Hearing impaired question

On the Istanbul tour I took a few years ago our guide had walkie talkie like units that we got each morning. Enabled us to hear everything he said every where we went through out the day. Did not have those on the Florence tour I took. I would ask a RS team member to reply and advise you.

It's been a long time since I was on my one Rick Steves tour (2002 Ireland), but I struggled to hear the walking-tour guides then, especially in Dublin. If you weren't in the front row, no luck. I hope things are better now, but it was very frustrating then.

Hi Jean,

I second what Claudia suggested and I would call and ask the RS tour Dept to ask this question. On some of the. Ore recent tours, they have started including some headsets so you can hear the tour guide when out in the streets. However, without knowing which tour you are interested in, I'm not sure what to say. You can always make sure to try and be at the 'head of the line' when listening.

On walking tours, either outdoors or in museums, you will always be welcome to position yourself at the front of the group to hear better. The guide usually starts talking when most of the group has caught up, so the straggler in the back taking photos will miss some points. I've had tours where one spouse translated for the other spouse but that didn't always work for them when the discussion included a lot of foreign names of people and places. When the walking tour does include a transmission system with an ear bud for you, you may also want to bring another type of headphone to help block background noise.

Important departure schedules are posted in writing each evening, so you can copy or photograph them. You should also be alert for any timing info given on the bus, for instance, when you arrive at an interim rest stop. Hotel room numbers are typically announced on the bus. The guide will use a microphone when he or she talks on the bus. You may want to sit near the front, but we do ask people to rotate seats on a daily basis, so that everyone can try the very front seats.

Background noise can be a challenge at any popular spot, although some museums and churches make an effort to shush people. A group of 26 happy people dining and drinking wine makes quite a bit of its own noise, too.

Thanks so much for all the responses. We are thinking of the 21 day Europe tour or the 17 day Italy tour. I am going to check with the hearing specialist here to see if he can recommend some form of enhancement that will help us.

Same issue, hearing aids for 5 years and I will be on my fifth tour next summer (Spain). I make it a point to let my fellow travelers know that I'm not pushy when I try to get close to the guide. I have not done this during introductions but I will next time, just easier. If they are using the whisper system i take out my hearing aids and adjust the volume up. Worked fine in Assisi as I recall. The demographics of these tours are such that you will likely not be the only one with this problem. Don't let this stop you!

Hi. I'm not hearing impaired, but I remember that we had folks in their seventies with mobility issues on my Southern Italy trip. We had lots of walking on this tour, especially in Matera. The slower folks cheerfully would leave about ten minutes earlier than the rest of us to make sure they didn't hold anyone up. I'm sure that no one on a RS tour would mind if you positioned yourself in the front of the group, as long as you can hear well enough that the guide doesn't have to shout (g). People are pretty considerate on RS tours, I've found!

I have taken 12 RS tours in the last 13 years and have registered for #13 already for next summer. I am hard of hearing and wear hearing aids in both ears. More and more often I find local guides (those who do not accompany our group on the bus) using devices that broadcast their voice to receivers that the tour members wear. A great asset for me. I sit in seats all over the bus and have never had a hard time hearing the tour guides who talk into an amplified system which broadcasts their voice all over the bus. When I encounter a local guide who does not use a broadcast system, I always let them know that I will be staying close to them so I can see their mouth move which helps me understand what they are saying. I think the biggest difficulty I have on any/all of these tours is when we are in a restaurant for a group meal and other folks are there also and the interior of the place is all hard surfaces, that makes it extremely difficulty for me to hear anything. However, I travel with my wife, who, bless her soul, "translates" what is necessary, for me to hear. Don't let being hearing impaired stop you from going on a RS tour.