Hanukkah on the Silhouette

[missyg176]

hi! Does anyone know what celebrity does during Hanukkah on their cruises? is there manurah lightings each night?

thanks!

[Phxazzcruisers]

There was on the cruises we were on. A giant menorah in the lobby

[royalcruz]

I don't think they allow any open flames, even for religious purposes, due to safety issues. In the last 10 yrs, I've only seen electric menorahs. I do remember attending nightly candle lightings of an electric menorah in a meeting room, but we haven't attended any in a long time, and don't even remember if it was on Celebrity or Princess. They were held before sundown to accommodate dining times (so by Jewish standards on the wrong day). I'm going to bring my own menorah and candles and make the blessings without lighting the candles. See you onboard! :)

Edited December 13, 2014 by royalcruz

[donaldsc]

I don't think they allow any open flames, even for religious purposes, due to safety issues. In the last 10 yrs, I've only seen electric menorahs. I do remember attending nightly candle lightings of an electric menorah in a meeting room, but we haven't attended any in a long time, and don't even remember if it was on Celebrity or Princess. They were held before sundown to accommodate dining times (so by Jewish standards on the wrong day). I'm going to bring my own menorah and candles and make the blessings without lighting the candles. See you onboard! :)

 

I realize that it would feel strange but you could buy one of those electric menorahs. Not traditional but at least it will be lit.

 

If you are going to bring a regular menorah because it has a great family history, I would not do it unless I could put it into my carry on. What if your luggage is lost?

 

DON

[ghstudio]

Just a FYI related to the topic.

 

Celebrity does an absolutely amazing job at passover....including a "by invitation only" sedar with waiters serving the meal which included manichevitz wine, a sedar plate, gefilte fish and matzoh ball soup....officiated by, in our case, a retired cantor. All of this was unannounced...the only way to know and get invited was to ask guest services if there was anything planned for passover. We were on the eclipse and over 200 people participated in the free special meal.

 

It's one of the areas where celebrity really does an outstanding job.

Edited December 13, 2014 by ghstudio

[2theship]

In 2012, we were on the Silhouette transatlantic for all eight nights of Hanukkah. Every night there was a service in Celebrity Central. A rabbi from Chicago was on board to lead the service and while we could not light real candles, we did have an electric menorah. The ship also provided latkes and other treats. Since we had people from all over the world participating, we had a chance to hear about a variety of traditions. It was just a lovely experience.

[curiouscat]

They will definitely have some type of service and the Menorah will be electric... lit each evening.

 

We were just on Reflection and they had a nice Shabbat service and it was interesting since there were Jews from all over the world.. I just love Shabbat services on board. ( Don't go at home).

 

CC

 

PS remember who CEO of RCCL is... Adam Goldstein :D

[lori450]

They posted an announcement and we all gathered upstairs where they had a rabbi light the menorah each night. And we sang the prayers and some songs. They offered sufganiot and latkes (but they went way too fast - not everyone got one).

[cle-guy]

Just off Sillie, and an electric menorah was on deck 3 by Guest Relations.

[Bruin Steve]

We were on the Century in Australia/New Zealand a few years back during Chanukah...and they had a Rabbi onboard from Tulsa, Oklahoma...It turns out that he was the Rabbi who had officiated at the Funeral for my Uncle-who lived in Tulsa-and he and his wife knew my Uncle and Aunt very well...Small world...

[curiouscat]

We were on the Century in Australia/New Zealand a few years back during Chanukah...and they had a Rabbi onboard from Tulsa, Oklahoma...It turns out that he was the Rabbi who had officiated at the Funeral for my Uncle-who lived in Tulsa-and he and his wife knew my Uncle and Aunt very well...Small world...

 

Wow, a small world indeed. I was on Azamara in the Med this May and ran into a woman who's family owned the venue where my hubby's cousin got married in Chicago. And the families were close friends with hubby's Aunt and Uncle... It was hysterical...

[Ba' Datz]

Last year on Royal Caribbean's Serenade they had a few electric menorahs around the ship as well as decorations in the Centrum. There was a passenger led ceremony every night with jelly doughnuts (sufganiot) and potato latkes. We had about 20 people each night.

 

Just a small Halachic (religious law) note regarding electric menorahs. It is preferable by strict religious law to use battery powered candles such as tealights (which can be picked up at any dollar store or the like) rather than an electric menorah which is connected to the mains. The reason for this is that the original miracle of Chanukah was with a pitcher of oil which had a finite amount of oil in it. A battery also has a finite amount of power in it while a menorah connected to the mains has infinite power.

 

Therefore a battery powered light is "closer" to the miracle and should be preferred if open flamed candles are not available.

 

Happy Chanukah to all

[nikel]

In 2012, we were on the Silhouette transatlantic for all eight nights of Hanukkah. Every night there was a service in Celebrity Central. A rabbi from Chicago was on board to lead the service and while we could not light real candles, we did have an electric menorah. The ship also provided latkes and other treats. Since we had people from all over the world participating, we had a chance to hear about a variety of traditions. It was just a lovely experience.

 

We were on the same cruise and were more than impressed with the celebration of Hanukah by celebrity. Even our waiter in the dining room made sure we had latkes at our table every night and a challah for Shabbat. Some nights the services were full and some only half. I guess it depended what the shore excursions were that day.

[DancerOT]

Several years ago on Century, there was a communal candle lighting held each night using actual candles. We went a couple times, but we had brought our own Chanukiah and candles to celebrate with. Each night at dinner, we lit ours and often, people from surrounding tables came over to join us in the prayers and lighting. Our waiter (the awesome Severino!!!) made certain to have a couple extra napkins for us to place it on so we didn't get wax on the tablecloth. It remains one of my favorite cruise memories!