Headphone System for Passengers Going on Shore Tours

It's bad enough that cruisers travel in packs through port towns. Now they'll be traveling in packs and wearing goofy looking headphones.

That's right, Regent Seven Seas Cruises is launching what it thinks is a first for a major cruise line: A headphone system for passengers going on shore tours.

Designed to let passengers hear their guides more clearly, the new Regent system will be used on tours of historic and religious sites where loud conversation is forbidden.

The system is pretty straightforward. Guides will wear a small microphone through which they'll be able to speak directly to passengers wearing individual, lightweight headsets. The headsets are individually packaged and disposable, so passengers will get a new one with each tour.

The system will debut on June cruises to the Baltic and Europe aboard the 700-passenger Seven Seas Voyager and the 490-passenger Seven Seas Navigator. It launches in September in Asia on the 700-passenger Seven Seas Mariner.