If you are like me and have a very poor grasp of many foreign languages, one thing you may want to do is check the ships language or at least enquire.
If you book through a UK travel agent, they will probably make you aware of this, but you need to also check If it is the ships language or one of the languages.
Booking a cruise with one of the UK cruise companies such as Cunard will ensure it’s a British ship with English language, alternatively a Thomson cruise will also be English.
Ships such as those of the Costa line, are classed as multi lingual so some English is spoken, but this can sometimes be very fragmented, especially from some staff not always in the front line. You will also be confronted with ship announcements being repeated in several languages, with English sometimes last, which can be annoying especially in terms of evacuation or limited numbers for shore parties.
Take a look at the various cruise companies and their ships on www.cruising4holidays.com and check in advance for the sort of ship you are looking for.
There is of course an alternative, you could indeed learn a new language. Even if you choose not to, you could always introduce your children to new languages, and let them do the work whilst you are away.
There is a great little company with a website, that sells books teaching children to read in other languages. The books are great and cover the major languages and also some like Urdu. Why not make it a joint learning experience. The website is http://librobooksandtoys.co.uk/ and is great. I have had a house in France for seven years and still struggle with French, but I’m not ashamed to admit I have considered buying a children’s book to help with my French reading.