Ignoring my tragic Duolingo streak (day 3 of 365… again), I only speak English. So why did I book a week aboard Mein Schiff Relax, a cruise where German is the main language, and English barely gets a look in? No, I haven’t lost a bet. And no, this isn’t part of some extreme language immersion challenge. I booked it on purpose.
Mein Schiff is a quintessential German cruise line, the same way that Costa is quintessentially Italian. Primary language onboard? German. Primary demographic? German? You guessed it, she’s German!
But once you look past that, she looks like an incredible adventure.
Let Me Tell You About Mein Schiff Relax…
If I’m being honest, there’s not a lot I actually know about Mein Schiff Relax other than their All Inclusive service. Most of their website is in German, so it’s a little tough…
But, here’s what I do know…
Mein Schiff Relax is the newest ship in Mein Schiff’s fleet. She launched in 2025, so at the time of publishing, she is brand spanking new! There’s 14 restaurants onboard and 17 bars! And she accommodates just under 4,000 guests.
It’s All Included with Mein Schiff
Unlike most other cruise lines, all your alcoholic and speciality drinks are included as standard! With over 100 named brands, and that’s all the juices and speciality coffees too! Which is a fast 180 from my experience Costa Cruises where water wasn’t even included by default.
Plus, premium ice cream is included – that would be $8 a pop on Royal Caribbean.
Tips? Yeah, they’re included too.
Love coffee? There’s an espresso machine in your cabin.
And that might feel totally random, but when you’re cruising with me you’ll soon see that I need a constant funnel of coffee, a glass of sauvignon blanc, chilled, and an ice cream in my hand! So those little inclusions would be saving me big bank.
Why Did I Book Mein Schiff Relax?
Well, covering all I mentioned above. The ship looks truly stunning. From an interior design and aesthetics point of view, it looks gorgeous! In my opinion, it gives Celebrity Edge-Class meets Princess Cruises vibes, but the prices are half the price.
Current Struggles
I’m currently in the “I’ve booked” stage but haven’t yet embarked, and I’ve already run into a few challenges. The biggest is that the Mein Schiff website is almost entirely in German, with only a handful of pages available in English. This makes tasks like navigating to the payment section or reading onboard guidelines much trickier than expected.
Another hurdle has been communication. Every email from Mein Schiff so far has been in German, including one about a slight itinerary change. I had to take a screenshot, run it through Google Translate, and piece together the details. Not exactly ideal, but definitely something worth keeping in mind if you’re thinking of booking.
Will I struggle without speaking German?
Erm, maybe? But, probably not. If it was anything like Costa Cruises, I’m sure they’ll be a lot of English speaking staff members. If not, I can just use my handy little German table below.
| Situation | German Phrase | English Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Greetings & Politeness | Guten Morgen! | Good morning! |
| Guten Abend! | Good evening! | |
| Danke schön! | Thank you very much. | |
| Entschuldigung | Excuse me / Sorry. | |
| Hallo / Moin | Hello / Hi (“Moin” is northern casual) | |
| Onboard Questions | Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen? | Could you help me, please? |
| Wo finde ich…? | Where can I find…? | |
| Ich habe eine Frage. | I have a question. | |
| Wie spät ist es? | What time is it? | |
| Welches Deck ist das? | Which deck is this? | |
| Dining & Drinks | Ich hätte gern… | I would like… |
| Ein Glas Weißwein, bitte. | A glass of white wine, please. | |
| Noch ein Wasser, bitte. | Another water, please. | |
| Könnte ich ohne Brot haben? | Could I have it without bread? | |
| Das war sehr lecker! | That was very tasty! | |
| Cruise-specific | Wie lange sind wir heute im Hafen? | How long are we in port today? |
| Ist das Schiff schon zurück? | Has the ship already returned? | |
| Landgang | Shore excursion / Going ashore | |
| Tenderboot | Tender boat | |
| Ausflug | Excursion | |
| Onshore | Wie komme ich zum Strand? | How do I get to the beach? |
| Wo ist die Bushaltestelle? | Where is the bus stop? | |
| Können Sie ein Foto von uns machen? | Could you take a photo of us? |
The Unexpected
Not to touch on Costa Cruises again too much, but I felt that booking with an Italian cruise line was a huge risk, and I enjoyed it so much that it’s opened up my eyes to so many more cruising options. I don’t only have to consider Royal Caribbean and NCL as my primary options, there’s a whole world out there.
Am I going to love it? Maybe. Am I going to hate it? Who knows. Check back in when I sail on her in March 2026.
