Church at sea

[motleyfan]

I was just wondering for cruises that last longer than 7 days, is there any kind of church service on board? As a Christian being gone that long it would be nice to have some God time.

[chengkp75]

I was just wondering for cruises that last longer than 7 days, is there any kind of church service on board? As a Christian being gone that long it would be nice to have some God time.

 

Some of the ships still have chapels, some have had them removed, IIRC. However, any services will be strictly passenger organized. Sometimes there is a minister or priest onboard who is willing to conduct services.

[cb at sea]

If there is clergy aboard that will volunteer to do a service, then they'll have one. Otherwise, you'll just need to find a bit of time and space and visit on your own!

[hansolosmom]

When we were on Princess one of the Cruise staff was an ordained minister and they offered a non-denominational service on Sat night.

 

We cruised Royal during Holy Week last year they had a Catholic priest on board who did mass every day. They also had a Passover service set up. Interestingly when we were on Disney they offered nothing during Holy Week.

 

If they don't offer anything, we read from the bible and have our own "service"

[Son of a son of a ...]

As the ships are not entirely at sea for seven days, you will likely find your needs met in port.

[DMH15]

I was just wondering for cruises that last longer than 7 days, is there any kind of church service on board? As a Christian being gone that long it would be nice to have some God time.

 

In my early days of cruising there were priests on board, I am Catholic. I had just assumed that was the norm. However on my last several cruises there have been no Catholic church services. In fact, I haven't heard about any services on my cruises, even nondenominational.

 

I have been able to go to some churches while in port However this is not always possible.

 

For me, I either say my rosary or some special prayers because I couldn't make it to Mass.

 

On my last cruise, I have the unlimited Internet, so I was able to look up scripture readings online.

 

BTW, never had a service in the Chapel. Mostly in the theater or a lounge. On Celecrity we were in a theater.

[newmexicoNita]

I was just wondering for cruises that last longer than 7 days, is there any kind of church service on board? As a Christian being gone that long it would be nice to have some God time.

 

Sometimes you will actually see, in the FReestyle dailies mention of Jewish and Catholic services. I have never seen a basic, non denominational Christian service mentioned, but you can ask at the reception desk. We did a church group cruise about 7 years ago and had a service. The reception desk was aware of this and we had a few who were not part of our group or our religion attend. I think this a great idea. For regularly church attendees it is nice to be able to go to church. I will admit, we have never, other than the group cruise attended church while on vacation.

[newmexicoNita]

In my early days of cruising there were priests on board, I am Catholic. I had just assumed that was the norm. However on my last several cruises there have been no Catholic church services. In fact, I haven't heard about any services on my cruises, even nondenominational.

 

I have been able to go to some churches while in port However this is not always possible.

 

For me, I either say my rosary or some special prayers because I couldn't make it to Mass.

 

On my last cruise, I have the unlimited Internet, so I was able to look up scripture readings online.

 

BTW, never had a service in the Chapel. Mostly in the theater or a lounge. On Celecrity we were in a theater.

 

You are right, most of the services are in meeting rooms, etc, not in a chapel.

[tomk3212]

We were on the Gem in December 2011 & NCL brought both a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister to conduct Christmas services on 12/24; both services were in the theater due to the anticipated heavy attendance. Lots of the crew attended the Catholic service.

 

 

Tom

[mugtech]

The only activities listed for the chapel are AA meetings, listed as Friends of Bill W. on the cruises I have taken.

[rbrugler]

I truly enjoy going into churches while in ports. I will sit a few minutes and take care of my business with God. That keeps me going. Thank you for asking about this.

[Markanddonna]

We have been on three cruises that were at least two weeks long. One was an RCL TA and had a priest who held mass every day and the Protestants who liked old hymns met in the chapel on sea days. I think the later group must have been a group traveling together as they all seemed to know songs and their procedures. Both were advertised in the daily.

 

The absolute best was NCL on a TA and the ship asked early on if there were any clergy who would conduct a church service. A missionary volunteered and he was amazing. The services were held in the theatre. He also ran a Bible study that met in a meeting room. It was jammed packed. He did this on sea days.

 

The last one on a 19 night Panama Canal NCL trip had a church service on the weekends in the meeting room and it was run by a very nice Texas preacher. Great job. There was also a rather covert Bible study that was not advertised conducted by a separate group. You were welcome if you found out about it.

 

I am pretty sure HAL still offers a cabin to Catholic priests to run mass. I'm pretty sure they do in Alaska but I don't know about other destinations.

 

I think this option is somewhat under the control of the cruise director. We always thank them for doing this.

[motleyfan]

Sometimes you will actually see, in the FReestyle dailies mention of Jewish and Catholic services. I have never seen a basic, non denominational Christian service mentioned, but you can ask at the reception desk. We did a church group cruise about 7 years ago and had a service. The reception desk was aware of this and we had a few who were not part of our group or our religion attend. I think this a great idea. For regularly church attendees it is nice to be able to go to church. I will admit, we have never, other than the group cruise attended church while on vacation.

 

I would not mind going to a Catholic service, it's just always good among all the craziness to have time with God

[davesgirl51]

I would not mind going to a Catholic service, it's just always good among all the craziness to have time with God

 

Just sit by yourself somewhere and you will be fine :)

[Jantoo]

On the NCL Pearl, there is a chapel. In the Freestyle Daily, it listed a time for a self led Sunday service. Only my husband, myself and one gentleman attended. We said a simple nondenominational prayer and had a short time of silence. It was lovely.

[NMLady]

Sometimes you will actually see, in the FReestyle dailies mention of Jewish and Catholic services. I have never seen a basic, non denominational Christian service mentioned, but you can ask at the reception desk. We did a church group cruise about 7 years ago and had a service. The reception desk was aware of this and we had a few who were not part of our group or our religion attend. I think this a great idea. For regularly church attendees it is nice to be able to go to church. I will admit, we have never, other than the group cruise attended church while on vacation.

 

We have attended non-denominational services, Christian, while aboard NCL on two different cruises. One cruise they were done by a Minister, another cruise done by a lay person passenger who volunteered.

Both cruises the services were listed as non-denominational in the newsletter.

Both times they were held in the Spinnaker lounge atop the ship not in Chapel next door.

Edited July 9, 2015 by NMLady

[NMLady]

The only activities listed for the chapel are AA meetings, listed as Friends of Bill W. on the cruises I have taken.

 

One cruise I was on a minister held a vow renewal ceremony in the Chapel. It was really nice. I think there were about 8 couples renewing vows.

 

On another cruise, in October, some Catholics used the chapel every day for praying the Rosary.

[frangig]

I have been cruising for over 25 years, here is what I found out... through the years. Cruise lines paid the fares to have a priest and or a rabbi on board, they no longer do that. It was always nice to know you can attend mass on board.

The last 7 years it has been hit or miss...only when a priest was on board ( for a vacation) and offered his services.

We were on The Breakaway in May and a priest had Saturday evening mass. We spoke to him afterwards and he said he had to beg for a room, and when they did give it he only had half an hour. He was so nice...and we had a speed mass. It was in FAT Cats and standing room only.

We always write on our comment card to bring back priests!!:)

[motleyfan]

I have been cruising for over 25 years, here is what I found out... through the years. Cruise lines paid the fares to have a priest and or a rabbi on board, they no longer do that. It was always nice to know you can attend mass on board.

The last 7 years it has been hit or miss...only when a priest was on board ( for a vacation) and offered his services.

We were on The Breakaway in May and a priest had Saturday evening mass. We spoke to him afterwards and he said he had to beg for a room, and when they did give it he only had half an hour. He was so nice...and we had a speed mass. It was in FAT Cats and standing room only.

We always write on our comment card to bring back priests!!:)

 

That's awesome that he wanted to do a mass

[MaryLS]

I have run parish cruises and every time, my Pastor would celebrate Mass on the ship. They were always very well attended by many onboard.

[bobg529]

I was on a transatlantic on the QM2 last year and a priest held a full Catholic Mass on Sunday. We sang a few hymns, communion was offered, and the padre gave a nice homily. The Mass was held in the theatre and was very well attended, I believe ther were well over a hundred people present. It was really a very nice part of my trip. I wish services were offered on every cruise. :)

[rbrugler]

I am a retired protestant minister and we take 10 -11 day cruises each winter. I would be happy to lead a simple worship service during the cruise, but do not have a clue as to how this would be set up. I am thinking a Bible reading, short reflection and prayer. Does anyone know who to contact about this?

[motleyfan]

I am a retired protestant minister and we take 10 -11 day cruises each winter. I would be happy to lead a simple worship service during the cruise, but do not have a clue as to how this would be set up. I am thinking a Bible reading, short reflection and prayer. Does anyone know who to contact about this?

 

I think you have to talk to them when you first get on board, I wish you were going during my cruise that would be awesome.

[newmexicoNita]

I am a retired protestant minister and we take 10 -11 day cruises each winter. I would be happy to lead a simple worship service during the cruise, but do not have a clue as to how this would be set up. I am thinking a Bible reading, short reflection and prayer. Does anyone know who to contact about this?

 

I am guessing contacting guest services just prior to the cruise or as soon as you arrive would be the best way. You could certainly ask them to put something in the Freestyle Daily. And yes, I think a bible reading, short reflection and maybe the Lords prayer would be the way to go.

[quercus alba]

I am a retired protestant minister and we take 10 -11 day cruises each winter. I would be happy to lead a simple worship service during the cruise, but do not have a clue as to how this would be set up. I am thinking a Bible reading, short reflection and prayer. Does anyone know who to contact about this?

 

I would think that you could also email ahead of time using the group events email folks use to set up Meet & Greets:

GroupEvent<ship name>@ncl.com (replacing <shipname> with Pearl, Gem, Escape, etc. as appropriate.)