My very basic Mexican spanish has served me well throughout the Caribbean as well as Central and South America. Of course there were people who didn't speak spanish, and of course there were people whose concept of spanish differed from what I'd learned--notably Argentina's vocabulary and pronunciation, and Cuba's velocity). Nonetheless, I think these finer points are not what a novice should be worrying about.
My "spanish" served me well throughout Spain, too. I'm aware there are different dialects and separate languages, and I'm aware that this has implications which can be taken very seriously indeed. Again, I don't think this is an issue for the average traveler.
OP, I'm not sure how "50% fluent" correlates to "can't carry on a conversation or ask for directions," but as with any language the key is to use whatever you've got as frequently as possible, no matter how clumsily. And I've met travelers with absolutely zero spanish skills, or even interest in learning basic hello, thanks, or excuse me, and as far as I know they all survived. You'll do fine.
Hope that's helpful.
Mark
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