Priest on board HAL ships

[jackretired]

Our last HAL cruise had a Rabbi.

[hrhdhd]

I think there is a bigger correlation between Episcopalians and wine. :D

 

Indeed, my in-laws confirm that theory. :eek:

[Typhoon1]

It's not all fun and games for the clergy.

 

We had a Methodist minister in a cabin down the hall, and he was kept busy with daily services & weddings etc.

[Himself]

Father, I hope we wind up on the same ship some time.

 

Roy

 

I will be on the Westerdam from October 19-November2 and on the Nieuw Amsterdam December 1-8th. That is all I have booked at the current moment. Now that I am retired I hope I can help out more. Thanks for the nice words.

[lcand1923]

I find it very insulting that Catholics get a priest on all cruises and the other religions don't. It isn't right that one religious group gets special treatment.

 

 

The priest on our first HAL cruise back in 1999 explained that the "priest on board" tradition started because the majority of the crew were from the Phillipines, which is a very traditional Catholic country. The priest on board was not for the benefit of the passenger, so no insult was intended. The benefit to the passenger was an unintended consequence.

[PunkiC]

I find it very insulting that Catholics get a priest on all cruises and the other religions don't. It isn't right that one religious group gets special treatment.

 

Jews and Protestants can conduct religious services without the benefit of clergy, well technically Catholics can too, but it wouldn't be a Mass. We can't have a Mass without a priest to consecrate the host.

 

Sometimes we attend Mass in ports and sometimes, like on a Princess ship where there is no priest and we are at sea, we just have to do without a Sunday Mass and attend a non-denominational service on the ship instead. I think God is probably pretty cool with folks just doing the best they can no matter what their religion.

[bikegirl2]

We were at a luncheon on the Westerdam with Kruse Stein this spring and he said that HAL has always had, and will always have a commitment to having a priest on board every sailing. Of course, there are last minute issues that might prevent that, but for the most part they will always have a priest on board.

 

I like that a lot and it was one of the big reasons we were thinking of switching from Princess to HAL, but then, no sooner had we booked our first serious HAL cruise, than they came up with this new silly wine policy. It is just too incongruous--all of the Catholics I know love their wine.

 

Oh well, we will enjoy our October/November cruise, along with our own wine and a priest. and hope for a reasonable modification of their new policy.

 

Where can I find out mass time for our upcoming cruise? We were looking for a mass the Sat.evening pre-cruise n Ft. Lauderdale but would wait to attend on ship if available.

Sailing- NA Nov. 10, 2013.

Thanks

[PunkiC]

They will print Mass times in the daily schedule. If I recall correctly the Sunday Masses that we have attended on ships are usually held midday, Maybe someone who sails HAL a lot more than I will have a better answer.

 

I am always surprised at how well attended the Masses are, even the daily Masses.

 

We had a deacon on board a recent Princess cruise and when he held the Sunday communion service, it almost filled the Vista Lounge. There were many non-Catholics in attendance as well as Catholics.

[RuthC]

Where can I find out mass time for our upcoming cruise?

 

They will print Mass times in the daily schedule. If I recall correctly the Sunday Masses that we have attended on ships are usually held midday, Maybe someone who sails HAL a lot more than I will have a better answer.

Punki is correct about the fact that the Mass schedule will be printed in the daily program. The location can vary, even during the cruise, so check for location every day.

The schedule is pretty easy to figure out, for the most part:

 

If it's a port day, Mass is generally held at 5:00 PM. If it's a sea day, Mass is generally held at 8:00 AM. The Saturday Mass is generally held at 5:00 PM, whether it's a sea day or not, as it's the Vigil Mass.

I have seen a few times when Mass was at 9:00 AM. :eek: (I know, how'd that happen???) There have also been a few, rare, occasions when there was no Mass at all. Those were in exotic ports with very long days. Shore excursions were leaving before 7:00 AM, and not returning until after 7:00 PM. As I said, very rare.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Our pastor, Fr. Bill MacDonald told us a couple of weeks ago that he had been on an assignment - "hard work, but somebody's got to do it!" on a cruise ship, so yesterday, I asked him which ship. He said it was the Zuiderdam, and he had been amazed at the number of crew who went to Mass at 11 p.m., after their long day of work. He also said how good all the Americans were at participating, doing the readings, etc.

 

Every once in a while, we are asked to remember to put in our final review, how happy we are that HAL does have a priest on board (almost) all of their cruises. It was interesting to get Fr. Bill's side of it. He said he had to be "on call" all the time.

 

 

That was lovely that your priest was asked to do a very nice assignment like that.

[kakalina]

I actually participated in a crew mass at 11pm on the Statendam. I had been heard singing at the regular mass and was invited to join theirs.

 

When I arrived they handed me a sheet with the Lord's Prayer in Tagalog so I could sing it in their language. I was very moved and touched by the ceremony. It was a privilege I will long remember.

[PunkiC]

I actually participated in a crew mass at 11pm on the Statendam. I had been heard singing at the regular mass and was invited to join theirs.

 

When I arrived they handed me a sheet with the Lord's Prayer in Tagalog so I could sing it in their language. I was very moved and touched by the ceremony. It was a privilege I will long remember.

 

Lovely. It reminds me of a Sunday morning when we were out walking in Hong Kong and came across a huge gathering of people (mostly young women) in the park hearing Mass in Tagalog. They were all house servants and Sunday was their day off so they would gather for Mass and then spend the day with their friends.

 

Is Mass seriously at 8:00 a.m.? I don't remember it being that early but perhaps that is just oblivescence of the disagreeable on my part. ;)

[2ndCitySue]

I absolutely loved having a priest on board for my first HAL cruise which ended last weekend. As a result of attending daily Mass, I am now a HAL convert after taking a dozen cruises on my beloved Princess. I still need to file my survey but fully intend to thank HAL profusely for providing me the privilege to attend daily Mass.

[Sea and Me]

We have never sailed HAL (but hopefully we will) but have had priests on RCCL. Since I'm a lector and Eucharistic minister in my home parish I offered to lector and be Eucharistic on several cruises. It is an awesome experience to attend mass while sailing on Gods waters. The last cruise out of Boston we had 4 priests on board. The priests also had a non-denominational service on Sunday. They also did a mass for the crew late at night (don't remember the time). The crew really appreciated it.

When we were in Dominica we missed the mass at the church there. The people were leaving when we got there. We spoke to the Msgr. and a lady overheard us. She mentioned that the nursing home was having mass in 1/2 hr. follow her and she would take us there. About 10 of us followed her. I'll never forget the little ladies with their "hats" on. The congregation sang like angels. When we get our survey we always state that having mass on board is a wonderful plus.

Carol

[PunkiC]

My husband and I are also Eucharistic Ministers and I am in charge of the lectors for our parish--scheduling, training, etc.--so I was thinking of offering to serve on the ship as well. I will copy all of the readings from my manual and take them along so I can prepare them. Even if I am not proclaiming the word, it helps to become familiar with the readings before Mass.

 

Once when we were in Copenhagen on Easter, we went to the Catholic Church at 8:00 a.m., which was the time that was listed on line and confirmed by the concierge at our hotel, only to find that they had changed their schedule because of the holiday. There was one other English couple who had received the same information that we had, so we decided that since two or more of us were gathered in His name, we were good for our Easter obligation.

 

We love visiting other churches when we travel.

[ShipsAreTheBest]

The priest on our first HAL cruise back in 1999 explained that the "priest on board" tradition started because the majority of the crew were from the Phillipines, which is a very traditional Catholic country. The priest on board was not for the benefit of the passenger, so no insult was intended. The benefit to the passenger was an unintended consequence.

 

In addition to the Filipino crew, the largest single denomination in the Netherlands is Roman Catholicism (although only about a quarter of the population identifies themselves as Catholic. Individually, the Protestant denominations have smaller percentages of followers).

[Sea and Me]

My husband and I are also Eucharistic Ministers and I am in charge of the lectors for our parish--scheduling, training, etc.--so I was thinking of offering to serve on the ship as well. I will copy all of the readings from my manual and take them along so I can prepare them. Even if I am not proclaiming the word, it helps to become familiar with the readings before Mass.

 

Once when we were in Copenhagen on Easter, we went to the Catholic Church at 8:00 a.m., which was the time that was listed on line and confirmed by the concierge at our hotel, only to find that they had changed their schedule because of the holiday. There was one other English couple who had received the same information that we had, so we decided that since two or more of us were gathered in His name, we were good for our Easter obligation.

 

We love visiting other churches when we travel.

 

When we see that the ship is offering daily mass we attend. Before mass I always ask the priest if they would like a lector and they always say Yes. The priest gives the book before mass begins so it can be looked over (in case any big words:)) I have been blessed to be lector on several ships and Eucharistic minister also. I love my ministry!!

 

Have a great day.

Carol

[zorrosuncle]

I find it very insulting that Catholics get a priest on all cruises and the other religions don't. It isn't right that one religious group gets special treatment.

 

I don't think we Catholics or Jewish or some Protestant brothers or sisters are getting special treatment; I think the problem is that the other religions haven't asked HAL for these other denomination services as well -- and I think they should. I think HAL would be quite willing to listen to you. On almost every HAL cruise I have been on, in addition to Mass, there have always been Jewish and interdenominational services as well.

 

Furthermore, the 50 percent of the crew that is Catholic would be hard to retain if there were no priest. I know that the Islamics on board usually have their own Iman to conduct other crew services. Seeing that the entire crew has their religious needs met is very high on the agenda of HAL management.

 

I might add, that having Catholic Mass is very important to me. So important that I would no longer cruise with HAL if it was discontinued.

 

Regards,

 

ZU

[RevNeal]

I am an ordained United Methodist pastor, and yet I am very happy that HAL makes arrangements to allow Roman Catholic priests aboard so that mass can be held every day.

 

And, yes, HAL also makes arrangements for Protestant clergy to be on selected cruises of 10+ days in length. I have had the joy/honor of serving on several such cruises. They don't schedule us as often as they used to, but it does still happen.

 

The principle difference between having the Roman Catholic priest offer an interdenominational service and having a Protestant Guest Minister aboard to do so is that, when a Protestant Guest Minister is aboard it is possible for the Protestants to have communion too. On especially longer cruises this becomes very important for those of us have have a high Sacramenal devotion (especially for Episcopalians and Lutherans and many Methodists and Presbyterians). Sadly, some Protestant clergy refuse to offer the Eucharist, but many others (like myself) do offer it on at least Sundays and on occasional sea days ... and for both the Protestant passengers and the Protestant crew. It's always appreciated, and I am honored to provide it ... even though it usually means staying up very late to offer a Eucharist for the protestant crew.