Spanish speakers on Princess

[melody-s]

I will be cruising with family on Regal this spring. One family member only speaks Spanish (my daughter married a Spaniard and his mother does not speak English.) Are menus, dailies, etc available in Spanish? Also, any advice on how to find shore excursions in the Caribbean that are either bilingual or in Spanish?

 

One unrelated question - my adult son is on the autism spectrum and crowds are exhausting for him for long durations, and my daughter's MIL is elderly and would have a hard time standing in line. Does Princess offer priority boarding in circumstances like this? We have done that on RCCL and it was very helpful.

[skynight]

I will be cruising with family on Regal this spring. One family member only speaks Spanish (my daughter married a Spaniard and his mother does not speak English.) Are menus, dailies, etc available in Spanish? Also, any advice on how to find shore excursions in the Caribbean that are either bilingual or in Spanish?

 

One unrelated question - my adult son is on the autism spectrum and crowds are exhausting for him for long durations, and my daughter's MIL is elderly and would have a hard time standing in line. Does Princess offer priority boarding in circumstances like this? We have done that on RCCL and it was very helpful.

Some comments

Spanish - I don't believe you will have any problems on the ship. I would speak with the maitre'd about getting a Spanish speaking waiter in the DR. The maitre'd has hours in the afternoon on boarding day. I would also speak to Princess about this. Maybe they can add a note to your file. In the Caribbean all public address announcements will be in English only. You can ask at the Passenger Services desk if they have a Spanish Princess Patter. If they do, you can request it be delivered to your cabin each day.

Tours

I would start contacting private tour companies in the ports you will visit and specifically ask if they have Spanish speaking guides. You can also work through the Cruise Critic roll call for your specific cruise. If you are on a Western Caribbean cruise the stop in Mexico will not be a language issue. I don't think Princess itself offers Spanish language tours in the Caribbean.

Boarding

Princess does offer priority boarding to passengers with special needs. I would contact Princess to discuss. In Ft. Lauderdale no new passengers can board until all passengers on the previous cruise have disembarked. This lead to crowds and lines. Even though you may be the first to board, you may not be able to totally avoid these crowds. If you wish to mostly avoid them plan on arriving later, maybe 1:30/2pm.

 

Hope this provides some insight and direction.

[cr8tiv1]

Boarding

Princess does offer priority boarding to passengers with special needs. I would contact Princess to discuss. In Ft. Lauderdale no new passengers can board until all passengers on the previous cruise have disembarked. This lead to crowds and lines. Even though you may be the first to board, you may not be able to totally avoid these crowds. If you wish to mostly avoid them plan on arriving later, maybe 1:30/2pm.

 

Hope this provides some insight and direction.

 

This poster had some good ideas, but I do want to clarify "priority" boarding. Princess provides wheel chairs for those who are in need (please let Princess know ahead of time). They will be boarded after BVE, Suite, Elite, and Platinum passengers are boarded. There may be a wait because they only board a few wheel chairs with each remaining group.

 

If waiting is difficult, I also would recommend arriving later. By then, most of the passengers will have boarded and you will have less of a wait time.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Regal has MDR menus even in Russian. And movies on demand dubbed in different languages. And Princess Patter is available in several languages - you can request it via cruise personalizer in advance. So, surely, Spanish would be no problem.

[melody-s]

Thanks for the helpful info.