HAL - No Priest on Board?

[Jolokia]

I cruise with HAL because I can attend daily mass on board. However on the last 3 cruises there was no Priest for daily mass and non for Sunday as well.  I am curious how many others have experienced cruises without a Priest on board? And more importantly does the lack of priests on board affect which cruise line you will use in the future?

[kazu]

there was a priest on board for my recent sailings and Mass was of course, daily.

 

I am not Catholic and usually our services have to be led by the congregation.  It’s nice when the priest does it.  🙂 
 

[Petronillus]

It has been HAL's long-standing practice to provide room and board to Catholic chaplains whose principal duty is to conduct worship services not only on Sunday but on a daily basis. The chaplains receive no further compensation, and they are responsible for their transportation to the port of embarkation and from the port of debarkation.

I have sailed with HAL eight times and each cruise included a chaplain. OP's post is the first I've heard that suggests HAL is discontinuing this practice.

I too will be disappointed if that is so.

I'm particularly surprised the opportunity to attend Sunday Mass was not offered. I've heard that other cruise lines (Celebrity and perhaps others) bring a priest aboard from the local area on Sundays when possible.

[KAKcruiser]

Generally a Priest has been onboard my sailings.  It has been reported that occasionally a Priest is not available due to illness or some other problem but that is the exception.

[Loreto]

On my Dec. Sea of Cortez cruise on the Koningsdam the priest on board explained the organization "Apostleship of the Seas" whose goal it is to provide priests on every Holland America cruise.  The priest also says mass for the crew, many are Philippine and Catholic.  Sometimes it doesn't work out, which I have experienced, but they do their best to fill the cruises.

[Niagarawine]

Had a priest on my last cruise on Rotterdam. I would be very disappointed if there was not mass on board the ship in May

 

 

[Loreto]

It is important to mention on the survey that you appreciate having a catholic priest onboard ....I always do!

[sunviking90]

We had a priest onboard the Volendam in November and also last week on Koningsdam, so I don’t think the practice is ending, but rather there weren’t any available.

[mshell50]

My wife and I were just on the Koningsdam January 6, 2024 to January 13, 2024 out of San Diego sailing to Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, and Loreto in the sea of Cortes.  There was a priest on board who said daily Mass.

[RuthC]

I've been on a lot of HAL cruises, and have sailed without a priest exactly twice in all those years. Each time it was because the assigned priest was ill, and couldn't make the cruise. Also, each time there happened to be a priest aboard who was on vacation, and he came forward and filled the role.  

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, mshell50 said:

My wife and I were just on the Koningsdam January 6, 2024 to January 13, 2024 out of San Diego sailing to Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, and Loreto in the sea of Cortes.  There was a priest on board who said daily Mass.

Also on there for the 2 weeks prior (Dec 21 - Jan 6). He did daily services (not sure if any were missed) as well as Midnight Mass. 

[IAcruising]

How do they do the Blessed Sacrament? Don't they have rules on storage and logistics and such?

 

[2LoveBikes]

We have about 40 cruises with HAL and perhaps  3 times a priest was not on board.  Like others said it was due to illness.  Several times Guest Services check the passenger manifest and found a priest on vacation and he filled in with daily Mass.  We love HALs commitment to providing this service.  We include this in our surveys as well.

[Petronillus]

26 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

How do they do the Blessed Sacrament? Don't they have rules on storage and logistics and such?

 

By cruiseline rules, Communion is provided only in the form of bread; only the priest consumes the consecrated wine. The priest makes a rough count of the number of hosts required and any left over are consumed on site. As a result, the Blessed Sacrament is not reserved.

[Tradestock]

We appreciate the priest on board and the opportunity to attend Mass at sea.  Each of the cruises we have sailed with Holland America has had a priest.   We very much appreciated the airing of the Urbi et Orbi blessing that was aired on television for our Christmas cruise in Dec 2023, too.  Yes, a priest on board does influence our decision making regarding the line we sail.

[LouChamp]

Aloha.  Have been blessed to sail since the 1970s on various lines and ships. My experience has been HAL always had a priest and Mass said. During holidays other cruise lines as well.  Perhaps there may be instances where the priest assigned became ill but we were fortunate not to encounter that problem.  If I am in a circumstance where a priest is not on board there are many sites where Mass can be streamed including my parish in Honolulu.

[DCThunder]

8 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

Easter Sunday on the Oosterdam this year was a highlight.....led by a retired minister and a choir director.....full house in, how appropriately,  the "Rolling Stones" Lounge.....as pointed out by the minister.

I was on the same sailing on Oosterdam and although I'm an Episcopalian, I attended the Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Easter Sunday Masses and appreciated them greatly. 

 

HAL also was giving two physics professors/astronomers a lift home from doing research at an observatory in Chile and they gave a series of lectures astrophysics and astronomy stuff, including evenings of sea days on the top deck with the ships lights out to stargaze.  That was one of the highlights of the trip. 

 

So it's not an either a priest or an enrichment speaker thing. 

[POA1]

All of our sailings, dating back to 1994, have had a priest on board.

 

We have our first ever Easter cruise coming up in late March. We're not Catholic, but delighted that we'll have a member of the clergy.

[sarellen8385]

Here is what Apostleship of the Sea website says are the duties and what is included/not included for a participating priest:

 

Cruise Ship Priest Program

 

Basic Services provided by the Cruise Ship Priest:

• Daily Mass for Cruise Passengers
• Weekly Mass for the crew
• Ecumenical or Interfaith services for non-Catholic Passengers
• Pastoral care and visitation to the in-firmed for all passengers and crew
• Other religious and spiritual responsibilities as requested

The priest receives his room and basic meals courtesy of the cruise line. However, he also pays gratuities, purchases excursions, and buys items onboard. 

AOS-USA appreciates our Priests’ service onboard for the Spiritual and Pastoral Care of the People of the Sea. Once you are an AOS-USA Cruise Ship Priest, yours is NOT a “free cruise”. You are onboard for service and ministry. This is a unique ministry of the Catholic Church, and one which we take seriously.

[iflyrc5]

We were on the NS for 42 days in 2022, NA for 28 days in 2022, Rotterdam for 42 days in 2023, Eurodam for for 28 days in 2023 and are now on the Rotterdam again and we have had a priest saying daily Mass on all of these cruises.  About 10 years ago on a HAL cruise we did not have a priest for 24 day cruise because the priest that was supposed to come got sick and a replacement could not be found because of Visa was needed to be on the cruise.

[rafinmd]

My take seems to be pretty consistent with the information in the Catholic Travel Guide although there is one thing a bit out of date.

 

https://thecatholictravelguide.com/cruises/will-catholic-priest-cruise/

 

There are only 14 ships that offer daily Mass on every cruise, 11 from Holland America, 2 from Crystal, and Queen Mary 2.  With the exception of Noordam, Zuiderdam, and Nieuw Amsterdam I have sailed all of them.  As indicated in the above reference there are 2 reliable agencies for vetting Priests, Apostleship of the Seas (furnishing Priests to Holland America regularly and other lines for certain holidays.  Compass Speakers furnishes Priests for Crystal and Cunard.

 

I find it interesting that while Apostleship of the Seas indicates that among the services of their Priests is a Sunday non-denominational service for other Christians, I have not seen that happen in years.  I have found the "congregation-led" services to be of very variable quality.  While a few have been excellent (one on the Veendam led by a couple of the theater singers) others have been quite poor and at times so biased towards a particular theology that I could not consider them non-denominational.

 

By contrast, the Priests on Crystal do lead a service and it is always professionally done and a very high quality.  They use the liturgy in the provided hymnals and generally the Homily from Mass carries quite nicely into the service.

 

On QM2 there is an non-denominational service on Sundays at Sea led by  the Captain with the help of the Senior Officers and it is always well done, and I have found both the Crystal and Cunard offerings to be better than what I normally see on HAL.

 

A couple of additional notes on Crystal.  While they say the service is held on "Sundays at Sea" I have always seen it on Sunday whether in port or at sea as indicated in t snippet from Reflections: with Mass at 7:30 and interdenominational service at 5:30.

 

One caution for Crystal.  While Mass is offered for every full cruise day it does not happen on turnaround days but people should have a good chance of finding a church before boarding of after disembarking.

 

Roy

 

 

yvd.pdf