Catholic Mass

[luv4cruises]

18 hours ago, MamaChach said:

They have before covid on the ships we were on.  Not sure if it is happening now though:)

Only on HAL-Daily - always have a priest on board,

[TeeRick]

14 hours ago, sujac said:

I agree with all of the above. I have gone so far as to ask Celebrity if I brought my own priest would they be willing to waive the the 200% cruise fare, so I would only have to pay for one. Anybody want guess what their answer was?🙃

HaHaHa an Emotional Support Priest (ESP) who you could bring along.  I just found this very funny.  Would you take him on the plane too?  Not trying to offend anybody but just very funny to me. 😄

[vermonter16]

1 hour ago, TMLAalum said:

 

BTW, friends of ours will be on the Millennium this September 9-16. They aren't Catholic, though. Is that when you will be cruising? 

Unfortunately no.  We are on an 11 day.  We are at sea on Sunday, I was hoping to find the church in Hoonah on Saturday before we left, but it appears that the priest must come from somewhere else and they only have a Sunday Mass.  I am hopeful that a priest may be sailing - sometimes we get lucky on the extended cruises and I pray this will be one of those times.

[vermonter16]

57 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

HaHaHa an Emotional Support Priest (ESP) who you could bring along.  I just found this very funny.  Would you take him on the plane too?  Not trying to offend anybody but just very funny to me. 😄

LOL! This is pretty funny.

[vermonter16]

15 hours ago, sujac said:

I just couldn't believe that they wouldn't budge when I was willing to pay! I was told they didn't want to offend anyone. Ummmm ok, I'm a little offended by that statement. There are gatherings for every other group under the sun onboard.

 

Yes, it is rather annoying and I have my own thoughts on the matter...Celebrity stopped having priests onboard back sometime between 2010-2012 I believe.  It is rather disappointing that they did away with that as like others, I know lots of priests who wouldn't mind doing their retirement on a cruise ship.

[TeeRick]

Just now, vermonter16 said:

Yes, it is rather annoying and I have my own thoughts on the matter...Celebrity stopped having priests onboard back sometime between 2010-2012 I believe.  It is rather disappointing that they did away with that as like others, I know lots of priests who wouldn't mind doing their retirement on a cruise ship.

Well maybe they could become part of the Celebrity Guest Speaker series and give their "talks" in the theatre on Sunday mornings.  Just a thought.

[LGW59]

2 hours ago, HALrunner said:

HAL still has a priest on every sailing. The only post shutdown change is that all masses are at 5pm (instead of 8am on sea days) and they do not allow the crew mass. 

They don't allow the crew to attend mass if they have one on board???

 

[vermonter16]

3 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

They don't allow the crew to attend mass if they have one on board???

 

That's a shame and makes no sense.

[TMLAalum]

@vermonter16

Are you sailing this year or next? On the Millenium?

[Banjo]

I only experienced Mass once on a trans-Atlantic and I have done 9 TA's with Celebrity. It was back in 2015 and we had on-board a Swiss missionary priest that was returning home from Central America.  He did daily Mass every evening in the small conference room on sea days-which we had a lot being a trans-Atlantic and Sunday's Mass in the theater. He had no affiliation with Celebrity other than being a passenger and Celebrity gave him access to the rooms. I did get to speak with him on tours of Fatima (the ship, which was the Silhouette, stopped in Lisbon) and Santiago de Compostela (the ship stopped in Vigo). So I guess by chance you have a priest that is a passenger and he is willing to do it you will have Mass.

[vermonter16]

5 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

@vermonter16

Are you sailing this year or next? On the Millenium?

We are actually sailing the Eclipse this year on the September 11 sailing.

[LGW59]

7 minutes ago, vermonter16 said:

That's a shame and makes no sense.

Especially since many ship crew are from the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country

 

[vermonter16]

6 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Especially since many ship crew are from the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country

 

Yes, and I actually presumed that was part of the reason that they had a Catholic priest on board in the first place, but maybe not.

[TMLAalum]

I looked up the Eclipse itinerary. Since weekend Mass is impossible perhaps you could attend a weekday mass while in Victoria: St. Andrew's Cathedral (standrewscathedral.com

Again, streaming a Saturday or Sunday Mass while aboard the Eclipse is an option, although not ideal. Please confer with your home parish priest about your dilemma and hopefully he will allow for options since you are unable to fulfill your in-person Sunday obligation.

 

[vermonter16]

8 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

I looked up the Eclipse itinerary. Since weekend Mass is impossible perhaps you could attend a weekday mass while in Victoria: St. Andrew's Cathedral (standrewscathedral.com

Again, streaming a Saturday or Sunday Mass while aboard the Eclipse is an option, although not ideal. Please confer with your home parish priest about your dilemma and hopefully he will allow for options since you are unable to fulfill your in-person Sunday obligation.

 

My priest is aware lol.  I just let him know when I'll be away and that I need to go to confession when I get back.  He completely understands and says when he retires, he wants to be a priest onboard a cruise ship, lol.  I have looked up the itinerary and Mass just isn't possible - you are right.  The trip is our last hurrah on Celebrity for at least a couple years.  We were supposed to go last year for our 20th and the itinerary was perfect - we were to be in port Sunday at Sitka.  We rescheduled for this one and I'm like, are you kidding me?  Sunday at sea?  Augh.

[TMLAalum]

@vermonter16

If you are flying into YVR on a few days before your cruise, perhaps our paths will cross as we will be at the Vancouver airport the 9th. Picking up a rental car, driving to Birch Bay WA for a week and returning to Vancouver the 16th to pick up our friends off their Millennium cruise. Together the four of us head to the Canadian Rockies for a week+.

 

Our next potential Celebrity cruise will be on the Summit for the Iceland/Greenland itinerary. I'd be pleasantly surprised if a Sunday Mass could work out.

[sujac]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

HaHaHa an Emotional Support Priest (ESP) who you could bring along.  I just found this very funny.  Would you take him on the plane too?  Not trying to offend anybody but just very funny to me. 😄

Yes. I meant it to be funny! I suggested they implement a bring your own priest program (BOP). Kidding aside, I know many crew are Catholic and would gladly attend Mass if offered.

 

[JaneAustenCruiser]

19 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

My DH is a scrupulous Catholic. Our priest has told him that if there is no possibility of attending Mass, the obligation is moot. On Sunday sea days DH has requested a room for facilitating a Christian prayer service that includes the day’s readings and Celebrity has obliged. Pre-Covid, priests have been aboard at Christmas and during Lent through Easter on the several Celebrity cruises we’ve taken that occur at those times.

 

On port Sundays, we enjoy attending a local church for Mass even if we don’t speak the language!

@TMLAalum, I did this in Aruba when we stopped there on a cruise and it was the most lovely experience!

Edited February 10, 2022 by JaneAustenCruiser