western mediterranean cruise

[cruisin73]

We will be on a mediterranean cruise on Symphony of the seas in May leaving out of Spain.  Should I brush up on my Spanish or will the predominant language be English on the ship.

[pcur]

English is the primary language for all crew on all RCCL ships.

 

Those sailing from Asia might be the exception.  But, all Med cruises I've been on (5) English was spoken on RCCL, Celebrity, and NCL.

Edited March 25, 2023 by pcur

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, cruisin73 said:

We will be on a mediterranean cruise on Symphony of the seas in May leaving out of Spain.  Should I brush up on my Spanish or will the predominant language be English on the ship.

Bet it will help in the ports.

[Missusdubbya]

1 hour ago, cruisin73 said:

Should I brush up on my Spanish

The people of Barcelona speak Catalan, which is different from Spanish.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, cruisin73 said:

We will be on a Mediterranean cruise on Symphony of the seas in May leaving out of Spain.  Should I brush up on my Spanish or will the predominant language be English on the ship.

The language of the ship is English. The currency of the ship is US Dollars. 

 

If you're in the touristy areas, everyone will speak kinda-english. While you should have Euros, US Dollars will be accepted almost everywhere in tourist areas. 

[Tin can]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The language of the ship is English. The currency of the ship is US Dollars. 

 

If you're in the touristy areas, everyone will speak kinda-english. While you should have Euros, US Dollars will be accepted almost everywhere in tourist areas. 

 

Personally I'm not sure US dollars will be widely accepted if at all in Europe even in tourist areas for small purchases such as lunch, coffee, public transport etc. 

 

Even for larger purchases such as tours or car rental I would pay in Euros as the vendor will only factor into any rate conversion his hassle of exchanging back into Euros.

 

 

 

 

 

[hopebh]

We go to Europe several times a year and the only time language is ever really an issue is in Paris.  Even then it’s more about customs than the language.  
 

Barcelona reminds me of Miami when it comes to language. Most of the people in the touristy areas know English and even if one person doesn’t know it then someone on staff will.  
 

The only place in Europe that we used dollars was in Russia.  We either pay a little more and get euros from our bank before we go or get them out of the atms once we are there.

[crazyank]

6 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

If you're in the touristy areas, everyone will speak kinda-english. While you should have Euros, US Dollars will be accepted almost everywhere in tourist areas.

This is no longer true.  Fewer and fewer shops are accepting dollars, especially for small purchases and if they do the exchange rate will be really bad.  Many businesses are reluctant to accept cash at all and prefer payment by credit or debit card.  Euros are definitely the way to go and/or a card with no foreign transaction fees.

[voyager70]

We always use credit cards in foreign ports as most don’t charge foreign transaction fees and they are widely accepted. If we want some local currency we just use a local ATM. Just make sure you notify your bank and credit card issuing bank/s where you will be traveling before you leave home.

[cruisin73]

Thank you everyone.  We did get a euros from out bank so all set for that.  And our credit cards don’t have foreign transaction fees.  

[lakelorain]

If you plan to take a taxi, a little Spanish may help.  Some of the drivers aren't English speakers.  As an option, you can hand them the address of where you are going on a piece of paper. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

17 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The language of the ship is English. The currency of the ship is US Dollars. 

 

If you're in the touristy areas, everyone will speak kinda-english. While you should have Euros, US Dollars will be accepted almost everywhere in tourist areas. 

US dollars are definitely not accepted almost every where in tourist areas.

 

You’ll need euros if paying by cash.

[Norwich Cruiser]

1 hour ago, lakelorain said:

If you plan to take a taxi, a little Spanish may help.  Some of the drivers aren't English speakers.  As an option, you can hand them the address of where you are going on a piece of paper. 

Great advice exactly what we do hand the taxi driver the address.

[steve thfc]

Will be on this cruise also.

 

One time was speaking in my crappy Spanish to the taxi driver. He said it's ok if you can't speak in Catalan speak English to me lol.