Hi Janice, we are sorry you are disappointed with the tour you have joined.
We completely understand that being part of a larger group, due to the illness of our guide, could affect your experience. However, you got your partial refund for the last-minute change. We are all humans and we were confident that our guests would understand that.
Regarding the headsets, that we are obliged to rent from the Vatican Museums directly, you had two choices: ask your guide to replace the device or stay closer to the guide in case your headset was for some reason not working. We are very attentive on this matter and the guide always has a few headsets for replacement.
Regarding other groups/tours, well, it's July in Rome, and like you had the idea to visit Rome during the peak of the season, many other people had the same inspiration and found themselves, together with you, in the Vatican Museums. We would recommend visiting one of the most visited Museums in the World in March or November - in case you would like to do it completely at your own pace and without many visitors around you. You will have a much better experience. We cannot control how many people are entering the Vatican Museums, but for sure we know that the visitors are fewer compared to the crowds entering from 9 am on. Therefore, not being able to compare yourself, we can assure you that in July, the groups entering at 8.30 am are still a manageable number of visitors.
Regarding the itinerary and your specific interest in some artworks (Sphere and the Spiral Staircase - not even mentioned in our itinerary), we would have accommodated your request for a different itinerary. You never mentioned you wanted to take pictures of artworks not included in the tour. As you also can understand, the Vatican Museums are 9 miles long, and the itinerary is set in order for our guests to visit the most important artworks displayed within.
As for the length of the tour, we have respected the promised time, which is 2.5 hours - therefore it couldn't have been rushed at all.
For a tour, as you had in your mind, you should come to Rome in other months, not during the peak of the tourism season.
At least we hope that you appreciated the marvel of the Sistine Chapel, in case you didn't miss it thinking of how crowded the Vatican Museums are in July, during the record tourism year in Rome.
We wish you happy travels and nice experiences around the World.