Haunters from all over the United States headed towards Ft. Lauderdale, FL to combine business and pleasure for 5 fabulous days on Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas cruise liner. The night before we set sail there was a pre-cruise "beep"tail party for the haunters that flew in a day early. The "beep"tail party was themed as a 1950's Zombie Prom. Crazy Bob hosted the Zombie Suck Off drinking game. 12 haunters lined up to test their blood sucking skills. The object of the game was to put together 5 drinking straws then suck dry a bloody looking cocktail, while the crowd of on looking zombies chanted Suck, Suck, Suck. The noise coming from the crowd of zombies was loud enough to draw in people walking down the streets outside the pool area. I was laughing at the look on their faces then they seen a crowd of Zombies chanting Suck, Suck, Suck. Pat Chandelaine from Denver, CO was the winner of the Suck. There were hot chicken wings, meatballs and some unidentified fried balls of stuff later confirmed to be conch balls to munch on. The pre-cruise party ended after the cutting of a huge skull faced cake to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.

We set sail from Ft. Lauderdale headed to Key West, Cozumel, and Belize. All attendees of the haunters cruise were given name badges, carrying bag, T-Shirts and a copy of Bloody Mary's comic book the Tales of Bloody Mary signed by the artist. The haunters were divided into fun Deep Sea Adventure teams. Free drinks and several ice breaker activities got the "meet and greet" party started.

The first port of call on the cruise was Key West. This was a full day of shopping in the busy streets of the warm and sunny island. The highlight of the stop for the non shopping crazed haunter had to be the Pirates Soul Museum. This was an incredibly detailed attraction with a Disney type feel. The interactive portion was in the hold of a pirate ship. Groups up to 10 guests were seated in the hold. Once my group was seated and had placed on the head phones, the show began in total darkness. The experience was educational and one that filled my imagination with sound and vibration.

Back on board the Enchantment of the Seas we played the Fright is Right Game. Contestants had to guess the price of industry vendors products like a Bucky Skeleton, a gallon of Bloody Mary's blood, and a 55 gallon drum of fog juice during the game. The Sting Ray Team won the game with the final contestant being Pat Chandelaine (the winner of the Suck Off game).

Cozumel Mexico was the second port of call on the trip. The ship anchored about 30 minutes from shore. Due to the high winds only one tender was allowed to make the trip before noon and I was one of the unlucky passengers it turned green without the need of makeup. Cozumel offered plenty of shopping and shore excursions such as the Mayan Ruins and Dolphin swim. The highlight of the Dolphin tour was a ride on the Dolphin's stomach as it brought you back to the edge of the water.

Back on board the Enchantment of the Seas there was a panel discussion of 4 haunt owners. Crazy Bob asked personal questions on how they managed the stress of the haunt season. There were a few questions and answers from the group of haunters that attended as well.

With the winds now much calmer we arrived in Belize on our final port of call. The seas were much smoother but we left the sunny blue skies in Key West. The rain did not stop the group of haunters from Wisconsin and my group from North Carolina that took on the Cave Tubing and Aerial Trek excursion. This had to be the most exciting tour we took since the Cave Tubing experience and would have made an excellent haunted dark ride. First, we all had to hike about 30 minutes through the thick jungle path lined with some of the most amazing plant life, tube in hand. Once we made it to the river all participants were given a head light. After the shock of the cold dark river water numbed our bodies we slowly floated down the river into the mouth of the huge caves. Once we were deep inside the belly of the cave the group leader asked everyone to turn off their lights. It was completely dark; the only thing that you could hear was the sound of water splashing over the rocks and bats that were stirring above our heads.

We hiked back to the shelter to change into some dry clothes and had lunch. The lunch was mixed rice and baked chicken with cole-slaw. The extremely hot sauce called Belize Heat was optional. Trust me; just a tiny drop on the fork was enough to scare me off. The second half of our Belize excursion included an Aerial Trek. This was a high ropes zip line through the jungle about 80 feet up in the trees. This was very unnerving for most of the members of the group being it was raining and it everything was slick on the walk up the steep hillside to the starting point. It was an exhilarating fast ride through the jungle from one platform to another that were a few hundred feet apart. After the sixth platform and feeling like a flying squirrel I had to repel down from the 75 foot high final platform to the jungle floor.

During our voyage back to Ft. Lauderdale I had some time to get to know other haunters on the ship better. One of the invited guests was Ken Doant from Insurance Correlators that specializes in insuring haunted attractions. The services Ken's company offers covers 48 states and even the property of the haunts like storage trailers. If your haunt is like most haunts where weather affects your tickets sales, they even offer weather insurance. Ken can be reached at 847-695-8201 ext. 317

"What a great way to reward yourself and your staff. Bobby and Bob put on a great program. Lots of fun, sun and relaxation" - Bill Criscione Ghostly Manor, Sandusky Ohio

Makeup Demonstration - Bloody Mary gave a 30 minute demonstration using her line of award winning products. She created a burn victim and a mummy in the time allotted.

"You can't get anything better in January than horror on a vacation" - Kim Yates Kyms Krypt, Baltimore Maryland

Makeup Wars at Sea - The group of haunters split up into 7 teams of one model and two makeup artists. Bloody Mary supplied each team with a full makeup kit. The teams had 40 minutes to create their character and come up with a name for them. The winner of the makeup war was voted on by the group of haunters cheering the loudest. It came down to only one by a very close cheering crowd. The winner was called Grandpa's Deep Sea Adventure Gone Bad, created by Ann Marie Gavinski and Linda Jones. The model for Grandpa was Ron Kiely.

"There can be no better way to celebrate the end of a successful season, then to share it with industry friends in beautiful ports of call on the Bloody Mary and Crazy Bob cruise, a real win - win situation, combining business with a well deserved and needed vacation." - Tim Gavinski House of Darkness, Waukesha, WI

Annual Bloody Mary & Crazy Bob's Masquerade & Makeup Contest - Everyone put on their very best Halloween Costume before our last dinner together. The winner of the makeup contest went to the Trail of Horror from Connecticut. The winner of the costume contest went to my wife Donna and me the owners of Kersey Valley Spookywoods in High Point, NC. Donna was dressed to kill in her portrayal of a Dominatrix and I portrayed a loved slave Zombie chained to a metal collar and I was whipped to submission every time I tried to stray away by her leather whip. After the awards were handed out the entire group of haunters dressed in full costume and paraded around the dinning hall as the second seating for dinner was just getting started. Many people stopped us and the other ghouls for photos and we got many comments and stares. This was our final time together. I had a blast being apart of this haunters gathering and I'm looking forward to next years cruise already!

Check out cruise information for the
5Th Annual Bloody Mary & Crazy Bob 2007 Haunted Adventure.