I'm a good Catholic - BUT---- [Archive] - Cruise Critic Message Boards

Beckey

July 16th, 2004, 10:51 AM

HI guys - we are taking our first HAL curise in Spetember - 9/11 on the Z - you might have seen my post here trying to get folks on that cruise to come on over to the ROLL CALL boards and join us :D

But I have a question for you guys - what time is Mass? I know they have it every morning and I am a GOOD Cathilic :confused: - but if it is real early I might not be that good! Do I have to go to Confession now?

Thanks guys

Sage

July 16th, 2004, 11:23 AM

We have found that the Mass times seem to vary. I think it depends on if it is a sea day or a shore day. We have even had Mass in the late afternoon, and on one cruise, it was at midnight, the Priest said we could make it a pajama Mass, as it was the last night, and bags were being set out. Generally sea days, we have found Mass to be around 8 or 9am.

RuthC

July 16th, 2004, 11:23 AM

Mass is not necessarily at 8:00 A.M.; sometimes it's in the afternoon at 5:00 P.M. The system on my recent cruise was sea day=morning; port day=afternoon.
Once I got lucky when Mass was held at 9:00 A.M., but usually only the Protestants get to sleep in.
On (rare) occasions the Mass will be held at 5:15 or 5:30, but with early dinner now at 5:45 that won't be often.

I suggest you use the patented RuthC method: whenever Mass is in the afternoon go. Three daily afternoon Masses equal 2 Sunday services on God's credit slip.

rodree

July 16th, 2004, 11:26 AM

We have not been on the Z yet,but I `m sure you will enjoy her.
You are right; its like pulling teeth to get response to the roll call. So far only one response to the Sept. 14 Rotterdam. Maybe it`s too soon.

Masses are held every day on different times according to the ships schedule. However ,it is usually at 8:oo AM or at 4:00PM. Even the priest does not know until the day before. My wife goes every day except if we are on tour.
Hope this will help.
Have a great cruise.

Roz

July 16th, 2004, 12:23 PM

iluvcruzin

July 16th, 2004, 12:50 PM

Bless me Father for I have sinned....

I must confess on my last cruise there was a conflict between Mass and morning Bingo...and I chose Bingo. But then they're both Catholic activities, along with drinking at the bar. LOL!

Roz
LOL!! :D

I have a question. Has anyone stopped in San Juan on a Sunday and attended mass in port? If so, which church did you attend? I wonder if there are active churches in old San Juan...

Vicar

July 16th, 2004, 12:55 PM

I would imagine that there is a catholic church in San Juan fairly close by the ship.

Whether or not they will have mass in English is another story

AlinaMaria

July 16th, 2004, 01:10 PM

Yes, there are catholic churches very close to the port: La Capilla del Cristo on Calle del Cristo and San Francisco, and also Catedral de San Juan (San Juan's Cathedral). Don't miss either one, the Cathedral is absolutely beautiful, they are both old churches but gorgeous. The Cathedral does offer mass in English on Sundays. We were there last year on a weekday, could not attend weekday mass because of limited port hours (we left San Juan at 3pm and Mass was held at 5pm). Have a safe trip! Enjoy San Juan, it's beautiful!

RE: Mass on board, during our HAL cruise to Panama Canal on the Rotterdam Mass on sea days was at 5pm and port days at 8am.

AlinaMaria

iluvcruzin

July 16th, 2004, 01:59 PM

Thank you AlinaMaria! Your information is exactly what I was looking for. It doesn't matter if it's English/Spanish/Latin.. I would just love to see the cathedral and experience mass there. We are only in San Juan until 1pm. I've been there before so I thought this would be something different to do since we arrive on a Sunday. Thanks again!!:)

Beckey

July 16th, 2004, 10:18 PM

Thanks so much for all the information! Sounds like I will be able to make it to Mass - if the Spirit Moves Me :p

I like the 3 afternoon Masses = 2 Sunday! An bingo to booth.

The Priest at our Parrish are the best traveled Priest around - 2 of them just got back from a Hawiian Cruise. Last year they went on a Alaskan Cruise. Where has Franciscan Proverty Gone??? :D

Thanks again.

MISSYLOU

July 16th, 2004, 10:56 PM

Bless me Father for I have sinned....

I must confess on my last cruise there was a conflict between Mass and morning Bingo...and I chose Bingo. But then they're both Catholic activities, along with drinking at the bar. LOL!

Roz
Roz: You are crackin me up.:D :D

I have been to Mass on a HAL ship before where there were so many different nationalities. Everyone said their responses in their native language. A really unique expierence.

michmike

July 16th, 2004, 11:53 PM

ekerr19

July 17th, 2004, 12:01 AM

ok, if we're talking about converting - where is revneal?

Beckey

July 17th, 2004, 09:33 AM

I have a perfect solution for you.. forget all this daily Mass biz and become a Lutheran. With us, anything above and beyond the perfunctory Christmas and Easter appearances is considered compulsive.. *S* Leaves WAY more time for snorkeling and the drink of the day..
OK this is way more information that any of you ever Wanted - pretty much TMI (too much info) BUT I already converted! :eek: My husband spent 6 years in seminary and was a Baptist Minister for 14 years - THEN we converted to Catholic. Think that did not make a few folks NUTS. :p Now he is a Deacon in the Catholic Church - spent 5 years in classs for this and was ordained again as a Catholic Minister. Our journey to Rome as been a long and strange one! But we are both glad to be home at last!

Roz

July 17th, 2004, 04:36 PM

One of the reasons I try to attend Mass as often as I can (when it doesn't conflict with bingo!), is I want HAL to continue to have Catholic priests serve onboard.

Roz

tomc

July 17th, 2004, 04:50 PM

srpilo

July 17th, 2004, 05:34 PM

One of the reasons I try to attend Mass as often as I can (when it doesn't conflict with bingo!), is I want HAL to continue to have Catholic priests serve onboard.

Roz
Good point.. "Use it or lose it."

Srpilo

FlorenceItaly

July 17th, 2004, 05:37 PM

I figure, if they have a priest on board all their ships, they must know something I don't know. So I try to attend Mass if it's not too early in the morning. I don't wake up early and I'm not a pleasant sight for a while. Our church has daily Mass (without me, I might add) at 7:30 in the morning. I told the pastor, "It was the last SUPPER, not a communion breakfast." He didn't like that.

Tomc - LOL! Well, he doesn't have a sense of humor :).

Beckey - A baptist minister for 14 years, and converted to Catholicism...WOW!...Yes, being familiar with the baptist church I can imagine
there was some discussion about that over their potluck dinners, lol.
Catholic or Christian, you are serving the same awesome God.

Marie

teencruiser18

July 17th, 2004, 06:28 PM

My dad was Jewish until after 17 years marriage to a Catholic, then converted to Catholicism. Oh, Marie, you said "Catholic or Christian", Catholics are Christians, that's what they called members of the early church. "And it was at Antioch that they were first called Christians." It's in Acts somewhere... sorry I'm Catholic and live in the mostly Baptist Bible Belt, so I'm kind of touchy about that.
Kerry

FlorenceItaly

July 17th, 2004, 06:32 PM

Kerry - After I posted, it occurred to me that I worded that poorly. I apologize for not going back and rewording that. You are right, Catholics ARE Christians.

Marie

Nasmas

July 18th, 2004, 07:39 AM

kryos

July 18th, 2004, 07:45 AM

Bless me Father for I have sinned....

I must confess on my last cruise there was a conflict between Mass and morning Bingo...and I chose Bingo. But then they're both Catholic activities, along with drinking at the bar. LOL!

LOL ... Roz, that was good. :)

I must also "confess." When I was on the Rotterdam last March, I was part of a writer's group having a conference onboard the ship. I wanted to get to services ... either Catholic or interdenomination ... never made it because there was always something else going on at the time of the services ... something that, sadly, I always considered more important ... or maybe just more fun.

Oh, well ... guess I'll need someone to assign me a good "penance" for that one. :(

Blue skies ...

--rita

Roz

July 19th, 2004, 03:27 PM

Rita,

Your penance is 3 Hail Marys and 2 bowls of bread pudding.

Roz

tomc

July 19th, 2004, 03:33 PM

Gee... if my priest assigned HAL's bread pudding as a penance, I'd spend the cruise asking girls, "Were you born on or before July 19, 1986? You were? Good; meet me on the Sky Deck tonight. Alone."

Roz

July 19th, 2004, 03:45 PM

Tom, you're too much! And by the way, even if your priest didn't think it was funny, I liked your quip about Communion Breakfast.

Roz

kryos

July 19th, 2004, 05:36 PM

Rita,

Your penance is 3 Hail Marys and 2 bowls of bread pudding.

Roz
Okay, I just blew through the three hail marys ... and I'll take a voluntary double on the bread pudding once onboard. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

Beckey

July 19th, 2004, 05:48 PM

Boy, had to go back and read the post again - I thought for a few minutes I was going to have to go to confession if I ate the Bread Pudding! :eek: And I plan on eating LOTS of bread pudding.

Roz - you crack me up!

And yes I am sure my husband and I were the topic of many a discussion over dinners of all sorts after we left the Baptist church. I can not tell you how many people they sent over from the Southern Baptist Convention to talk to him. Still don't think they have been able to get their small minds around it.

TomC - you sound like a Priest I know - hates to get up early in the morning for prayer and he keeps telling the other Priest - It was the LAST SUPPER!!

General Max

July 20th, 2004, 09:14 AM

Do the Catholic priests get a free cruise from HAL for coming on board and saying daily Mass? Also. if they do, how much on board credit do they get on their account? Maybe Reverand neal has done one of these cruises for HAL and performed the non denominational services.

What category cabin does HAL give the participating clergy. Maybe we can get one or two to respond.

General Max

Roz

July 20th, 2004, 09:29 AM

Based on remarks I've heard from the priests, I think they get the cruise for a reduced fee. But I'd like to hear that from a clergyman firsthand.

Besides saying Mass, the priest also serves as a chaplain. So for instance, if someone became seriously ill onboard or died, the chaplain would offer to pray with/assist the family, if they so desired. Just like in the Armed Forces, they are at times called to be interdenominational in their approach.

I talked to a Jewish couple on a cruise who told me a horror story about their mother passing away on the ship, and they mentioned that both the Catholic priest and Presbyterian minister onboard at the time were of immense help to them.

Roz

tomc

July 20th, 2004, 09:51 AM

I've got some second-hand knowledge of that. I teach part-time (Speech, of course) at a local college, which happens to be Catholic. One of the priests was just on a cruise in Alaska as chaplain and said he got it for free, but had to be available 24/7 for passenger needs, infirmary visits, Mass and nondenominational services (it was seven days; more than that, there is a minister onboard). He could not be in the casino or play bingo, could not take shorex unless there were empty spots. A whole bunch of rules; he showed me the sheet. He is considered "part of the crew," in a way, and expected to act as such and be available as needed. (During port stops, when he wanders around on shore, he is on his own; he is not shackled to the ship.)

CatherineNOLA

July 20th, 2004, 12:15 PM

So does HAL guarantee that there will be a priest on every ship and on every trip? Crystal will have a priest on their upcoming Christmas cruise only if space permits.

tomc

July 20th, 2004, 12:28 PM

HAL's policy is to have a priest on board every cruise.

(1) If the ship goes down, you'll "go up."
(2) If you do something naughty, you can get onboard forgiveness without charge.

Roz

July 20th, 2004, 12:30 PM

Catherine, they don't guarantee it but they make every attempt to have a priest onboard. As far as I know, HAL is the only cruise line that consistently has a priest onboard. There's a "Diocese of the Maritimes", based in Seattle, that coordinates things. They're also responsible for placing priests on merchant marine vessels.

The Netherlands is often thought of a Protestant country, because of the Dutch Reformation. In fact, a little over half of the country is Catholic, but very liberal. The Pope gets heartburn from his kielbassi every time a Dutch theologian opens their mouth!

Roz

General Max

July 20th, 2004, 01:23 PM

tomc, very good information on the rules and regulations of the on board Catholic priests. I especially liked the ones about staying out of the casino and bingo game areas. Can they spend any time in the lounges or crow's nest in the evenings? What category cabin does HAL provide for the onboard clergy?

General Max

tomc

July 20th, 2004, 02:14 PM

I don't know much more than that. I'll have to ask the fellow next time I see him, which will be this coming semester when classes start up (he's in the English Department full-time; I'm an adjunct with Speech and Theater). I think they have the run of the ship except for the gambling, but I really have no reason to say that one way or another. Cabins, don't know, but I think they are steerage or a single somewhere. There are a few singles that are not passenger on the diagram, probably for entertainers and suchlike. I can ask the chaplain on my next cruise.

cruiser02

July 20th, 2004, 03:02 PM

I am thrilled HAL has daily mass. It is so nice to go to mass just because...not because it is Sunday or a Holy Day. I find mass a calming break in a unusally busy day on board. A cruise is the perfect setting

Beckey

July 20th, 2004, 04:54 PM

Hi, guys the Priest at our Church cruise a couple of times a year and they go FREE! Have never ask one of them about the restrictions they have placed on them - but it must not be too bad because they keep cruising :D
As for what type cabin do they get - must be pretty nice because sometimes 2 of them go.

Hey, I had not even thought about the fact that I can on to confession while I am on a cruise. That could sure make things easier when I get back home :p

sheldrvrT6A

July 22nd, 2004, 05:07 PM

Becky/Roz
If you cannot find the right time for Mass remember the old saying "If you see four catholics around you will probably find a "fifth". Have fun.
Jerry 57 year catholic!

fjb3cpa

July 27th, 2004, 12:45 PM

Just off of the Amsterdam this Sunday. The priest on board was Rev. Rick Spicer, who is based on an island north of Seattle. We enjoyed his company immensely, and he encouraged us to mention this in our satisfaction survey. It seems HAL is considering dropping the on board priest for most cruises. He conducted a Mass on Saturday at 4 PM for the Sunday obligation and the Wajaing Theatre was full. Hopefully HAL will continue to carry a priest on board for all future cruises.

To answer a question posted, we invited him to join our family group of 20 for cocktails in the Crow's nest on Friday evening, and he was excited to join us. We also walked with him in Victoria as he was familiar with the area.

Roz

July 27th, 2004, 12:50 PM

Jerry, thanks for the laugh...there's a kernel of truth in that saying!

fjb, that's disheartening to hear that HAL is considering doing away with the priest onboard. What about other clergy? A priest onboard is a HAL tradition, but it sounds like they're going the way of the Dover sole on Dutch night.

Maybe Rev. Neal can shed some (divine) light on this.

Roz

jhannah

July 27th, 2004, 01:08 PM

Wonder if there have been complaints about having a priest and not routinely having a rabbi and protestant clergyman as well.

FlorenceItaly

July 27th, 2004, 01:42 PM

The priest conducted the protestant service on the Maasdam last month...I attended.

Marie

Roz

July 27th, 2004, 02:23 PM

I'm guessing that one of the reasons there's a priest onboard, as opposed to a rabbi or Protestant clergyperson, is that Mass is celebrated every day in the Catholic faith, as opposed to once or twice a week services in other denominations.

The priest on my last cruise also mentioned that he would be conducting the Protestant service. He told us he regularly did that when he was an Army chaplain.

Roz

tomc

July 27th, 2004, 04:29 PM

I know someone who was a chaplain (and knows the person who assigns them). He should be able to find out.

CrabbyHarper

July 28th, 2004, 04:32 PM

One of the best things about my cruise on the Maasdam over Holy Week and Easter 2004 was having a great priest aboard and mass every day. The community of friends that formed from the daily mass-goers was wonderful.

When I got ready to book my next cruise I wanted to cruise a ship and line that had a priest - so I booked on Maasdam again for Nov 9.

This is really a highlight for me because although I usually attend up to four Masses on a weekend - I'm an organist - I live far enough away from the church that weekday masses are very difficult. So being on vacation means a treat that I do not often have - an easily accessble mass every day.

It's an individual decision - God wants us to have relaxation and recreation! He set the example by resting on the seventh day, ya know! For me it's mass, but for others it may be bingo!

I sure hope that HAL will continue to have priests aboard - for the sake of the crew members as well as for the passengers.

sheldrvrT6A

July 31st, 2004, 05:50 AM

Roz/TomC
Been off line for a week as I was in San Antonio on business.
What I did not understand at mass (on board) was the idea of "gift giving"? After the service I would always see the priest in the casino. Conicidence?
(just kidding)!!!

Tom
Was the priest your talking about from a small college in Montana? On the O at the beginning of July ours was a nice guy from their.
Have fun.
Jerry.