Sunday Mass?

[MinnesotaCruiser]

This might be a long shot but what do you think there will be for chances of having a priest on board for Sunday mass (sea day for us)?  Anyone ever experience mass at sea?  I hear it does happen but have no clue where I would find this out.

[Baked Alaska]

11 minutes ago, MinnesotaCruiser said:

This might be a long shot but what do you think there will be for chances of having a priest on board for Sunday mass (sea day for us)?  Anyone ever experience mass at sea?  I hear it does happen but have no clue where I would find this out.

When we were on Disney Fantasy during Easter week (not Triduum) 2017, we had a priest who Mass celebrated every day for passengers. Not bad for the Mouse! Ive not heard anything for RCCL other than a "worship service, self-led".

[SpeedNoodles]

I'd check previous cruise compasses.

[Dan Curtis]

If it is not a seas day, I would get off the ship and find a church, as far as on the ship I have never saw a worship,service being held, but it seems like a good ideal.

[MKSglitz]

If there happens to be a priest that is a passenger for that particular cruise, he might say Mass. In that case, I'd check the Cruise Compass the night before.   In 16 yrs., that has happened only once for us, so I wouldn't count on it.  

[bhageerah]

12 minutes ago, Dan Curtis said:

If it is not a seas day, I would get off the ship and find a church, as far as on the ship I have never saw a worship,service being held, but it seems like a good ideal.

Gotta agree with this one, never seen any sort of service of ANY type being held onboard, that even goes for a wedding!  

[MinnesotaCruiser]

1 hour ago, Dan Curtis said:

If it is not a seas day, I would get off the ship and find a church, as far as on the ship I have never saw a worship,service being held, but it seems like a good ideal.

We are St. Kitts abs St. Thomas for ports.  I thought it would be fun to go on a weekday just to make up if nothing is offered on Sunday on the ship but I noticed that all service times were outside of port times.    At least I can say I tried!

[bretts173]

The current Voyager sailing out of Singapore has a mass scheduled in the cruise calender today.

 

[twangster]

They might have something but it is not the normal.  It's not unusual for a cruise to involve several dozen source countries and they can't offer everything that caters to all religious groups on board.  

My advice... don't count on it and plan to honor your religion in the best way you can on your own.  If they do offer something for your religion it will be posted in the cruise compass delivered to your cabin. 

[RCVoyager]

1 hour ago, MinnesotaCruiser said:

We are St. Kitts abs St. Thomas for ports.  I thought it would be fun to go on a weekday just to make up if nothing is offered on Sunday on the ship but I noticed that all service times were outside of port times.    At least I can say I tried!

If you happen to be in San Juan, the oldest church in the Western Hemisphere is just up the hill in Old San Juan, and it is a Catholic Church.

[Dan Curtis]

1 hour ago, MinnesotaCruiser said:

We are St. Kitts abs St. Thomas for ports.  I thought it would be fun to go on a weekday just to make up if nothing is offered on Sunday on the ship but I noticed that all service times were outside of port times.    At least I can say I tried!

Amen!!

[Oliver]

RCCL usually has Challah and Wine on Friday night for Shabbat on Fridays for Jewish people. I have attended these myself. They are always self-led. I’m pretty sure the same would be true of any Sunday Mass services as well.

 

 

[PG Cruiser]

Most, if not all, of the signs I’ve seen about religious services say they are self-led.  When I sail with my church group, I lead a Sunday worship service. We request for a room to meet in from a desk (forgot the department name).  

[eaglesfaninfl]

If a priest is on board he will generally say Mass on Sunday and it will be noted in the cruise calendar. No priest on board, no Mass on board. Our first cruise was over Christmas some years back, a priest said Mass in the theatre around 9AM and led a non-denominational Christmas service around 11AM. Both were noted in the cruise calendar.

[Matt]

I've heard of it occurring, but as many others noted, it depends if there is a priest onboard. I'd say you have a better chance if your cruise goes over a major holiday.

[Skigoofy]

On our 9-night Christmas cruise 2 years ago, there was a priest on board to perform mass each morning and Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. The Midnight Mass was pretty amazing. Our cabin attendant and one of our waiters came and sat with our family as mass was well attended by crew members. They were definitely missing being with their families and it was nice being able to spend time with them. It's the only cruise I've been on where Mass was held every day.

[ZsOverseas]

We have had daily mass performed by a priest onboard on 2 Transatlantic cruises and one Transpacific.

[Mrs. RoyalMoyal]

If the priest is travelling with a group, he will offer Mass to everyone (and crew!), it may not be posted in the cruise planner but on the "social board" near customer service. If it is Christmas, Easter,  or repositioning, Mass is more likely to be offered than other times of the year, often daily.

Attending Mass in port is always enjoyable, even when I don't understand the language. 

Apostleship of the Seas arranges for services for crew in ports and on ships. I do not know if a shedule is posted for AOS. 

[DaddyTheRunner]

While researching past Cruise Compasses for our up coming New England cruise, I noticed that there was a Catholic Mass listed on Sunday morning for one of the July sailings.  As others have noted, I would expect any passenger priests might say mass at least on Sunday.  I plan on checking with the folks at guest services to see what they know about our particular sailing.  If they know there are people looking for a Catholic Mass and they encounter a priest on board, they might help connect us.

[CalligraphyGirl]

On 11/16/2019 at 5:23 PM, MinnesotaCruiser said:

This might be a long shot but what do you think there will be for chances of having a priest on board for Sunday mass (sea day for us)?  Anyone ever experience mass at sea?  I hear it does happen but have no clue where I would find this out.

Royal Caribbean told me that unless it's a major holiday (Easter, ChristMass, etc) they have no Catholic Priest on board. We just returned from a 7-day cruise on Adventure of the Seas (Sept. 16-23, 2023). There was no Catholic Priest, no Holy Mass, nothing. The "chapel" is very sadly drab and uninspiring. I understand that many faiths are allowed to use it, but it was plain ugly. I definitely noticed the emptiness because the Blessed Sacrament was not there. Perhaps the chapels on their other ships are inspiring.