Language Spoken on International Cruises?

[bucahenze]

For a European cruise setting sail out of Barcelona, what would the primary language spoken be? My friend and I speak English and he also speaks Italian, but neither of us know Spanish. Will this be an issue?

[graceinmelbourne]

If you are on a RCCL ship sailing out of Barcelona than the language spoken on board will be English. All announcements and communications are in English first and then Spanish. English is spoken throughout the ship. All the crew speak English. There would be a few crew members that speak Spanish to cater for those passengers from Spain but English is definately the language you will hear. Also most of the passengers that come from non English speaking countries such as Spain also speak English. RCCL is an American cruise line so English is spoken as the main language regardless of where the ship is cruising.

[Sue L]

Also the currency on board is all USD

[ehfl]

They generally make announcements in multiple languages (even on US sailings). I don't think language will be an issue. Many crew members speak English plus another language.

 

You can get a language translation app for most phones these days, or you could use an old-fashioned translation dictionary if you felt you needed one.

[steamboats]

English is the onboard language. Depending on the nationality mix there might be additional announcements in Spanish or German. I´ve never seen many Italians onboard so I don´t think there will be any announcement in Italian (Italians prefer MSC or Costa).

 

steamboats

[LoisGriffin1]

I was on NCL Gem out of Venice earlier this year and some announcements were in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. It was only important stuff and not things like bingo. I loved listening to everything but some people didn't like it.

 

English will be the main language. There will be lots of Brits as well as Americans and Canadians. I found lots of the other nationalities spoke English as well.

[ArthurIhde]

i think will be English

[sissymaryuk]

Every crew member with RCCL is supposed to speak English as a company requirement. That's because in an emergency English would be the language used. As mentioned Announcements will all be made in English first, then other languages dependant on the cruise demo's. Chances are the ship will have an English Host as part of the cruise staff to host activities for the English speakers.

[stompy]

If you are on a RCCL ship sailing out of Barcelona than the language spoken on board will be English. All announcements and communications are in English first and then Spanish. English is spoken throughout the ship. All the crew speak English. There would be a few crew members that speak Spanish to cater for those passengers from Spain but English is definately the language you will hear. Also most of the passengers that come from non English speaking countries such as Spain also speak English. RCCL is an American cruise line so English is spoken as the main language regardless of where the ship is cruising.

 

If the ship is sailing to Sao Palo they will switch to Spanish as the primary language

[sissymaryuk]

If the ship is sailing to Sao Palo they will switch to Spanish as the primary language

Surely you mean Portuguese?

[voyager70]

If the ship is sailing to Sao Palo they will switch to Spanish as the primary language

 

Actually Portuguese is the native language in Brazil ;) I've cruised out of Sao Paulo on an immersion cruise and while Portuguese was the primary language onboard, all the crew spoke fluent English and all announcements were made in English, after they were made in Portuguese.

[sissymaryuk]

Surely you mean Portuguese?

All crew still have to speak English, it's just that they'll more likely speak Portuguese first because of the demo's. Just like on some Asian cruises they'll speak Chinese first. They usually warn of an "immersion" cruise before you board/book.

[stompy]

Surely you mean Portuguese?

 

Depending on the make up of passenger demographics they have done Spanish or Portuguese whichever is the larger contingent and whether or not the ship is going to the Azores.

 

A lot of the TA cruises go from Colon and if they end in Spain they tend to be in Spanish

[newlifeca]

We sailed on the Voyager out of Barcelona, it's English, you'll be right at home, and have no language problems on the ship. Have a great cruise