Some Spirited Halloween Sailings

If you loved your last Caribbean or Mexican Riviera cruise but are looking for something different, consider a Halloween cruise. Sure, there’s plenty of time before October, but early bookings often get the best price and cabin selection.

Admirers of vampires and prestidigitation might be interested in a “Magical Mystery Tour to Transylvania,” featuring a cruise along the Danube River aboard the 70-passenger Balkan Beauty. Highlight of the Oct. 1 to 16 tour is a medieval banquet and magic show at Dracula’s castle performed by professional magicians, members of Los Angeles’ Magic Castle. The itinerary includes visits to Sofia, Veliko Tarnovo and Constanta, Bulgaria; and Bucharest and Brasov, Romania, the latter the site of the legendary castle of Vlad the Impaler, believed to have been the inspiration for Dracula. All cabins are outside, and the tour, including the 11-day cruise, round-trip air fare and hotel stays, is priced from $3,075 to $3,500 per person, double occupancy. Call (800) 795-1633.

How about a “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” tour of Savannah, Ga., followed by a 12-night round-trip Halloween cruise into the Panama Canal? The 1,068 passengers aboard Regal Cruises’ Regal Empress pay as little as $1,097 per person, double occupancy, for the cruise aboard this vintage ship. The ship sails from Savannah on Oct. 28 and visits Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands on Halloween, spends a day in the Panama Canal and calls at Puerto Limon in Costa Rica; San Andres, an island off Nicaragua; and Key West, Fla. See a travel agent or call (800) 270-7245 for the cruise; to book the popular “Midnight” tour, call the Savannah tourist office at (912) 944-0455.

New Orleans is America’s vampire and voodoo capital. It’s also the port of embarkation for the Halloween cruise aboard Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Harmony. Passengers board Oct. 20, and the ship calls in Galveston, Texas; Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, Mexico; Grand Cayman; and Caldera, Costa Rica, arriving in Acapulco Nov. 1, the date of Mexico’s colorful Day of the Dead. Halloween is spent at sea with special celebrations and menus. The advance-booking price for the 12-day cruise starts at $3,350 per person, double occupancy, for an inside cabin. See a travel agent or call Crystal at (800) 446-6620. Plan to arrive early so you can book an optional cemetery, vampire or ghost-hunt walking tour of New Orleans before the cruise; call (504) 588-9693 for details.

Psychics call Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, La., America’s most haunted house. “Walking into the parlor is like walking into a crowded cocktail party full of departed spirits,” one said about the house where 10 murders and at least one suicide took place. Passengers aboard Delta Queen Steamboat’s paddle-wheeler American Queen can visit on Halloween eve, Oct. 30, to see if they encounter any of the ghosts. The five-day “Inn Country” cruise, which sails round trip from New Orleans Oct. 28, also calls at Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, La., said to be haunted by a mysterious lady in black; Baton Rouge, La., where the ghost of a young girl in a wedding gown and veil has been seen running along an oak-lined avenue; and Natchez, Miss., with more than a dozen haunted plantation homes plus the infamous Natchez-under-the-Hill, where countless outlaws and their victims from the 18th and 19th centuries are said still to roam. Rates begin at $900 per person, double occupancy, plus air fare. Ask a travel agent or call (800) 543-1949.

On the Miskito coast of Honduras, a small group of Garifuna, descended from fierce Carib Indians and escaped African slaves, maintain their cultural history in song and dance. On a cruise with Lifelong Learning company of Aliso Viejo, Calif., passengers can visit the Bay Islands of Honduras to learn more about these people who killed themselves rather than be taken into slavery. Passengers board Amtrak’s Sunset Limited in Los Angeles on Oct. 22 and take the train through the colorful Southwest to Houston, where they board Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sea for a seven-night cruise to Mexico and Honduras. Ports of call include the Yucatan coast, where shore excursions to Xcaret, Cancun and Tulum ruins are offered; and Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras, famous for scuba, snorkeling and swimming with dolphins. Halloween is celebrated at sea, and a two-day San Antonio stopover is included before the return to Los Angeles by air. Prices for the package begin at $2,295 per person, double occupancy, which includes air/rail add-ons for West Coast cities. For details, call Lifelong Learning, Inc., (800) 854-4080.