Religious Services onboard

[tgetz]

While we have traveled many times on HAL, i have never availed myself of the religious services. I do remember seeing some listed, however. My next cruise a friend of mine is going with us - her first cruise ever- and she is debating about booking a shore excursion on a Sunday wondering if there will be a service in the morning. I looked back on some old day planners and see that sometimes they list a nondenominational service lead by the congregation in the morning on a sunday, sometimes not. I know you guys know everything about HAL so.....I know there is an ocassional Catholic communion, and a Friay Jewish service, but what is the policy.. Thanks in advance for any insight.

[HALrunner]

This topic was just covered in depth yesterday- here is the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1799982&highlight=catholic

 

Hope this helps!

[tgetz]

The way i read it, Catholic preist yes but protestant is jsut catch as catch can... :-)

[indokiwi]

I think that most cruises over 10 days will have a protestant clergy. All of our Hawaiian cruises have and a 12-day european sailing with 9 port days, which didn't leave very many day for services :). You mentioned that the member of your group is concerned about a Sunday morning service on a port day interfering with her shore excursion. If the ship is in port on Sundays, unless it's a later arrival, like 10am or 12nn, the service would be in the evening regardless - usually at 4:30pm or 5pm - and not in the morning, so if there is a clergy member on board and they are holding a service, it would be then most likely.

[Markanddonna]

When I was on a 16 night TA, there was a Catholic priest who did daily mass, someone who did Sabbath Friday services for the Jewish passengers and a few groups of Christians who did Bible studies in the chapel, but no formal service. There was a nondenominiational service for Veteran's Day lead by a PCA pastor. These were mostly posted on the communications board with the main events in the daily.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When I was on a 16 night TA, there was a Catholic priest who did daily mass, someone who did Sabbath Friday services for the Jewish passengers and a few groups of Christians who did Bible studies in the chapel, but no formal service. There was a nondenominiational service for Veteran's Day lead by a PCA pastor. These were mostly posted on the communications board with the main events in the daily.

 

Chapel on HAL??

[sail7seas]

I've never seen or heard of a chapel on any HAL ships.

Unless there is one on Prinsendam, there are none.

Edited March 5, 2013 by sail7seas

[PathfinderEss]

When I was on a 16 night TA, there was a Catholic priest who did daily mass, someone who did Sabbath Friday services for the Jewish passengers and a few groups of Christians who did Bible studies in the chapel, but no formal service. There was a nondenominiational service for Veteran's Day lead by a PCA pastor. These were mostly posted on the communications board with the main events in the daily.

huh?

[Himself]

This from the mouth of a Catholic Priest. If the ship is in port all day on a Sunday, there is a Mass at 5:00 PM. There would be a Protestant service afterward, I believe. If one embarks on a Sunday, I do not believe there is a Protestant Service but there will be Mass at 5PM. The Jewish Service is on Friday and it is led by a Jewish Person. If the ship is at Sea on Sunday, the Catholic Mass is at 8:00 AM and the non-Catholic Christian service is at 9:00 AM. If there is no Minister on Board then the Priest will do the Interdemoninal Christian Service. I have done this on many occassions and I have gotten nothing but affirmation from the non-Catholic Guests who have come to the Service. I hope this answers your questions.

[gelo7]

This topic was just covered in depth yesterday- here is the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1799982&highlight=catholic

 

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks..

[lvz2cruz]

This from the mouth of a Catholic Priest. If the ship is in port all day on a Sunday, there is a Mass at 5:00 PM. There would be a Protestant service afterward, I believe. If one embarks on a Sunday, I do not believe there is a Protestant Service but there will be Mass at 5PM. The Jewish Service is on Friday and it is led by a Jewish Person. If the ship is at Sea on Sunday, the Catholic Mass is at 8:00 AM and the non-Catholic Christian service is at 9:00 AM. If there is no Minister on Board then the Priest will do the Interdemoninal Christian Service. I have done this on many occassions and I have gotten nothing but affirmation from the non-Catholic Guests who have come to the Service. I hope this answers your questions.

 

 

Thank you for your detailed information. I do have a question though. Why are the Sunday sea day services so early? I just always wonder this because we would like to sleep in on vacation and end up going to the Protestant service and then breakfast but it would be nice if they were later. Do other people feel this way?

I hope our paths cross some day in a service:).

[rafinmd]

Thank you for your detailed information. I do have a question though. Why are the Sunday sea day services so early? I just always wonder this because we would like to sleep in on vacation and end up going to the Protestant service and then breakfast but it would be nice if they were later. Do other people feel this way?

I hope our paths cross some day in a service:).

 

I'll weigh in here as one person. I am fine with the schedule. Actually, I'm Protestant and would fine with reversing the services and having the Protestant service at 8.

 

Father, I also hope our paths cross some day. I believe you do mostly shorter cruises but IIRC you are retiring from Parish ministry soon. Would you like to take some longer cruises then?

 

Roy

[RevNeal]

Having served aboard HAL in the past as a Protestant Guest Minister, I'll address this one:

 

Holland America Line currently contracts with Protestant clergy to provide Interdenominational Christian services and Pastoral Care on selected cruises 10+ days in length. The current general rule-of-thumb is that (1) if the cruise is 10+ days in length and (2) has 2 or more Sundays or has a lot of sea days, then a Protestant Guest Minister is usually assigned. Over the past few years the number of cruises with officially assigned Protestant Guest Ministers has declined somewhat. They have also changed their vetting process and the method by which one volunteers and is assigned duty.

 

The 14-Day Alaska Cruises in 2011 and 2012 did NOT have official Protestant Guest Ministers assigned to them, which is why Father Himself's 14-Day on the Amsterdam in 2011 didn't have one. Why? HAL has run 7-day cruises in Alaska for so long (and 7-day cruises, other than those over Christmas and Easter, don't have PGMs aboard) that it just didn't occur to them to assign any Protestant Clergy to those runs. At least, that is what I was told when I asked about it.

[TraelorMex]

In all the discussions regarding religious services...we have cruised HAL many times. I would like to express our thanks to HAL for providing religious services and the men and women who minister to us in this capacity. THANKS :)

[travelnap]

This from the mouth of a Catholic Priest. If the ship is in port all day on a Sunday, there is a Mass at 5:00 PM. There would be a Protestant service afterward, I believe. If one embarks on a Sunday, I do not believe there is a Protestant Service but there will be Mass at 5PM. The Jewish Service is on Friday and it is led by a Jewish Person. If the ship is at Sea on Sunday, the Catholic Mass is at 8:00 AM and the non-Catholic Christian service is at 9:00 AM. If there is no Minister on Board then the Priest will do the Interdemoninal Christian Service. I have done this on many occassions and I have gotten nothing but affirmation from the non-Catholic Guests who have come to the Service. I hope this answers your questions.

 

I have been on HAL and have experienced the services with both the protestant minister aboard and the priest also doing the interdenominational service and there was not a big difference in either service, as both were done very well and much appreciated.

[dr.dawg]

hi, folks. one reason why Catholic Priests are aboard is that Sunday's are Holy Days of Obligation. for non-catholics that is not the case. many Catholics do and should consider sunday Mass attendance mandatory if certain conditions are not met; also there are other Holy Days of Obligation throughout the year which must be observed. in protestant churches the true confection of the Eucharist is not celebrated. therefore, a Catholic Mass and a nondenominational reading and prayer service are QUITE different. a Catholic can never fulfill the Holy Obligation by attending a nondenominational service only. for Catholic chaplains on HAL, you are told the schedule of Masses and venues; usually an early evening Vigil Mass on Saturday, and an early Mass on sunday, or later on sunday if sunday is a port day. and, usually, a crew mass late in the evening, e.g. 11pm on sunday. this is 'another Catholic Priest mouth heard from.' and, yes i have served as chaplain on HAL ships.

 

peace, dr.rev.fr dawg (doug), retired. priest in good standing.

[RevNeal]

In all the discussions regarding religious services...we have cruised HAL many times. I would like to express our thanks to HAL for providing religious services and the men and women who minister to us in this capacity. THANKS :)

 

Thank you so much for your kind words. The times that I've served as a Protestant Guest Minister I have been truly blessed by the experience and have enjoyed it ... even when I've had to deal with injuries or deaths aboard ship. The most amazing thing I've ever gotten to do as Chaplain on HAL is the baptism of a child on the bridge of the Noordam in 2011.

[dr.dawg]

yes, of course, rev. neal. baptism if done in the name of the TRINITY is always valid, even by a nurse in a hospital. i think it is the one Sacrament that Catholics and protestants share. i love baptizing babies, too. i once baptized a pre-mature babie in icu. and i still see her today; five years old and growing. what a blessing.

[RevNeal]

in protestant churches the true confection of the Eucharist is not celebrated. therefore, a Catholic Mass and a nondenominational reading and prayer service are QUITE different.

 

I do not wish to enter into a theological debate on Cruise Critic. In general I consider politics and religion to be off-limits when aboard ship or when discussing cruising. However, in this case it might be nice if one were to not make pronouncements about the theological beliefs of others.

 

While it is true that attendance at the Eucharist isn't considered a "Holy Obligation" for Protestants, there are many of us who do indeed believe that the Eucharist is both an effective means of grace and a participation in the Real Presence of Jesus. There are many of us who terribly miss receiving the Eucharist when we're on cruises, that's part of the reason why HAL requests that Protestant Guest Ministers offer the Sacrament on Sundays. Sadly, far too many Protestant Guest Ministers will refuse to do so.

 

While it is true that a nominal Protestant service with prayer, scripture, and sermon is very different from a Mass, that is not necessarily the case when the Protestant service includes the Eucharist ... as can only happen when a Protestant Guest Minister is aboard or when a clergy person on vacation agrees to preside.

[RevNeal]

yes, of course, rev. neal. baptism if done in the name of the TRINITY is always valid, even by a nurse in a hospital. i think it is the one Sacrament that Catholics and protestants share.

 

It might also be nice if one were to not be quite so condescending.

[cruise pastor]

hi everyone,

 

My husband and had about 25 cruises with HAL, as clergy for these services. The rule of thumb is: sea days and Sunday we have chapel. They are usually at 9 a.m., and if we are in port on Sunday, they are usually at 4. Check the daily program for location.

[POA1]

I've never seen or heard of a chapel on any HAL ships.

Unless there is one on Prinsendam, there are none.

Either the Zuiderdam or the Oosterdam had a chapel initially. We're kind of leaning towards the Zuiderdam. We have a photo, but it's from the film camera days, so I can't double click it and see the timestamp. ;) It looks like it became part of Club HAL. It was on the top deck.

[take us away]

I've never seen or heard of a chapel on any HAL ships.

Unless there is one on Prinsendam, there are none.

 

Nope - no chapel on the Prinsedam in the passenger areas but there is one in the crew quarters as well as a mosque.

[take us away]

Back to the original question of services on ships. On longer cruises, have also seen Catholic mass on Saturday evenings just before 1st seating for dinner which was requested by the passengers who either liked to sleep in and / or a large audience for the masses.

[RuthC]

Back to the original question of services on ships. On longer cruises, have also seen Catholic mass on Saturday evenings just before 1st seating for dinner which was requested by the passengers who either liked to sleep in and / or a large audience for the masses.

Saturday evening Mass is generally not "requested by the passengers", whether or not they like to sleep in.

Saturday evening is the Sunday Vigil, and is a standard time for that Mass, whether it's a port day or a sea day.