Hi Romelle,

Thanks for your speedy reply! I had posted a query similar to yours on Cruise Critic about a week or so ago, and had a couple of replies but not the kind of personal in-depth feedback I had hoped to find. From my perspective, it does sound like excursions could be the issue with language -- like you, I have had some training in Spanish and learned French long ago, so for the day to day getting along matters, I have few concerns. People who want to communicate about the basics can usually manage to make that happen! But the fine points of narration on a tour are another matter, and for the typical destinations of the fjords cruises it doesn't seem like there lots of private tour companies, like the ones that abound for St. Petersberg, for example, so going off to book an English tour for the right timeframes might not be a reliable strategy. So that's a concern of mine.

And then for my husband, who likes things quiet, especially after 9 pm, a concern is that Pullmantur passengers might be partying and boisterous. We have heard that kind of warning about Costa and MSC cruises -- people usually say many Americans are uncomfortable with those lines because they are "too Italian" and when pressed, the issue politely mentioned is the late dining hour, as an example! And something about waiter service. But it's unclear if the expectation for Pullmantur in the fjords would be a noisy, partying ship atmosphere! Not sure how I can find that out.