I'm in Rome, and I've been using some of Rick's audio walking tours on his app. It's been a few years since the last time I did this, and I have become acquainted with his virtual tour guide assistant, Lisa.
Why did he think this was a good idea??? I find it distracting, annoying, and completely unnecessary.
Agree or disagree?
I always chuckle at the "witty" repartee. :D
I think it is helpful to have a duo rather than a solo audio tour sort of thing simply because it does make the overall tour sound more "natural", but the script (she is following and likely not writing) is sort of goofy.
But Rick is sort of goofy and enjoys that interplay, I think.
Well, I take exception to the post title, hopefully you just mean the extra dialogue and not specifically disliking Lisa. I mean, Rick is scripting the thing, right? Anyway, my mild complaint is that if you are doing his walking tour in a crowded, busy location, the chatter takes up too much time while not really adding anything. For example, we were recently in Madrid and did the walking tour in the Puerta del Sol/Plaza Mayor area. The market in particular was super packed, which made it difficult to follow the tour anyway, let alone stand and listen to their banter. Hard to fast-forward past it.
Rebecca, I hope you realize that Lisa is not a real person. I don't think she is capable of taking offense.
Lane, have you seen Terminator?
I can’t complain about free guided audio tour. We have done many of them in Amsterdam, Munich, Paris. I love them.
@Lane, is she? I thought perhaps she was a voice actor. Regardless...
We found her cringeworthy on our Rome walks. I understand the advantages of two voices, but imagine how much better the audio tours might be if (for example) Katka co-narrated Prague tours and Rolinka co-narrated Amsterdam tours!
Yeah, I agree. I think the idea of having two people doing the narration is a good one, but the corny, jokey extra commentary - from Rick too - is unecessary.
I've used Rick's free audioguides many times and on the whole they are very good (aside from the occasionally vague or confusing directions) and I appreciate that they're free, so I can live with Lisa.
Wow, it's free. You know you don't have to use it!
Lisa is a voice actress. The main purpose is to have a second voice for giving directions vs descriptions. In the written versions, it's the difference between the italicized text and regular text. The side commentary is... whatever you'd like to make of it.
Wow, Andrew, I had no idea! Rick refers to her as "a virtual travel buddy," so I just assumed she is an AI. I'm not sure a real person can be properly described as virtual...
When I wrote my original post, I certainly didn't intend any disrespect. And I wasn't complaining, just stating my opinion and opening it for discussion.
Well, I enjoyed the discussion, and it makes me want to listen to some of the audio guides. I usually don't bother as I am easily distracted since I am much more of a visual person. But it might be fun to check it out!
No disrespect taken. We know not everyone loves the silly side commentary, but IMO that's just part of Rick's schtick to make travel feel approachable and not too serious. Comments we've received have been wide ranging. I admit to having a few eye-roll moments in front of the Acropolis with the app, but the other 98% of it is what you're there (listening) for.
"I just assumed she is an AI." You give us far too much credit to have developed or paid for a high-quality AI voice. ;) I think Rick refers to her (and possibly himself too) as a virtual travel buddy in that she's not personally there with you. The app - and the narrators within (Rick and Lisa) - is the virtual companion.
Fyi, the audio tours are all derived from the guidebook versions (and there are far more in the guidebooks). The guidebooks don't have the side commentary. You may prefer the written versions! Of course, the guidebooks aren't free, but are also a drop in the bucket vs trip cost. Everything has pros and cons! ;)
So to the webmaster and team producing these free audio tours please realize that the complaints on here do not represent all of us and a lot of of us think these are really useful and we really appreciate the work and EXPENSE that is involved in providing us with this very tool. We realize it’s not really free. THANK YOU
And please let the real Lisa know that in spite of the feedback shared here, it is not universal. I’m sure she’s a very nice person and a lot of us would probably really like her
Today I visited St. Peter's Basilica and I used the printed guide in the Rome Guidebook (which I bought and paid for).
It was excellent. I guess that's the way I'll go from here on out.
Sadly, the altar at St. Peter's was covered with scaffolding. I guess they're sprucing the place up in advance of the upcoming Jubilee.
But I shouldn't complain. After all, entrance to St. Peter's was free.
And I’m sure St. Peter was a very nice person.
And I’m sure St. Peter was a very nice person.
Gee, I don't know, Mardee. According to Rick's guidebook, he cut off someone's ear.
Hahahahahaha!!!!
I like the option of an audio walking tour, but I can't both listen, and fully take in the sight in front of me. So I'll gawk at length, go and lean on a wall to listen them comment on what I just saw, then gawk some more, and move on. Start and stop buttons are my friend. The directions to walk from spot to spot are also helpful. I find both Lisa and Rick a little over the top sometimes, but that is indeed part of their charm.
