Question for Catholic Cruisers

[CatDenver]

I've read (don't recall where) that if a Catholic priest is on board the ship a Sunday Mass is celebrated. Has anyone experienced this? If so, how did you find out that a Mass would be celebrated?

 

[Miss Peach]

That is one of things that is great about sailing HAL... Daily Mass!

 

[neg58]

It will be in the Navigator. We were on the Christmas cruise and there was Mass every day, on Christmas in WD theater and other days in Buena Vista.

There was also information about Shabbat on Friday night, and said it was 'self lead' so I don't know if those who wanted it just asked for a time/room, but it was in the Navigator.

Nancy

 

[CatDenver]

Great! I told the hubby and kiddos we need to pray for a priest on board. I'd love to have daily Mass! Thanks for the info!

 

[k3chantal]

I've read (don't recall where) that if a Catholic priest is on board the ship a Sunday Mass is celebrated. Has anyone experienced this? If so, how did you find out that a Mass would be celebrated?

We are Catholic and sailed in October during Halloween on the Wonder in 2011. I read the Navigators pretty throughly and do not remember Mass being celebrated; perhaps only on the bigger ships? We also did sail from Sunday to Sunday. I will go check the Navigators that I saved and see if I missed something.

 

[k3chantal]

Okay, I went over all the Navigators from our trip and no Mass during that sailing. (There was mention of a spot for the Jewish Sabbath).

Upon reflection, I do remember having one of our favorite visiting priests over for dinner and his next 'assignment was to be the priest on a cruise. This was many years ago and I would imagine that these assignments are pretty few and far between since most parishes need more priests. (He was from Canada and escaping the Winter months.)

 

[neg58]

Great! I told the hubby and kiddos we need to pray for a priest on board. I'd love to have daily Mass! Thanks for the info!

I think it is not common except for Christmas and probably Easter. The priest we had had done it several times, and he introduced his niece as a CM or somehow involved with disney. I got the impression he got a free cruise every Christmas and Disney made a lot of people happy for a Christmas cruise.

We went to midnight mass, and there weren't very many passengers in the WD theater, but there were a ton of crew members.

Now there are many churches near the ports, so you might be able to find mass on port days.

Nancy

 

[TrixieM]

We are sailing on the 3/29 Magic cruise from Galveston. I confirmed with DCL that there will be a Catholic Mass on Easter. I didn't ask about daily Mass.

 

[DisneyDream2B]

We have attended daily Mass on a cruise that included Ash Wednesday. The CM who assisted told me that DCL brings a priest for Mass on all cruises that include Christmas, Easter, or Ash Wednesday. In addition, there may be a Mass offered on other cruises, if a priest happens to sail with DCL. I have never been able to confirm that a priest will be offering Mass onboard for cruises other than Christmas, Easter, or Ash Wednesday, in advance, despite calling DCL to inquire when we were considering other cruises. Thus, there might be times when Mass is offered other than Christmas, Easter, or Ash Wednesday, but I don't know how to identify which cruises would offer this, in time to reserve the cruise. Thus, we cruise when we can be certain Mass is celebrated onboard (Christmas, Easter, Ash Wednesday) or when port days allow for Sunday Mass.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Don't plan on a mass unless you are on a sailing during a major Catholic holiday (Christmas and Easter). We've sailed 7 times. I have never seen a mass scheduled during any of our sailings. And we're Catholic so it would have stuck out to me.

 

[annichan]

A cruise friend of ours is a Catholic priest and he said Mass when he was on the cruise - only on the Sunday, though, not daily.

 

[DL1957]

We were on the repo cruise in 2011 from LA to Vancouver and there was a priest on the ship who said Mass on Sunday which was an at sea day. We were in the movie theater and the place was standing room only a lot of crew in addition to us Catholic travelers. I learned about it from a Dis member whose family was sailing with her brother the priest. It was in the navagator so if there is priest on board DCL does its best to make it work. I must say it was really neat to have Mass on the ship.

 

[bceagle76]

been on 9 cruises
there was daily mass on our last cruise the Xmas cruise
i was on one other I believe it was the 15 day canal that there was daily mass
i think other then hoildays unless there is a priest who is crusing there is no daily mass

8/99 4day Magic
4/02 7 day Magic
8/03 7 day Magic
11/05 4 day wonder pin cruise
8/06 7 day Magic
8/08 15 night Panama Canal
8/09 7 day Magic
8/11 Alaska
12/12 Christmas on the Fantasy

 

[lanejudy]

If cruising during a major holiday, I think DCL tries to schedule appropriate clergy to be onboard and conduct services. If cruising any other time, my understanding is that DCL will provide space if a member of the clergy is booked and requests space to hold a service.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[kcashner]

On major holidays, DCL tries to book an appropriate clergy person to perform services for guests. This will be noted in the Navigator. They do this for most Jewish and Christian holidays.

If an appropriate religious official (of any religion) is on board and OFFERS to perform services, space will be provided and a notice placed in the Navigator. Whether these services are daily, once during the cruise, or whatever is up to the volunteer.

On cruises with no clergy, DCL makes space available on Friday evenings for Jewish services and Sunday mornings for Christian services. These are a situation where all interested individuals may have a "do it yourself" service.

There are no services or space available on cruises beginning or ending on a Sunday. There is a list of churches available at Guest Services for individuals who may wish to attend at a church near the terminal.

 

[Texan920]

We are sailing on the 3/29 Magic cruise from Galveston. I confirmed with DCL that there will be a Catholic Mass on Easter. I didn't ask about daily Mass.

Wow, I'm so glad to hear this, this is one of my concern for not having Mass for Easter Sunday since we are at sea and get to port in Florida on Monday.

Thank you so much for the infomation, I just booked my first DS for March 29 a week ago.(used to booked one when Disney just came to Galveston, I wanted for 18 months for Thanksgiving cruise, however, due to some urgent family matter I have to cancelled that.)

 

[ImDMous]

We sailed in early May on the Fantasy and there was Mass held on Sunday morning. There was no holiday that week so I assume there just happened to be a priest sailing who volunteered. I guess it's just luck of the draw for non-holiday weeks.

 

[Meliss32]

I'm quite amazed at reading this thread- Disney sure goes the extra mile!

 

[betsy918]

I've been on five Disney cruises in the last year, and the only one with mass celebrated was the Christmas cruise on the Wonder.

 

[ilovetexas]

I'm quite amazed at reading this thread- Disney sure goes the extra mile!

I'm fairly certain most cruise lines do these things. Celebrity and RCI for sure. I understand that HAL and Cunard have clergy on board all the time, not just holidays. A quick search on Cruise Critic revealed that much and if I keep looking, I guarantee there are more. It is great that these cruise lines respect their passengers faith enough to make services and clergy available!

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