I returned this afternoon from my Ghostage aboard the Queen Mary, and let me say, little bloggyfriends, that it was not a boring night! To save myself writing a novel, I've put up my humble case report from the TAPS message board for y'all to read.
Thought I'd toss you guys an update:
I took a digital recorder with me, hoping to casually scout for a location and do some EVP work. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I was on the ship on a Saturday night, with a massive company dance party, two weddings, and tons of people booked for one night waiting to catch their Carnival cruise the next day. So needly to say, the ship was packed and I couldn't find two seconds alone anywhere. I finally gave up and went to bed. Was sharing a room and a queen sized bed with my Grandma. We were on the B deck in room 511 (if anyone has any stories) and needless to say I had no evidence, but puh-lenty of personal experiences! Will try to break it down so this isn't a novel.
1. Climbed into bed around 12 pm. Almost immediately felt that sensation of being watched.
2. Started watching TV to try to relax as I was very tense and vigilant. I was taking the best advice everyone gave me, be observant but do not panic.
3. Began to feel touched very softly with little spots of cool pressure, like a curious poke. It began to become more noticeable as the night went on, especially every time I began to doze off. Felt it on my back, collarbone, and feet.
4. The TV turned itself off three times during the night. Twice I was awake for it. The third time at 5am I fell asleep, and it was off when I woke up. (The remote was next to my pillow, btw) The first time, it woke my Grandmother. She told me it was probably automatically timed to turn off after awhile, but I noted that there was no specific time frame for the three occurrences. The first time I'd been watching for two hours. The second time was forty-five minutes later. The third was sometime between 5ish and 9:30am. In hindsight, I should have waited to see if it turned itself back on, but I didn't think to test that theory.
5. At 5am, sat up in bed to do a visual sweep of the room. Almost immediately there were three quick scratching motions on the coverlet above my foot (like when you scritch-scratch a blanket to get a cat's attention)
(Quick note, for those of you who haven't stayed there, the lower rooms have no portholes, so when the lights are off it is absolute darkness, as if you had blackout curtains closed. It is hard to make anything out, and impossible to tell what time of day it is without a clock)
6. I woke at 9:30 to hear the sounds of someone moving around. I thought it was my Grandmother, who got up at 3 to put in insulin (she's diabetic, and hates to turn on lights when her blood sugar is low, as she says it hurts her eyes) There was a mirror on the back of the bathroom door, and I could see the motion of someone's legs walking back and forth. I could not tell if it was a reflection in the mirror of the area where my Grandmother put her bags, or if the bathroom door was open and she was puttering around in the bathroom (like I said, very dark) so I called out her name. She answered from next to me in bed. She asked if I wanted to sleep in a little more, and I said "Nope, I think I'll get up now."
So I'm proud to say that I had a great and gratifying time! I confronted my fear of ghosts by approaching the situation objectively and not running away. I confronted my fear of having a ghost experience affect me negatively or possess me simply because it is paranormal. I not only heard disembodied noises, and had direct physical/entity contact, but saw a partial-body apparition! Plus I got to feel the heaviness in the chest I've heard tell of while touring the engine room on the self-guided tour. As soon as left the area, the pressure was gone.
I'd also like to say, for anyone ghost hunting there in the future, what I encountered on B-Deck feels harmless and non-threatening. If anything, I'd say it seemed curious!
