Thread: Would you book a cruise where English was NOT the primary language?

Would you book a cruise ship where English was NOT the primary language?

Could you handle having the announcements make and the staff/crew normally speak in a language other than English?

My guess is most people will say yes and some others will say, "My favorite ports are English speaking places." What I want to do is start with a Canada/U.S. cruise and later go to Rome for a Western Mediterranean cruise, so yes and no.

Here is something to think about: Many Americans speak Spainsh as fluently as English (one of my mom's friends is an interpreter and used to teach Spanish), so you could also ask us if we would be interested in sailing to countries that are primarily Spanish. But I like your idea.

English speaking cruiselines go everywhere so I voted no, I want to relax and be able to communicate with the crew.

Originally Posted by kirkz

English speaking cruiselines go everywhere so I voted no, I want to relax and be able to communicate with the crew.

Totally Agree! It would drive me nuts and I wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy the cruise.

Going to a port where English is not the primary languge (no problem and very often do) is far different from being on a cruise ship where is isn't. Fortunately, English speaking ships go all over the world!

I also voted no. I can't imagine dealing with a cabin steward, wait staff or evening shows where everything is in a foreign language. The ships I like to sail on go to enough places that I'll never see it all in my lifetime.

Garry

I do not think I would book a cruise on a ship that did not have english as the primary language. I also feel that it would not be a relazing experience.

Hi I have sailed on Costa in the Med. and very few of the passengers were English speakers. Language was not a major problem. The food wasn't great but not inediible, (I normally enjoy Italian food but this wasn't the best) so I would be reluctant to cruise with them again but if a deal came up I may give them another try,

I voted yes because it wouldn't bother us at all. We lived in Germany and have been many places around Europe. I read and process languages much better than I speak them....let me put it this way, I bought German cookbooks in Austria because I can read it fairly well and my motivation was I wanted to make torte (cake) so I would look up the words I needed to know and it started kicking in.

Processing while someone is speaking is my problem...I find if people will slow their conversation down, I can pick it up, however that doesn't usually happen unless you let it be known. Believe me in the time we lived in Germany, I said *langsam*(slowly) a lot! We've met some fantastic people all over the world and it's just amazing to share views....we are more alike than different. Also, two of the best purchases we made were a phrase book and a menu master specific to the country. That way, you know what you are going to order and there is no surprise. I start picking up enough words to understand enough of what's being said after awhile. I was amazed our last trip to France how much I had picked up. We've never had an issue.

Most of us book cruises that will visit countries where English is not the primary language, but I think LuLu is asking about a foreign flagged ship where the language spoken onboard by the crew and staff is not English.....where the announcements are in another language first and English might be one of those "extra" announcements after the main announcement.

I would not feel comfortable in that situation.

We have sailed with Costa and MSC where Italian is the primary language, does get boring with announcements in many languages., but had to accept it.

We spend many land vacations in places that speak a different language to us and are quite used to it. Please remember it easy for us in the World to get around, think of the difficulty a non-English speaking person have in our Countries.

We were in a remote place once in the Czech Republic, snow was belting down looking for some where to shelter and get something to eat. Found a small shop, we got what we wanted by just pointing, returned to the train station and the hotel opposite had just opened. Just think how you would be in a foreign speaking place that cannot understand English, then that is how they feel with us.

Yes we would book a cruise if it suited us on a ship where English was not the Primary language. Carnival own AIDA does anyone know if English is spoken as well as German on their ships?