Headsets in St. Petersburg?

[Greenwhite]

This question is for those of you who have been to the various tourist venues in and around St. Petersburg. Did you use the wireless headsets which are an option with some of the tour companies? If you didn't, did you wish that you had? Was the ambient noise level such that it was difficult to hear your guide? Your experience would be helpful in deciding whether or not to request the headsets. Thank you.

[LHT28]

We did not use the headsets ...if you stick close to the guide you can usually hear them ok but it also depends on the guide & how loudly they speak.

 

If you cannot hear them before the tour starts I would get the headsets

[as19111]

I observed some of the larger ship's tours wearing headsets in the Hermitage. I thought this was a good idea because the larger the group, the more difficult it is to hear the guide or get close to the guide. However, I did speak with someone later on in the cruise who said the problem with the headsets was keeping up with the guide. She felt that she was barely seeing things as they were escorted from one room to the other. It seems the guide kept walking rather than stop, observe and explain.

 

If you are in a small group, hearing the guide is not a problem sans headsets.

 

On the other hand, I wish there were headsets in Gdansk. I spent a good bit of time trying to get near the guide so I could hear her. It was a large tour (40+) and the acoustics were poor and the noise level high. It would have improved that tour a great deal.

[pattyj 1204]

When we were in the Med. we used Headsets and found them to be very useful, especially in larger groups. If you have the opportunity to use them, take them.

[dfwguy62]

Clearly it depends on the size of your group, but in my 2-day tour with DenRus in St. Petersburg, we used them for our group of about 21 people. Admittedly the guide needs to keep you moving so that they can navigate the crowds and see as much as possible. With the headset, I was able to linger a little longer on something rather than feel like I had to be right beside the guide at all times. I certainly stayed within eyesight of her for the most part, but there were times when our 21 people probably stretched out over 2 or 3 rooms in the Hermitage for example. We were like a slinky following closely at times and lingering at other times. It worked for me. Also, there were times at the Hermitage and the Summer Palace where the rooms were VERY crowded with multiple tour groups. You could not always guarantee that you would be physically able to be within 6 or 8 feet of your guide to hear her. So the headset helped in these occasions as well. I vote FOR them. Tip... if you have your own headset or iPod earphones that you like for comfort, you may want to bring them. Our devices were 2 pieces... the receiver which I wore on my belt and the headset. The headset could be a bit bulky at time (and pictures of me that were taken when I did not take them off look stupid (Kind of like Princess Lea appendages on each side of the head. A smart teenager on my tour had his own set from his iPod and it plugged into the receiver quite nicely. He was much more comfortable, I'm sure.

[MightyQuinn]

This question is for those of you who have been to the various tourist venues in and around St. Petersburg. Did you use the wireless headsets which are an option with some of the tour companies? If you didn't, did you wish that you had? Was the ambient noise level such that it was difficult to hear your guide? Your experience would be helpful in deciding whether or not to request the headsets. Thank you.

We did Alla Tours “Complete St. Petersburg” in mid-June with a group of 15 pax. We did not have any need for headsets as it was easy to stay within earshot of our guide. Many of the main attractions (Hermitage, Yusupov’s Palace, Catherine’s Palace) do not permit over-crowding of rooms so there is some system of crowd/noise control. There also seems to be a courtesy protocol among guides & they do not compete for air-time with each other. At least that was our experience. Perhaps it was because we were there early in the season, but we were never bombarded by crowd noise.

[Greenwhite]

Thank You all very much for your replies. They were extremely helpful. :)

[bayridge348]

Loved use of headsets on recent GCT tour in Russia. It allowed me to go where I wanted to go within a 50-75 yard radius yet p[erfectly hear the guide. It gave me great freedom to take photos away from the crowds. In addition, our guide never had to scream and risk loosing her voice. Definitely a plus on any tour with more than 10 people.