church services

[love2travel41]

I will be on the LIBERTY on Easter Sunday. I am Catholic, and like many people (Catholic or not), I do not like to miss church on Sunday--especially Easter Sunday. Where can I find out if there will be a church service of any kind? If so, I imagine it would be nondenominational. Is there any chance services would be broadcast on the televisions?

[KenMo]

Carnival does not have regular services onboard.

 

Sometimes a clergyman happens to be cruising and volunteers to hold a service.

 

If you're going to be in port on Sunday, maybe you could research nearby churches and go to a service there.

[theriac]

There was a nondenominational Christmas service on Christmas eve that the CD hosted. Some songs were sung. It was handled well. I only went cause the person I was with wanted to go.

 

I found it amusing and personally my favorite part was seeing bar staff walk down the aisles serving drinks. If that happened at all churches I may go since it's so hard to get a drink Sunday mornings after a Saturday night of drinking.

[missy428]

There was a nondenominational Christmas service on Christmas eve that the CD hosted. Some songs were sung. It was handled well. I only went cause the person I was with wanted to go.

 

I found it amusing and personally my favorite part was seeing bar staff walk down the aisles serving drinks. If that happened at all churches I may go since it's so hard to get a drink Sunday mornings after a Saturday night of drinking.

 

Come to NYC. Plenty of all you can drink Mimosas and Bloody Mary brunches all day on Sunday. ;)

Edited February 8, 2016 by missy428

[funinthesun1964]

There was a nondenominational Christmas service on Christmas eve that the CD hosted. Some songs were sung. It was handled well. I only went cause the person I was with wanted to go.

 

I found it amusing and personally my favorite part was seeing bar staff walk down the aisles serving drinks. If that happened at all churches I may go since it's so hard to get a drink Sunday mornings after a Saturday night of drinking.

 

:eek::eek::eek: are you kidding me? :eek::eek::eek: at a church service? Was it really a religious type service, or just some singing of Christmas songs?

[KatieCharlotte]

We have cruised once on Easter, on the Elation. There was a nondenominational service. It was nothing like what you'd expect at home, but it was well appreciated. The CD gave a little "sermon," someone from the entertainment staff read "the story of Jesus," and there were several songs, including a sing-along Amazing Grace. Hopefully your ship will offer something along those lines, since I imagine it's unlikely any clergy cruise on Easter. :) We did not check to see whether there were any services broadcast on the channels that we received on the ship.

[amyh13]

The CD hosted a nondenominational service last year on the Valor. A few songs, a message. Very nice. It was at 4 in the afternoon. We were VERY casual but some folks cleaned up and got dressed up. It was very well attended. There was no drink service .

[grandmacani]

We were on a ship for Easter no service, but we had our own little prayer and remembrance on our balcony. We didn't feel we had to be with a group. What would the difference be if you had the CD do one or you and spouse did it. We did it at sunrise.

Edited February 8, 2016 by grandmacani

[sandij]

We were on a ship for Easter no service, but we had our own little prayer and remembrance on our balcony. We didn't feel we had to be with a group. What would the difference be if you had the CD do one or you and spouse did it. We did it at sunrise.

 

That's a great idea. We've had a priest on with us on HAL and Princess but never with Carnival.

[Tapi]

I'm also Catholic and when I cruise, I accept the idea that I won't be able to attend mass. Yes, non denominational services are appreciated but obviously the Eucharistic elements will still be missing.

 

Ways around it:

 

- Is your ship in port either on Sunday or Saturday,? If so, look for religious services on land. Several ports of call have Catholic Churches nearby.

 

- There's always the possibility that there will be a Catholic priest traveling as a passenger in which case, they may volunteer to officiate mass. We had this happen on the Holiday and so many people showed up that they had to move the mass at the last minute to the main theater.

 

- For future reference, if attending mass is important to you, consider sailing on cruise lines that do have a priest onboard. Holland America has a Catholic priest on every ship and they conduct daily mass on most of their sailings. That was a nice thing to have when we sailed on them to Alaska.

[BellaSweet]

That's a great idea. We've had a priest on with us on HAL and Princess but never with Carnival.

 

I actually work for a Catholic church as our Parish secretary and our priest does HAL cruises as the priest on board. He goes 2-3 times a year.

 

Carnival doesn't have the same demographics as HAL so there isn't a priest on board.

[sanmarcosman]

There was no drink service .

No even wine? :eek:

[theriac]

:eek::eek::eek: are you kidding me? :eek::eek::eek: at a church service? Was it really a religious type service, or just some singing of Christmas songs?

 

It was songs, some praying, and the CD talking about the spirit of Christmas and jesus in a manger.

[Earthworm Jim]

- For future reference, if attending mass is important to you, consider sailing on cruise lines that do have a priest onboard. Holland America has a Catholic priest on every ship and they conduct daily mass on most of their sailings. That was a nice thing to have when we sailed on them to Alaska.

 

Speculation here on my part, but I would think at Easter, Christianity's most solemn holiday, it might not be likely to find priests taking vacation. That's their biggest time of the year at work, so they might need to be there.

[ceistre]

This website might help you in the future this is the organization that puts priests on cruise ships.

As of today Carnival does not affiliate with this organization.

 

http://www.aos-usa.org/

Edited February 8, 2016 by ceistre

[Tapi]

Speculation here on my part, but I would think at Easter, Christianity's most solemn holiday, it might not be likely to find priests taking vacation. That's their biggest time of the year at work, so they might need to be there.

It's Holland America's policy to have a Catholic priest onboard all of their ships year round. I believe that the only exception is the Prinsendam. Reason for this policy is because they recruit heavily from countries that have a large Catholic population, like The Philippines, so a significant percentage of their shipboard employees are Catholic. It's a big incentive for these crew members to work for HAL.

 

As far as the priests go, the ship becomes their "parish" for the duration of their time onboard. Not only do the conduct mass for passengers and crewmembers, but they administer sacraments as well as other activities that would be conducted at more "traditional" parishes, and yes, also Easter mass. [emoji846]

Edited February 8, 2016 by Tapi

[ScottsSweetie]

I understand that church attendance is very important for people, and maybe more important on a high holy day - but I can't for the life of me understand why, if it is so important, people book a vacation during that time.

 

At the very least, there are plenty of cruise options that sail on a Sunday at 4:00pm which would afford one plenty of time to attend a church of their choosing on land Sunday morning.

 

I'm truly not meaning to offend anyone, but at some point in time the decision has to be made that one is a priority over the other - church on a particular date, or being on vacation on that date.

[Drazil65]

"Where two or more are gathered".....so grab another person or 2 and sit on the deck in a quiet place and pray, meditate or read from your bible....you will get much more spiritual insight and inspiration from that, its ok not to have a priest if one is not around, God is still there even when they are not...;)

Edited February 8, 2016 by Drazil65

[BellaSweet]

Speculation here on my part, but I would think at Easter, Christianity's most solemn holiday, it might not be likely to find priests taking vacation. That's their biggest time of the year at work, so they might need to be there.

 

True that it is a busy time of year for priests. My boss could never cruise during Easter because he is the only priest in our Parish. He tends to do cruises in the summer or after Christmas. But there are retired priests that still cruise and work as a "crew" member.

[sandij]

The one we had on HAL was retired gentleman and he had a lady with him to help as he was quite elderly but did all the masses for the entire holy week.

[teesmc]

I cruised on RC Vision of the Seas last Easter and there was a Catholic Easter mass as well as daily mass since the priest was sailing all week. He was there thru a volunteer program that puts religious on cruises.

[fuddrules]

Since we're on the topic, don't forget Ash Wednesday coming up.