Mass on Serenade 4/16

[SailingSal]

We have never sailed before Easter. I am in a panic since we will be in St. Thomas on Palm Sunday and at sea on Good Friday. In the past we had a mass on Easter Sunday, and daily mass. Will there be a priest on board this week? Our Spring vacation was changed this year and we had no choice but to book this week. Can anyone answer this for me? This is our 4th trip on Serenade and we never had this concern before! Thank you so much!:confused:

[Cruisedeacon]

I am a deacon with the Catholic Church... I understand from a pretty good source that for Holy Week a priest CAN be availble if you call RCL and ask them to seek out a priest... they will usually do that for this special week... I have been on a cruise for Holy Week and we had a priest on board... was so good to have Mass available daily...

 

If you are in St Thomas they have a beautiful Catholic Church called Sts Peter and Paul.. open air... we were gifted by having First Communion the particular day we were in port ... really enjoyed it..

 

Good Luck will pray for you guys..

 

;)

[SailingSal]

We did look into mass on St. Thomas already and had planned to attend mass there if no mass was scheduled on ship. But as I realized that we were on ship for Holy Week, I was starting to panic! Polish Catholic girls from Pittsburgh have a problem with this. We originally booked the cruise for after Easter but our school calendar was changed. Thank you for your suggestion!:)

[alny5810]

There are plenty of beautiful churchs out on the island. Im sure you will find that will suit your need, If cant find a priest onboard. Have a great cruise.

[Cruisedeacon]

You do know that if you cant possibly make Mass anywhere for a Holy Day or Sunday that you have not sinned...

 

We always seem to find Mass on the inslands we stop on... and as the previous poster said.. "enjoy your cruise"...

 

the toughest part of Holy Week for us was Fasting and Abstaining ALL DAY on Good Friday... while all others where eating BBQ etc... WHEW what a penance that day....:)

[SailingSal]

You do know that if you cant possibly make Mass anywhere for a Holy Day or Sunday that you have not sinned...

 

We always seem to find Mass on the inslands we stop on... and as the previous poster said.. "enjoy your cruise"...

 

the toughest part of Holy Week for us was Fasting and Abstaining ALL DAY on Good Friday... while all others where eating BBQ etc... WHEW what a penance that day....:)

 

You make me LOL:p

I don't mind the fasting - what could be more perfect than being with my Husband (32 years) and having peace and quiet? We have 7 children and I know I have made many sacrifices that won't give me any guilt!

We will enjoy the cruise - I just need to celebrate mass!

Thank you so much!;)

[IWORK2CRUISE]

You do know that if you cant possibly make Mass anywhere for a Holy Day or Sunday that you have not sinned...

 

We always seem to find Mass on the inslands we stop on... and as the previous poster said.. "enjoy your cruise"...

 

the toughest part of Holy Week for us was Fasting and Abstaining ALL DAY on Good Friday... while all others where eating BBQ etc... WHEW what a penance that day....:)

You will sometimes find actual masses onboard if there is a priest traveling with a group. Your other options are to seek out churches if in port on the holy days or visit the chapel on your ship and say your own prayers.

[GSRDPM]

You make me LOL:p

I don't mind the fasting - what could be more perfect than being with my Husband (32 years) and having peace and quiet? We have 7 children and I know I have made many sacrifices that won't give me any guilt!

We will enjoy the cruise - I just need to celebrate mass!

Thank you so much!;)

 

I remember cruising during lent last year and when Friday came along it was SO HARD to keep the meat off the plates throughout the day. Not thinking, it was the day we also had a reservation for the specialty restaurant on our ship :(. We were on the Costa Atlantica and one neat thing about Costa is that there is always a Catholic Priest on board. He is primarily there to minister to the spiritual needs of the crew nut it was great for us in that they always have daily mass. The chapel on the Atlantica was beautiful as well - not the usual generic, bland room.

 

Check out the pictures of it from our trip review.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1170841

 

Can't wait to sail on the Serenade for the first time this March. Hmm.

[BuckeyeMan]

I thought Easter was April 24th this year. Is this incorrect?

 

Misread your post. Mea culpa. I thought you were refering to Easter the week before. You said Palm Sunday. Disregard.

[jahcruiser5]

I thought Easter was April 24th this year. Is this incorrect?

 

Misread your post. Mea culpa. I thought you were refering to Easter the week before. You said Palm Sunday. Disregard.

 

 

I thought Easter was the fourth Thursday in November.

 

Turns out it's the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox.

 

Seriously.

[MrZoey]

You can attend Mass in town, the church is not far from Havensight (but take a taxi).....check the times however, at one time they had one Mass a day in Spanish, not sure what time that one is. We have gone to Mass there bunches of times!

[ehfl]

If there happens to be a priest on board, they may have a service. If this is something you absolutely need, then it's really up to you to bring your own priest. The company cannot accommodate everyone's special interests.

[SailingSal]

Thanks so much for your suggestions! I have checked out the mass schedules in St. Thomas. Since we have often sailed when a priest was on board, I had hoped that someone would have been on a cruise over Palm Sunday and Holy Week to confirm! :rolleyes: