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By John Siston
The church is offering a Pentecost cruise to Alaska and a Fall Festival cruise to the Mediterranean (see below and the October WN).
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Here's what you can expect on a cruise. Last October, 145 members and families attended the Festival on board the MS Ryndam cruising through the Panama Canal.
Members and a few other passengers who partook of the open-to-the-public worship opportunities, attended services, workshops, prayer meetings and other group get-togethers celebrating Jesus Christ.
The group cruise experience has developed into a worship, educational and travel opportunity over the years. In light of its success, and with other cruises planned this year, a history of the WCG's group cruising experience might be of interest.
In the late 1980s the church experimented with conducting the Festival on a cruise ship. This allowed members to arrive at their location, unpack their bags for the duration of the cruise, and enjoy the mix of scenic beauty, historical and geographical significance and the variety of activities and services a cruise offers.
While these cruises were enjoyable, a couple were not without inconveniences. It was decided to look for a more veteran cruise line, and Holland America was chosen for the 1994 Alaska Festival cruise.
While the Alaska cruise was successful, cruising in general was put on hold in 1995 and 1996 since not enough members were interested to warrant chartering an entire ship.
In 1997 our agent suggested we use a Holland America ship as a group Festival site instead of a full ship charter. No up-front deposit or a specific number of people was required to guarantee the ship as a Feast site.
This new approach resulted in a 10-day eastern Caribbean cruise. Members made up more than half the ship's 1,266 passengers. It stopped at six islands and allowed members to meet other members in a couple of countries.
In 1998 the Panama Canal cruise included more time at sea, so church activities were scheduled to dovetail with ship activities and ports of call. In addition to services, prayer meetings, praise music and other group get-togethers, Ted Johnston, Neil Earle and Dennis and Lorraine Pelley presented workshops on personal evangelism, church history, men's and women's ministry and passages in marriage.
So with past experience as our guide, two cruises for 1999 are planned. Both will be filled with spiritual rejuvenation, worship, fellowship, continuing education and sight-seeing, as well as the comfort and convenience of travelling with people with similar interests.
Since the Alaska sailing season ends in September, a cruise that corresponds to the traditional Festival of Tabernacles dates was not possible for five years.
However, to accommodate the many who showed interest in Alaska cruising, a May, seven-day cruise was selected to correspond to the feast of Pentecost.
It embraces two of the world's most spectacular travel experiences, the thousand-mile Inside Passage, and Glacier Bay. A list of church activities scheduled on board will be sent to members who book the cruise. Those interested should call Travel Gallery at 1-800-858-6999 immediately for a cruise packet.
A sailing that overlays the more traditional Festival dates is the fall Empires of the Black Sea cruise that combines Holland America's Flagship Forum lecture series, the land of Chekhov, Tolstoy and Rachmaninoff and cities visited by the apostle Paul.
The cruise starts in Venice, and the itinerary includes Dubrovnik, Athens, Kusadasi (Ephesus), Odessa, Yalta, Romania and Istanbul.
Colonel James W. Reid, Holland America's guest lecturer, who served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army in intelligence and diplomatic assignments, will provide informative background information. It includes his lecture "From Classical Greece to Tsarist Romanovs."
Specific church activities will be announced at a later date to all going on this cruise.
For more complete itineraries, cruise brochure and booking information, call Travel Gallery at 1-800-858-6999, or write to Travel Gallery at 30 S. Wilson Ave., Pasadena, California, 91106.
In a future issue we will detail the China Cultural Exchange Festival Tour scheduled for the fall of 1999.
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 1998
