Religious services on TAs and TPs?

[Markanddonna]

We've been on many transatlantic and one transpacific cruise over the years and enjoyed the various nondenomination services and groups the cruise lines allowed to have room. Some were packed with standing room only, while others had perhaps twelve people who came only on sea days.

 

We asked on our last two Celebrity cruises, and they didn't allow any religious gatherings, nor would they post any information about religious gatherings. However, they allowed a Muslim prayer gathering in a meeting room last May on the Constellation and had two Shabat services for Jewish people on this past sailing on the Apex. They provided challah bread, prayer books, glasses, and wine! It was self-led. 

I wrote a comment about this to the staff and was contacted several times by phone with a response. No acceptable answer just a response.

 

After several others also inquired, the Apex relented and posted that there would be a mass at 8:00 in the Club on Sunday morning, our last Sunday onboard. Although not Catholic, I dropped in, only to discover a very nice man inviting me to stay for the non-denominational gathering. It wasn't a Catholic mass at all because there was no priest. The man said the staff was confused and put in the wrong information. So, any Catholic would have been disappointed, and most interested Protestants wouldn't have attempted to go. 

 

The staff phoned me several times- the first at MIDNIGHT to let me know a Catholic mass was happening the next day. They kept calling, thinking I would be so very happy about this. After several more calls from them, I thanked them and told them to NOT call me again with apologies.

 

This has been our experience lately on longer sailings. Are other cruise lines equally resistant?  We had an RCL entertainer join us for one sailing about eight years ago and he preached the Sunday service. James was amazing!

 

I am aware that HAL often provides a priest for Roman Catholics, especially for Alaska cruises.  Any good, recent experiences?

Edited May 24 by Markanddonna

[Mom the Traveller]

Holland America always has a Catholic priest on board.  In my experience, most of the priests offer daily Mass in addition to weekend Mass.  We recently completed a 73 day cruise and Mass was offered every day.  That's one of the reasons that HAL is our preferred line.

 

[mom says]

Not sure what exactly it is that you want? Do you expect every ship on every cruiseline to have a full time Protestant minister, Catholic Priest, Rabbi, Imam (not to mention Buddhist or Shinto, or Orthodox priests) on board to provide for every type of service? Or only some of the above? If so, which ones, and why only those?

 

If you are Catholic, you know that only a priest can say Mass. But anyone can have a prayer service. You may not be aware of this, but there is actually a shortage of priests and deacons in North America. I'm not sure too many diosces would be willing to hire their priests out to a cruise line while their churches go without. However, I know from speaking with our parish priest that many who take a vacation cruise will volunteer to say a Mass. But how HAL can guarantee a priest for every sailing, I don't know. I've never heard of that on any other line.

[Markanddonna]

1 hour ago, mom says said:

Not sure what exactly it is that you want? Do you expect every ship on every cruiseline to have a full time Protestant minister, Catholic Priest, Rabbi, Imam (not to mention Buddhist or Shinto, or Orthodox priests) on board to provide for every type of service? Or only some of the above? If so, which ones, and why only those?

 

If you are Catholic, you know that only a priest can say Mass. But anyone can have a prayer service. You may not be aware of this, but there is actually a shortage of priests and deacons in North America. I'm not sure too many diosces would be willing to hire their priests out to a cruise line while their churches go without. However, I know from speaking with our parish priest that many who take a vacation cruise will volunteer to say a Mass. But how HAL can guarantee a priest for every sailing, I don't know. I've never heard of that on any other line.

What was requested was simply the use of a room based on the ship's availability. No priest, no food or supplies. Just a room.

 

Non-denominational services used to be a common offering and often came together when a person, usually a layman, requested it. Sometimes they were posted in a daily or app, sometimes not. I understand why a cruise line would not want to pay for a priest to perform Roman Catholic mass on a cruise. A non-denominational service costs the ship nothing. I am not a Catholic, but am well aware of the shortage of priests in the USA.

[navybankerteacher]

6 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

We've been on many transatlantic and one transpacific cruise over the years and enjoyed the various nondenomination services and groups the cruise lines allowed to have room. Some were packed with standing room only, while others had perhaps twelve people who came only on sea days.

 

We asked on our last two Celebrity cruises, and they didn't allow any religious gatherings, nor would they post any information about religious gatherings. However, they allowed a Muslim prayer gathering in a meeting room last May on the Constellation and had two Shabat services for Jewish people on this past sailing on the Apex. They provided challah bread, prayer books, glasses, and wine! It was self-led. 

I wrote a comment about this to the staff and was contacted several times by phone with a response. No acceptable answer just a response.

 

After several others also inquired, the Apex relented and posted that there would be a mass at 8:00 in the Club on Sunday morning, our last Sunday onboard. Although not Catholic, I dropped in, only to discover a very nice man inviting me to stay for the non-denominational gathering. It wasn't a Catholic mass at all because there was no priest. The man said the staff was confused and put in the wrong information. So, any Catholic would have been disappointed, and most interested Protestants wouldn't have attempted to go. 

 

The staff phoned me several times- the first at MIDNIGHT to let me know a Catholic mass was happening the next day. They kept calling, thinking I would be so very happy about this. After several more calls from them, I thanked them and told them to NOT call me again with apologies.

 

This has been our experience lately on longer sailings. Are other cruise lines equally resistant?  We had an RCL entertainer join us for one sailing about eight years ago and he preached the Sunday service. James was amazing!

 

I am aware that HAL often provides a priest for Roman Catholics, especially for Alaska cruises.  Any good, recent experiences?

In my experience HAL and Cunard both have Catholic priests on board on all sailings.  

[donaldsc]

3 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

In my experience HAL and Cunard both have Catholic priests on board on all sailings.  

 

Is the priest being given free passage or paid by the cruise line so that they can perform masses on board.  If so I would find this totally unacceptable since this would mean that my cruise fare is being used to provide a religious service that I do not believe in.  This ignores the many people on board who do not believe in catholicism and whose faiths have been treated very badly in the past by the catholic church.  Except for allowing space on board for layperson passengers the cruise lines have no business supporting any religion including mine.

 

DON

Edited May 25 by donaldsc

[MBP&O2/O]

Our Indian crew used to come to the bridge at prayer time to get the bearing of Mecca relative to the ships heading. They used to face Mecca when they prayed on deck ... no private rooms required.

[Markanddonna]

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Is the priest being given free passage or paid by the cruise line so that they can perform masses on board.  If so I would find this totally unacceptable since this would mean that my cruise fare is being used to provide a religious service that I do not believe in.  This ignores the many people on board who do not believe in catholicism and whose faiths have been treated very badly in the past by the catholic church.  Except for allowing space on board for layperson passengers the cruise lines have no business supporting any religion including mine.

 

DON

Once again, I am not Catholic. Celebrity SAID there was going to be a Catholic mass but got it all wrong. There was no priest. I have been on a number of past sailings with other cruise lines and they gave the priest a free cabin. I believe there is a Catholic organization based in Seattle who organizes priests for cruises. If I were Catholic, I would be very unhappy with this, considering the short of priests, but most are retired who do the cruises. All we requested was a room. My husband and I have led Sunday services twice onboard. Once, we were given the theater and another was a meeting room.

 

 

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Once again, I am not Catholic. Celebrity SAID there was going to be a Catholic mass but got it all wrong. There was no priest. I have been on a number of past sailings with other cruise lines and they gave the priest a free cabin. I believe there is a Catholic organization based in Seattle who organizes priests for cruises. If I were Catholic, I would be very unhappy with this, considering the short of priests, but most are retired who do the cruises. All we requested was a room. My husband and I have led Sunday services twice onboard. Once, we were given the theater and another was a meeting room.

 

 

 

Do they offer free cabins to officiants of every religion that request them.  Again - I have absolutely no problem with providing space in the theater or in a meeting room to a member of the crew or to a passenger to do a service but I have a very big problem to providing a free cabin to an officiant.  I do wonder if an officiant from a small religion or an unpopular one would be accorded the same privileges accorded to a large religion such as catholics or a large protestant sect.  

 

I really think that cruise lines should just stay out of the religion business and stick to the cruising business.  It would make it much easier for them.

 

DON

[Markanddonna]

Here is the website that provides Catholic priests. It is the Apostles at Sea Program.

 

I find it interesting that the ships often assume that Protestants would be okay with a priest conducting their service. On one cruise, a member of the entertainment staff gave the message during a joint service onboard. He was phenomenal and quite dynamic. I felt sorry for the priest who had to co-officiate with them.

 

Summary: A Sunday mass would require a priest to officiate, and there is some cost involved for the cruise line. Protestant services cost nothing except the use of a room.

 

 https://www.aos-usa.org/store/pg/40-About-the-Cruise-Ship-Priest-Program-clone.aspx

[Silent Penguin]

We've never cruised with HAL so have never attend a religious service on their ships, but we have attended Christian worship service on Princess and Celebrity.  The service on Princess was several years ago, so probably not relevant except for the fact that its arrangement was exactly the same as our more recent experience on Celebrity this past November.  In both cases,  a pastor on board as a guest arranged for the use of a meeting room for Sunday service. Also, in both cases,  we learned of it by word of mouth because it wasn't in the daily planner or on the app.  On our most recent cruise, with Celebrity, the service was posted on the LED events display next to the Guest Services desk.  

 

I'm surprised and sorry to hear that your experience with Celebrity was that of resistance. A meeting room for regular Sunday service was arranged for both Sundays we were onboard.  Not only did we have the use of a meeting room and a listing on the LED events board, but when my husband approached the pastor about providing audio-visual assistance for the following Sunday, Celebrity gave us permission to use the equipment (screen, projector) in the room.  Also, since no one had booked the adjoining room, and it was apparent that the second service was going to draw a bigger crowd, they opened up the partition for us and set up more chairs.  Further more, the Jewish people on board also had services with a Kiddush. At least on this ship and on this sailing, Celebrity was hospitable and accommodating. 

Edited May 25 by Silent Penguin

[NHCRUISIN]

On 5/25/2024 at 10:02 AM, Markanddonna said:

Once again, I am not Catholic. Celebrity SAID there was going to be a Catholic mass but got it all wrong. There was no priest. I have been on a number of past sailings with other cruise lines and they gave the priest a free cabin. I believe there is a Catholic organization based in Seattle who organizes priests for cruises. If I were Catholic, I would be very unhappy with this, considering the short of priests, but most are retired who do the cruises. All we requested was a room. My husband and I have led Sunday services twice onboard. Once, we were given the theater and another was a meeting room.

 

 

So even though you are not catholic, you are upset Celebrity made a mistake and said there was a catholic service ?

I wouldn’t let it bother you so much and just enjoy your cruise.

[wdw1972]

On 5/24/2024 at 9:53 PM, navybankerteacher said:

In my experience HAL and Cunard both have Catholic priests on board on all sailings.  

Not any longer. This past week HAL changed their practice, now limiting the catholic priests to grand/legendary and long voyages.  Specifically not in Alaska, Caribbean, and several other regions. I've never understood why they provided priests in the past yet ignored all the other religions, and since I gave up the whole catholic thing as a teenager I never attended. I did however think it was unfair to the jews, protestants, muslim, hindu, southern baptist, etc. No religion should take preference over another, and since clearly you can't have them all catered to the best approach is to let the faithful practice their religion privately vs as a ship-sponsored activity. I know many disagree.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[SoloAlaska]

I overheard a conversation last year on my TA. A preacher wanted to hold services, the NCL staff offered him a space. Well he insisted it be announced and posted around the ship, they said the could not. The couple tried putting up a fuss but they did not succeed. Honestly from what I heard and saw from them it would not have been a service welcoming to everyone. NCL threaded the needle well on that one.

[Markanddonna]

17 hours ago, SoloAlaska said:

I overheard a conversation last year on my TA. A preacher wanted to hold services, the NCL staff offered him a space. Well he insisted it be announced and posted around the ship, they said the could not. The couple tried putting up a fuss but they did not succeed. Honestly from what I heard and saw from them it would not have been a service welcoming to everyone. NCL threaded the needle well on that one.

I cannot understand why the ship wouldn't post a notice in the daily. Once again, the Jewish self-led Shabbat services are posted. I understand the frustration of some clergyperson who offers. They are giving up their vacation time and the room will be empty because on one knows.