Newbie to Mediterranean, Not to Cruising

Hi All,

I've been on multiple cruises over the past few years, but all of them have been in the Carribean. In September, my grandmother, sister, mom, and myself are doing 7-days in the Western Mediterranean on the Norwegian Epic and insanely excited. My sis and grandmother are almost fluent in French, and my sister and I have split up to learning Spanish/Italian among ourselves.

I was intrigued what the noticeable difference on the ship there was between a Carribean cruise (with more Americans) vs. a more global passenger list. Does the majority of the crew speaking English, same for the passengers? Any other major differences? I couldnt find any guides on CruiseCritic that might explain the ship differences.

Thanks a ton!

On the Epic you will find all staff speak English - as will a great majority of the passengers; in fact, it is a fairly safe bet that the majority of them will be American. There is very little (beyond the name and possibly a few officers) "Norwegian" about NCL. Europeans, particularly non-English speaking ones, prefer European ships for cruising in European waters.

Awesome, thanks navybankerteacher...pretty psyched, just was curious about any major cultural differences but that was very helpful.

The crew are often broadly the same people - I've met the same waiters & bar staff in different parts of the world. And English is spoken by those whose work involves interacting with passengers.

I don't know about all European cruises but on US ships sailing out of the UK the overwhelming majority of passengers are folk with English as their first language, & on US ships based in the Med those with English as their first language are a sizeable proportion, over 50% on cruises I've taken. Many Europeans speak English of varying standards, but interaction is minimal - most folk preferring the simplicity of mixing with their own & speaking their own language. Must admit we're guilty of that, on anytime dining we ask to share with English speakers.

Announcements on Med-based ships are in several languages - can be a bit tedious but no big deal.

Food is broadly the same, but usually some attempt made to introduce local flavours of the places visited - though no need to indulge if you prefer your usual fayre.

Haven't noticed any difference in entertainment, though perhaps less reliance on the spoken word.

The big differences are shore visits.

Bartering with taxi drivers, van drivers & the like works in the Caribbean, but I can't think of many ports where that works in Europe - generally taxis hired at the port are OK for short A to B trips in the same city, but aren't economic for a day or even half-day tour. But European ports are generally very well served by public transport. Buses, trams, trains, ferries, ho-hos. Frequent, reliable, inexpensive. Or pre-book a private tour. And some places are easy to explore on foot.

Went on my first Caribbean cruise with little research & went with the flow, no worries. On European cruises good research pays off handsomely. Starting off with the Ports of Call forums on Cruise Critic. ;)

JB :)

Edit: Just noticed you're a new member. Welcome :). If you've not found the Ports of Call forums, scroll to the bottom of this page & click on the arrow at "Forum Jump" to bring up all the forums, If you get lost, click on your name, top right on any page, & you can navigate to your posts

NCL mainly markets to US based passengers so the majority of the passengers will be Americans so no need for a foreign language on board. All of your ports will be very touristy and even if you didn't speak a word of Italian, Spanish or French you would still get along just fine. It is respectful to know some common phrases and words, but for a tourist hitting the main sights you will be fine without being able to speak the native language.

Since two people in your party know French, which is one of the romantic languages, and has plenty in common with Spanish and Italian they can use the French names of items and will almost certainly be understood.

Does the majority of the crew speaking English, same for the passengers? Any other major differences?

I did a 12 day Mediterranean cruise out of Barcelona. Every crew member (that I spoke with) spoke some English.

I've been told that Spain is a popular (and reasonably inexpensive) vacation spot for the British. Therefore, the the two largest groups of passengers were from the U.S., closely followed by those from the U.K. There were also significant numbers of Canadians and Australians. For the passengers from other countries, a fair number still speak English as a second (or third) language.

The biggest difference was some of the food items offered. There were a fair number of menu selections which directly appealed to British sensibilities.

My sis and grandmother are almost fluent in French, and my sister and I have split up to learning Spanish/Italian among ourselves.

If you get to the point where you can manage some basic phrases, you should be just fine.

In the areas you go to, most people will be able to speak English. Some of them get offended at the people who rudely assume that everyone ought to speak English (and some will pretend not to speak English for those people). However, if you ask them a question in their native language, they'll probably answer you in perfectly fluent English.

If you like wine, you'll love the Mediterranean. When you're onshore, wine is cheaper than water.

One final difference which you'll notice onshore:

Most European cities lack public toilets. You can either pay to use a restroom, or you can use the restroom for free if you're a paying customer at an appropriate establishment.

When my wife and I needed to use the restroom, we would go buy one espresso (to share) and both make use of the restroom. It cost less, and we got an espresso.

I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did.

Whatever you are buying, remember that it is going to be in Euros. Big difference from US $. So watch your spending and compare currencies.

Also, when on land european cities do not really expect the same tip as in an american restaurant/bar. Its generally accepted that 10% is good service and above if exceptional.

I dont know if the Epic route changes but the summer route we looked at had Majorca added into the mix. This is a less cultural and more beachy touristy part of the Med with a less discerning clientele. Its still the Med though so has a nice enough coastline and whatnot.

When stopping at Italian cities in popular places beware of the 'sit down/bread charge' (pane e coperto) applied in some places. This can be anything from 3 to 30 euros depending on the place/city. We often asked them to take the bread away as we never needed it.

Im sure it will be an awesome cruise. :)