READER WRITES
As time goes by
A call to Cunard from his bishop led to the Rev. Bert Hatch becoming a chaplain at sea. He tells us about ‘playing it again’ in Casablanca and being a counsellor
Cunard, who was offering me the post of Protestant chaplain aboard RMS Caronia. The ship would be visiting ports in
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Spain, Portugal, Morocco, the Canary Islands and Madeira, none of which I had ever been to. Although this was around 11 years ago, I can feel the excitement as if it were yesterday. That fi rst-ever cruise for me was a
joy from beginning to end. The fi rst sermon I ever preached on board ship was in December 2001, while Caronia was docked in Casablanca. I opened my sermon by leaning
forward toward the congregation with a hand cupped behind my ear. “Can’t you hear it?” I said. ”I swear I hear the piano right over there a couple of blocks away, at Rick’s Café… ’You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh…’”. For the next ten minutes I
delivered my opus on love, and then, as my exit line, I said: “I swear I can hear old Sam playing it again, over there at Rick’s: ‘The world will always
CRUISE-INTERNATIONAL.COM
ne day in the early autumn of 2001 I found myself on the phone with a delightful lady at
welcome lovers, as time goes by.’” And with that, a tall, distinguished-looking British gentleman stood up and started clapping. And the rest of the congregation then rose and did likewise. It was the very fi rst time I have ever had a sermon applauded! While Cunard’s
Caronia was the fi rst ship upon which I served as chaplain, I have since ministered aboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and, most recently, Queen Victoria. I have also been aboard Crystal’s Symphony and Harmony, and Silversea’s Silver Cloud. My work involves conducting
Sunday and holy day services for the passengers and crew, to preach at those services, to minister pastorally to those in any kind of personal stress or emergency, and to be available to those who want to discuss anything. It is still amazing to me how many times as I entered the dining room for dinner, or the lounge for a pre-dinner Glenlivet-and-water,
individuals or couples would hail me and ask me to sit with them. I soon came to believe that many passengers sign on for a cruise as a way to get a break from some vexing personal or family crisis at home.
But they always fi nd that the problem has booked passage with them. And there I am, both a clergyman and a counsellor and a total stranger. They seem to feel a lot more comfortable baring their souls to a professional they will never see again than to familiar old Pastor Bert back home.
Although I have recently turned
Main pic Crystal Symphony; Rev Bert on board; at dinner on Cunard’s Caronia
80, I'm glad to say I'm in hearty good health, and I hope to have at least one more cruise before I hang up my clerical collar.
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