’s haunted citadel, to Quebec City and all of its charming haunted hot spots, not to mention finding the ghosts of Titanic still haunt many of the ports we docked in, the Canada/New England cruise proved a great one for this paranormal enthusiast.

 There are many other cruises that would appeal to paranormal enthusiasts. In a future post, I’ll post a list of the best ones.