Prayer Corner
May the Blessings of the Risen Lord be with All of You.
For the country of Poland, as they mourn the loss of their President and First Lady and so many leaders. May Russia's response help to bring a renewed unity between the 2 countries and their people.
Mrs. Linda Lowe, wife of Fr Bill Lowe, former Episcopalian priest now serving as a Cruise Ship Priest. Linda was in a serious motorcycle accident. She has had some improvements but it is slow. Continue prayers for the family.
For all of our Port Chaplains, Cruise Ship Priests, Volunteers and Staff across the country. And All AOS brothers and sisters throughout the world, that we will be fortified in our efforts and renewed in our work for the People of the Sea.
For Catholic Mariners, that they will feel the presence of their God while at sea. And that they may not lose heart or lose faith in Him. |
Join AOS USA Today!
To join AOS USA simply click on the following link:
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 National Maritime Day & Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Mariners & People of the Sea:
Celebrate it & Send us your story!
Dear Friends,
National Maritime Day which falls on May 22 each year, was first declared by Congress in 1933. It commemorates the first transatlantic crossing by the Steamship Savannah in 1819.
According to the Maritime Administrations website this observance "honors the contributions of the American merchant marine, civilians who have defended the freedom of the United States since 1775, and who executed the largest sealift the world has ever known during World War II.
Observance of National Maritime Day also honors the maritime industry and the benefits it brings Americans in terms of transportation, jobs, goods, and recreational opportunities."
In 2005, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops declared this same day as a Day of Prayer & Remembrance for Mariners and the People of the Sea. This day was set aside by the U.S. Bishops to encourage Catholics in the U.S. to "support, pray and remember those who work in the maritime world."
AOS USA encourages each of you to celebrate this day in some way. If you are unable to attend one of the National events, we hope that you will be celebrating it in your own ports.
Here locally, the Apostleship of the Sea for the Diocese of Beaumont is teaming up with the Port Arthur International Seafarers' Center, the US Coast Guard, the Navigation District, Southeast Texas Waterways Committee, the Port of Port Arthur, Sabine Pilots, and NOAA to hold a Maritime Memorial Service which will be followed by a luncheon, SETWAC meeting and a NOAA Ports ribbon cutting ceremony.
We hope to share news of that event with each of you, and hope that you will send us an e-mail with news of how this day was celebrated in your own port. Be sure to send a photo or 2 also, so that we can help put a spotlight on your local activities!
We welcome each of you: Port Chaplains, Mariners, Cruise Ship Priests, or Volunteers at Seafarers' Centers, to share your stories from your Port, or from onboard ship. Please send them by
By sharing your good work with the network, it inspires others, gives them ideas, and makes our ministry stronger.
We look forward to receiving your stories!
Doreen
Doreen M. Badeaux
Secretary General
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 National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Mariners and People of the Sea
The Maritime Day Mass will be on Saturday, May 22, 12:10 pm at the 'Crypt Church' of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Michigan Ave.
Thanks to all those who gave input in the planning meetings. We still have a task to do, to get the word out and invite others to join the Mass in observance of "National Day of Prayerand Remembrance for Mariners and People of the Sea", which will be held in conjunction with the National Maritime Day.
Attached (by links) are the flyers in English and Spanish, designed by Lt. Joe Klinker, CG.
English Language Poster: Spanish Language Poster http://aos-usa.org/files/AOS_Poster_Spa.pdf Feel free to send the flyers to the maritime community and those who support their work. If you need hard copies, request by email to: mmarzec@usccb.orgor for more information contact 202.541.3225.
Blessings and happy Easter,
Sr. Myrna
Sr. Myrna Tordillo, mscs
National Director
AOS in the USA
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
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New Celebrity Ship to Repatriate
Ash-Stranded Travelers
Courtesy: cruisecritic.com
by Melissa Paloti, Managing Editor
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New Celebrity Ship to Repatriate Ash-Stranded Travelers
(7:10 p.m. EDT) -- As Celebrity Cruises prepares for the launch this weekend of its brand-new Celebrity Eclipse, the line is also stepping in to help stranded travelers make their way back home.
The cruise line has announced that the first leg of Eclipse's launch celebrations -- a two-night cruise scheduled to depart April 22 -- has been canceled so the ship can instead repatriate British and Irish vacationers affected by airport closures and subsequent flight cancellations after Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano erupted a cloud of ash into the atmosphere.
Celebrity is working in tandem with major U.K. tour operators to collect holidaymakers in Bilbao, Spain, and bring them to Southampton; a spokeswoman for the line couldn't release the names of the tour operators because the details are still being worked out -- but we do know that more than 2,000 travelers who were on package holidays with these operators, some of which have been stranded for several days, are currently expected to join Celebrity Eclipse in Bilbao.
Celebrity Eclipse will arrive in Southampton as scheduled at 9 a.m. tomorrow, and will depart in the evening for Bilbao, where the ship is scheduled to arrive in the early hours of Thursday, April 22. Stranded travelers will board throughout the morning on Thursday, after which the ship will set sail for Southampton, returning late Friday evening.
Celebrity Cruises is contacting those guests who were invited by the cruise line on the two-night, round-trip celebration cruise that was supposed to sail on April 22 (this was not a revenue cruise); they'll instead be invited to attend the two-night naming celebration cruise on April 24.
At this time, plans for the naming celebration on April 24 remain unchanged, though a statement from the cruise line says "plans for Celebrity Eclipse remain fluid as the situation regarding re-opening air space continues to change." We'll keep you posted.
Similarly, Thomson Cruises announced today that Island Escape -- which usually operates fly-cruises in the Mediterranean -- will be stopping in Falmouth, Cornwall, to drop off current passengers who won't be able to return to the U.K. via the original flights included in the air-portion of their booking. The ship, which is currently in Funchal, will also be bringing more than 300 non-cruise Thomson customers holidaying in Madeira back to the U.K. The ship will arrive in Falmouth on Thursday.
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Celebrity VS. Cunard?
Cruisers Weigh Line Actions in Wake of Ash Travel Chaos
Courtesy: cruisecritic.com
by Erica Silverstein, Senior Editor
(7:50 p.m. EDT) -- In the wake of air cancellations following the volcano eruption in Iceland, two cruise lines have risen to the top of the collective cruise consciousness for their actions.
One is Celebrity Cruises, which announced yesterday to many accolades that it would send its soon-to-debut Celebrity Eclipse from Southampton to Spain to repatriate travelers on package holidays. On the other end of the spectrum, Cunard is being vilified by Cruise Critic members and Facebook fans for charging regular cancellation fees -- while boasting about the 1,000 people on wait lists willing to pay full price for cabins on QM2's transatlantic cruises.
While this may seem like a battle of good and evil, the issue is not as cut and dry as it appears, and it's certainly not an apples-to-apples comparison. Cruise Critic investigates:
Celebrity's Move
Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity's newest ship, was originally scheduled to offer a two-night, invitation-only, pre-inaugural cruise on April 22, prior to its naming ceremony on April 24. Instead, the ship will head to Bilbao, Spain, to pick up stranded travelers booked on holiday packages with tour operators Thomson, First Choice, Thomas Cook and The Co-operative Travel Group (CTTG).
Passengers will be given free accommodations; Celebrity spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says the line is in the process of finalizing the rest of the details about the onboard programming. "I am glad to see the cruise lines helping out those stranded passengers," posts member BroncosFan2010. "I cannot imagine being stuck for so long, and being GOUGED by the hotels, rental car places, and other things that these people need."
It's important to note that Celebrity is in a unique position to be magnanimous because Eclipse has not yet run a revenue cruise (i.e. a regular sailing with paying passengers), and had not accepted any payments for the scheduled April 22 cruise. The line is working to accommodate local invitees from the canceled sailing on the ship's April 24 two-night sailing -- a task made easier by the number of guests unable to fly to the U.K. from the U.S. and Europe.
It would seem the line does not have much lose by canceling a nonrevenue cruise to nowhere but has much to gain by its show of generosity.
Cunard's Move
Meanwhile, Cunard's April and May transatlantic sailings on Queen Mary 2 have attracted extra attention from travelers desperate to get back to the U.K. from the U.S. -- and vice versa. The next three crossings are sold out, and the wait list for the April 22 transatlantic cruise is already 1,000 names strong.
Booked passengers who can't reach Southampton this week because of flight cancellations have expressed frustration with Cunard -- specifically with a policy that was printed on its Web site: "if guests have booked flights independently and are unable to travel, then standard cancellation charges apply." (That amounts to 100 percent of cruise fare when you cancel just days prior to sailing).
"I would be happy to get a refund or even credit to be used on a future trip and let them resell the cabins to someone on their wait list," Cruise Critic member lewmar posted yesterday, "but at this point it appears they are taking the ash as a windfall (pun intended) opportunity to increase revenue... I can't believe Cunard is being so greedy when they have passengers lining up to buy the tickets; it seems very short sighted."
Well, complaints like lewmar's didn't go unnoticed; when we contacted Cunard this afternoon, spokeswoman Jackie Chase told us that, with regard to the April 22 cruise, "as a one-off exception to our Booking Conditions, Cunard will offer a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for the fare booked to those guests who have specifically been unable to fly to the United Kingdom and are therefore unable to embark the ship due to the recent air travel disruptions." This change in policy has just now been posted on Cunard's online News Room.
Unlike Celebrity, Cunard doesn't have the flexibility to cancel its sailings or un-invite guests to help other travelers in need -- its transatlantic cruises have been booked for months by paying passengers expecting to go from point A to point B. However, Cunard is charging travelers lucky enough to snag a cabin off the wait list full brochure fares for the transatlantic crossings. Prices start at $1,595 for an inside cabin; the same cabin only last week was going for $850 on the May 22 cruise.
Bottom line: Cunard is taking a lot of heat -- and, theoretically, could be using empty cabins to repatriate consumers and countrymen rather than pad pockets -- even though its policies aren't all that different from that of lines like Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean, whose Web sites also state that travelers with independently booked flights who can't reach their departure port will have to pay standard cancellation charges.
Other cruise lines are also doing what they can to help stranded passengers. For example, Thomson Cruises' Island Escape is bringing 300 noncruise Thomson customers back to the U.K. from Madeira. For more information on cruise line policies and actions in the face of airport closures, see our news item Ash Chaos: Cruise Cancellations, Disruptions and Repatriation.
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