Thank you Paul.. I thought there were very honest points made.. I have found if you go out of your way to talk and engage people...it goes far.. We make a point of trying to hold conversations no matter what the language... sometimes it works.. other times it amounts to alot of gesturing with hands..Yes, I have a translation computer somewhere..lol..We Americans are pretty open to other people (why else would we cruise).and we learn how to line up...and not cut lines.. Right now, off the top of m y head.. wasn't there a promise by a cruise line and I think it was Costa who was coming to the Caribbean a few years ago to retrain their staff to "American ways'... Interesting too, another poster on this board did a South American cruise.. and and found problems when the average cruiser was from South America..and was surprised at their outrageous behavior.. Yes, I have made attempts at learning another language, but I'm not good at that. I am proud to say that when I see a tourist in Boston.. I will stop an direct them in what directions they want to go...Last time a group joined us for a jazz brunch..it did help they spoke a bit of english.. We are it seems the only country not contigulous, except for Mexico to another country that speaks other languages and we are just too lazy to learn.