Catholic mass

[gizmodog]

Has Holland already done away with this? On two week cruise Oct. 5 in Greece and wondering if there will be mass onboard.

[Cruisin4now]

I believe it goes away next year and will only be available on extended voyages, I think 21/35+ day cruises. This was from a priest on board two weeks ago.

[dfilpus]

According to 

Starting in 2025, there will be a priest on board for longer cruises and a select set of distant cruises, including Hawaii, the Panama Canal, Asia, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Edited September 6 by dfilpus

[sunviking90]

Currently on Nieuw Amsterdam for 2 weeks (7day B2B ) and there is no mass. Daily prayers led by passengers only.

[DaveOKC]

One less reason for us to sail with HAL in the future.  We certainly appreciate having Mass on almost all cruise!

[AV8rix]

25 minutes ago, dfilpus said:

According to 

Starting in 2025, there will be a priest on board for longer cruises and a select set of distant cruises, including Hawaii, the Panama Canal, Asia, South America, Australia, and New Zealand.

Wow!  That's gotta be tough for the Filipino crew!!  Bad enough for folks on for just a week or two but those guys are on for 6-9 months at a time!

[oakridger]

I asked on another thread but didn't see if anyone answered.....are there any other mass market cruise lines that have a priest on all sailings?  (I know Crystal usually has a priest, but it isn't mass market.)

 

Thanks,

~Nancy

[Petronillus]

As @dfilpus has been kind enough to direct our attention, there has alrleady been a heap of weeping and lamentation over this short-sighted change of policy. It's true that none of the other mass-market cruise lines offer this "amenity." But to me that just means HAL has frittered away one of its competitive advantages. But then, so long as the ships are sailing at full capacity, who needs a competitive advantage?

Revenge of the beancounters.

[Roz]

How many priests are able to get away for long periods of time?

[Sea42]

5 minutes ago, Roz said:

How many priests are able to get away for long periods of time?

Retired ones maybe?

[KAKcruiser]

There is no shortage of Priests willing to serve as chaplains on ships.  The Apostalate of the Seas arranges for the Priests and they have reported that this was HAL's decision.

[srsurman]

Just curious, these priests were getting free room and board?  If so, seems like an easy cut if you're trying to manage a budget.  🤷‍♂️

[Cruisin4now]

Yes, retired.

Yes, free room signup is well in advance.

No, they don’t decide the mass schedule for guests nor crew. So if the ship wants to celebrate mass during sailaway for example, the priest has to go along with it. They are not given advance notice of the schedule.
 

On our last cruise, the crew mass was at 11pm on Sunday night.  Apparently there is a 45 minutes break at that time for this religious observation. 

[Petronillus]

6 minutes ago, srsurman said:

Just curious, these priests were getting free room and board?  If so, seems like an easy cut if you're trying to manage a budget.  🤷‍♂️

They were assigned a single (inside) cabin in the officer quarters.

On the other hand, the bean counters could have insisted that they each be accompanied by a paying pax to share their cabin.

[Horizon chaser 1957]

49 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

As @dfilpus has been kind enough to direct our attention, there has alrleady been a heap of weeping and lamentation over this short-sighted change of policy. It's true that none of the other mass-market cruise lines offer this "amenity." But to me that just means HAL has frittered away one of its competitive advantages. But then, so long as the ships are sailing at full capacity, who needs a competitive advantage?

Revenge of the beancounters.

As usual, the bean counters forget that the tide that rises also falls. And there will be one less competitive advantage when it does.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

One less reason for us to sail with HAL in the future.  We certainly appreciate having Mass on almost all cruise!

Are there a lot if other cruise lines that offer Catholic services?

[Blackduck59]

I find it interesting with all the multitude of threads that have addressed this subject; the number of guests who say they won't sail with HAL anymore because of this "short sighted" decision. Implying that there are plenty of other lines who have a priest onboard for daily mass. I'm curious just how many are attending these daily services? Not being Catholic I clearly don't get it, but there are many religions represented on every cruise and they don't have an onboard officiant. I'm not sure how short sighted it was because it wouldn't be long before some members of any given group would expect equal treatment no matter how many of their particular faith were on the cruise.

Edited September 6 by Blackduck59

[Niagarawine]

18 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I find it interesting with all the multitude of threads that have addressed this subject; the number of guests who say they won't sail with HAL anymore because of this "short sighted" decision. Implying that there are plenty of other lines who have a priest onboard for daily mass. I'm curious just how many are attending these daily services? Not being Catholic I clearly don't get it, but there are many religions represented on every cruise and they don't have an onboard officiant. I'm not sure how short sighted it was because it wouldn't be long before some members of any given group would expect equal treatment no matter how many of their particular faith were on the cruise.

I attended mass on the Koningsdam and Rotterdam and the Hudson room was packed every time. I am disappointed to hear this about no mass. It’s one of the main reasons I sail with them.

[Blackduck59]

24 minutes ago, Niagarawine said:

I attended mass on the Koningsdam and Rotterdam and the Hudson room was packed every time. I am disappointed to hear this about no mass. It’s one of the main reasons I sail with them.

How many passengers compared to the overall number of passengers, and now which other lines have priests aboard?

[gizmodog]

I attended on westerdam and Eurodam, packed every time once they needed to bring in more chairs.

i loved that they had it.

as far as other religions, none that I am aware of are required to attend mass on Sundays 

if they do not, without a valid reason it is a mortal sin. That being said if you are in the middle of the ocean with no option, that is a valid reason.

i just hate to miss Sunday mass and was so pleased that holland celebrated it.

[Seasick Sailor]

Mass was packed again tonight, but it tends to run over past 5:00.

[Dancing Shoes]

There was mass on the Volendam sailing Aug 20 Boston to Montreal.  

[Petronillus]

5 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I find it interesting with all the multitude of threads that have addressed this subject; the number of guests who say they won't sail with HAL anymore because of this "short sighted" decision. Implying that there are plenty of other lines who have a priest onboard for daily mass. I'm curious just how many are attending these daily services? Not being Catholic I clearly don't get it, but there are many religions represented on every cruise and they don't have an onboard officiant. I'm not sure how short sighted it was because it wouldn't be long before some members of any given group would expect equal treatment no matter how many of their particular faith were on the cruise.

So what's the big deal, you ask.

 

I can appreciate how strange it seems and how difficult it must be to appreciate what Sunday Eucharistic worship means for a Catholic. Many of my generation grew up thinking that it was mortal sin to miss Mass on Sunday without a solid excuse. When I was a youngster my parents would not let me join a boy scout troupe because they weren't under the auspices of our parish and they conducted campouts and such over weekends without making provision for the scouts to attend Mass. Most of us, I dare to say, have outgrown the fear of going to hell skipping Mass, but regular, weekly Mass attendance is still deeply ingrained in us. Add to that the fact that from time immemorial Holland America Line has made a point to accommodate a Catholic priest on its cruises. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that from the earliest times 152 years ago, Catholic priests have been serving as chaplains on board HAL vessels.

 

You have a hard time grasping that this is a bid deal for Catholics. I've tried to shed some light. The presence of an onboard priest is not the only factor; it's probably not even the deciding factor. But as I've tried to emphasize over and over, it has distinguished HAL from the rest and given it a competitive edge. It has influenced a lot of decisions to select a HAL cruise over others.

[Niagarawine]

Just wondering how many feel that having a priest on board is important to them

[1025cruise]

Considering how many people complain when circumstances occur that the priest misses the sailing, I'd say important.