Dyea Dave in Skagway?

[Jimbo]

Email address to contact him and prices of his tours please.

 

Can't seem to find what his tours include. Does he have different ones to ask for?

 

We will be in Skagway from 7am to 8:30pm

 

Jimbo:)

[pizzalady1]

Email address to contact him and prices of his tours please.

 

Can't seem to find what his tours include. Does he have different ones to ask for?

 

We will be in Skagway from 7am to 8:30pm

 

Jimbo:)

 

www dot dyeadave dot com or just google dyea dave

[Travelingboski]

We toured with Dyea Dave (Big Foot) and Becky (Cindy) in Skagway on Sep 1st and would highly recommend them.

They had a full tour scheduled and as luck would have it, van troubles and house fire, etc. but they still showed up at 7:30 as promised. We were lucky enough to ride in the large van/bus with Becky. Two people didn't show, and Dave and Becky did their best to try to find them, called them several times, drove around the parking lot searching for them and circled again after the visitor center movie.

Becky was very accomodating to our needs and stopped whenever someone wanted a great photo of a waterfall, lake or wildlife, even if it turned out to just be a fallen tree that only looked like a Moose! We even saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree right next to the road! One car kept following us, at one stop they said they had rented a car and decided to 'follow' the Dyea Dave vans because they knew all the great spots!

We were able to make it through the border patrol and get photos at the Yukon and Alaska sign without having to fight the massive bus/train crowds.

At Carcross, we had our passports stamped, saw more beautiful eagles, walked around the lake trail and then Becky introduced us to a 1st Nation Native friend she knew. He was carving a Totem Pole for the city and invited us into his shop, we were lucky enough to watch his skilled hands at work!

We saw the sand dunes and then stopped for lunch at the Cinna-Bun house, where we had delicious home made food and Gail (?) was a warm welcoming host. We made it all the way up to the breath-taking Emerald Lake before heading back.

Becky provided fun stories, a couple of corny jokes and interesting historical information that really enhanced the entire experience.

It was unbelievable to see how soon the train stopped, they missed a lot of the scenery! We had the option of riding the train back, but we opted to keep enjoying our personalized tour.

On the way back, we stopped at the Rock Garden to walk around the Inukshuk's that visitor's built. Back in Skagway, we stopped at the Gold Rush Cemetary, and one of my photos even has a ghost on it!

 

The Browns

 

BTW - during the trip we had several discussions about Dave and Becky's relationship and the various internet rumors about them...we finally have a definitive answer....Becky is Dave's illegitimate daughter! ;-)

[McDebbie]

So you're the people that had Becky turn around to take a picture of the "moose" stump! ;) We rode with her on 9/02 and had a great time also. We did take the train back down and it was quite a trip, I would recommend it one way.

[Driftwoodgal]

My husband and I just returned from Alaska on the Coral and did Dave's tour. After the great reviews on this board it was a HUGE disappointment. He is a a very nice guy but it was essentially a WASTED day! He gave little historical or relevant info, was disorganized, did not provide a map of where we were traveling (we picked up a free one in in Carcross which made the travel more relevant), etc. If all you are looking for is a long ride with stops for photo opts then this is for you. If you are looking for a clear understanding of what you are seeing, take the train. Others who went on the train had a MUCH better experience. We did whale watching with Harv and Marv in Juno which was exceptional and the Deadliest Catch was also a favorite of many folks on the ship.

I ran into other folks who did the DAve tour with us the day after and they agreed that it was a total waste. I asked them because I thought maybe it was just us but they confirmed what we had felt. Have no idea why he got such raves on Cruise Critic ?????

 

Just curious what you would expect as far as a map? When you are on Dave's tour you are on a highway with beautiful scenery that is two lanes and takes you up to Emeral Lake. On our tour Dave explained what lakes we were passing, about the sand dunes, Carcross station etc. Before our cruise I did research at my local library as well as the internet. I ended up buying a book from Barnes and Nobles that had ports of call that we were stopping at. I think the best one was by Frommes. We watched lots of ship tour buses that passed us by when we had photos ops as they were to large to stop on the side of the road. We loved the return train car as we weren't sandwiched in with others from the cruise ship.

 

We went on the Deadliest Catch tour that you mentioned was very good and would recommend it to anyone. They do feed the eagles, so you can get some great shots. You can book this tour outside of the cruise line on the internet.

 

Sorry you didn't have a good time with Dave. We had twelve people singing his praises at the end of our tour. Ten of us took the train back and two stayed on with Dave and did the round trip.

 

We will use him again if we are in the area.

[zamgwar]

Went with Dave in late August. He was GREAT. Took as about a half hour to warm up to his"style" then we loved him.

 

He put us on the train and picked us up in Frasier. He showed us the site of the Chilcook trail RCMP check in for the 49ers, took us to Carcross, explained geology and history along the way, went to Emerald Lake and a GREAT waterfall. He also brought us to the Diner (which had terrific soup!!), let us pose at the Yukon sign, and took us into the White Pass Rail yard, where we fully explored both engines and chatted with a worker in the shop.

 

He also gave us a history of the white pass and yukon railroad AND how the cruise industry developed in Alaska, what he felt about it and how (for bad and good) it changed Skagway.

 

Pretty much Dave designs his tours around you, so you need to have researched somethings you definitely want to do and tell him. He'll fill in the rest. Also don't be afraid to ask him to keep a history narrative running and he will.

 

All that, PLUS some incredibly corny jokes from a true character. I would go with him again.

 

John

Office of Satisfied Customers

The Zamgwar Institute

[pjfarkel]

Just curious what you would expect as far as a map? When you are on Dave's tour you are on a highway with beautiful scenery that is two lanes and takes you up to Emeral Lake. On our tour Dave explained what lakes we were passing, about the sand dunes, Carcross station etc. Before our cruise I did research at my local library as well as the internet. I ended up buying a book from Barnes and Nobles that had ports of call that we were stopping at. I think the best one was by Frommes. We watched lots of ship tour buses that passed us by when we had photos ops as they were to large to stop on the side of the road. We loved the return train car as we weren't sandwiched in with others from the cruise ship.

 

We went on the Deadliest Catch tour that you mentioned was very good and would recommend it to anyone. They do feed the eagles, so you can get some great shots. You can book this tour outside of the cruise line on the internet.

 

Sorry you didn't have a good time with Dave. We had twelve people singing his praises at the end of our tour. Ten of us took the train back and two stayed on with Dave and did the round trip.

 

We will use him again if we are in the area.

I am not sure what they expected either. There is only one road and the scenery was spectacular. I echo everything you said. Dave explained everything along the way - he talked continuously except in the fog, where we thank him for concentrating on his driving. We learned a lot, had a fantastic tour and the ten of us (and a 2 yr old) had the best day of our cruise with Dyea Dave!!!

[MINIDRVR]

I am not sure what they expected either. There is only one road and the scenery was spectacular. I echo everything you said. Dave explained everything along the way - he talked continuously except in the fog, where we thank him for concentrating on his driving. We learned a lot, had a fantastic tour and the ten of us (and a 2 yr old) had the best day of our cruise with Dyea Dave!!!

 

I've been waiting for you to get back to see how your trip went........:D Did you happen to write a full reivew of your trip yet? I'll be looking for it when you do.

Sounds like you had a good experience with Dyea Dave - we're planning on booking his tour when you go in May 2010........

[Choozin Croozin]

We just got back and went with Dave for a very long day. He is a great person and we all had a wonderful time. We all agreed (10 of us) that he exceeded our expectations. My db (who is pretty hard to please) said that out of all the private excursions we have done in the past 5 years (several) he thought that this one was the best. Dave definitely went out of his way for us and we really appreciated it. He is very well educated and knows his stuff. If you show up ON TIME and follow instructions on where to be etc. you will have a great time. We had a little snafu in the beginning because of a missing couple. You do need to be a little flexible too. I am working on a review of my entire trip and will post it later.

[pjfarkel]

I've been waiting for you to get back to see how your trip went........:D Did you happen to write a full reivew of your trip yet? I'll be looking for it when you do.

Sounds like you had a good experience with Dyea Dave - we're planning on booking his tour when you go in May 2010........

Hi and congrats on your many years of marriage! Happy cruise to you! I did write a reveiw. If you scroll down the page it is there. You should not be disappointed. Dave will cater to your every wish (or demand). He is quite versitile, and wants you happy. Have a great time...we did!

[travelteam]

We just got back from our tour with Dave and had a wonderful time. I liked the relaxed unrushed pace that we had with him. He suggested that we not be set on riding the train up or down as the weather would/could change and we would have a better ride up or down depending on the day we arrived in port. When we arrived in port the mountain was completely socked in so he suggested that we take the van trip up to the lake and the return on the train. Others in the van chose to ride up as well as down with him. He has added another van and driver to his tours. All of them seemed happy as clams when they stopped to eat luch too.

 

The lake was frozen, so we didn't get to see all of the colors, but I can say I say it frozen. We didn't get to see Caribo or bears, but we did see sheep and gotats. Others did get to see Caribo, but bears were just starting to come out due to the late snow fall this year. The train down was beautiful, the sun had come out and we had fantastic views as the trees are fully foilaged.

 

Dave even met us at the end of the train ride and offered us a ride back to the ship. We wanted to see some of the shops, and of course needed the extra calorie burning so passed on his offer

 

I would use Dave again on our next trip. It was nice that he could pull his smaller van over when we wanted to take pictures. The larger cruise ship vans weren't permitted to pull over unless they had a larger area.

 

Can't beat the tour. The train is not running past Carcross as they are working on the bridge. Sorry I can't remember what date it will open, but it is definitely closed in until later in the year.

 

The independent tour operators have their own rail car on the train. We had six of us on our rail car, we had it to ourselves.

 

Please ask any questions that you have and I will try to respond.

How can I get in touch with Dave. Would like to book for 2010.

[CaseyJr]

We booked a trip with Dyea Dave and got Howard as a tour guide instead. Howard is 70 years old and said that he helps Dave with his "overflow." We called Dave at least two months before our cruise and I was a little frustrated that we were considered "overflow." When we booked, we were told that he only had a party of two and us. Obviously people called after us and he gave them priority.

 

Because of all the reports of late arrivals, etc., we got off the boat early and waited for Howard to arrive. He arrived on time and took us on a nice drive. He was personable enough and it was just our family in his GMC but we didn't get any history or background of the area. At a couple of stops (including the dunes and Emerald Lake), he said, "There are signs that can describe things better than I can. You can get out and read them."

 

Howard was a very pleasant man and was very kind to our family. At $60/person, it was cheaper than the train but I was disappointed that, even after calling so early, we didn't get a tour with Dave.

[pizzalady1]

How can I get in touch with Dave. Would like to book for 2010.

 

see post # 201

[ncgolferette]

Emailed Dave for 2010 ten days ago and still have not heard from him. Someone above said that there may have been a fire at his home though.

Will wait another couple of weeks and then will email him again.

[d-ray]

I spoke with Dave several weeks ago to book for 2010. He advised that it would be best to contact him after the cruise season is over, October.

[Riksha]

I had booked with Dave well in advance and at that time, he asked me what we were interested in and seemed very accomodating at personalizing our tour. The last email I received from him stated that we were confirmed, this was about 4 months before our cruise.

 

A couple of days before we left, I sent him an email to give him our contact information en route in case he needed it. He called me back stating that he was going to put us with Howard. I was disappointed because I had heard great things about Dave's tour, but Dave assured me that we would have a great tour, Howard was fabulous, and that he would give Howard all the information of what we wanted to see.

 

We met up with Howard, who told us Dave gives us his "overflow". He didn't seem to know what we wanted to see and kept asking us where we wanted to go next. Unfortunately, I hadn't brought the specifics with me (eg gold panning, but Dave had suggested a specific location, etc). So, Howard called Dave on his cell, and got some suggestions. I knew the other places but not what the logical route should be.

 

It was a lovely drive, and lots of stops for pictures but we didn't get the in-depth commentary we were looking for. It was more just a bunch of stops. Howard also gave us his personal views on all sorts of topics from health care reform in the U.S, to why he thinks Canada is a socialist country (we're Canadian, and were not very impressed). We did get to the gold panning, but it wasn't at the dredge place that Dave had suggested and I didn't realize it until after - the place we went to was just a trough with a guy putting a bottle of gravel in your pan - totally different experience from what we were expecting based on discussions with Dave. I thought $240 was not worth it for a drive and a bunch of stops, it was the commentary I wanted. In the end, I wish we had just rented our own car because it would have been much cheaper, we would have seen the same lovely scenery, and we could have saved ourselves the political views.

[travelteam]

Just received an e-mail back from Dave..............said to check out which tour we were interested in, then e-mail him for more info. He's just finishing up the 2009 season - but seems ready to begin booking for 2010.

[jbcoop]

Dyea Dave disappointed us. We contacted him a couple months prior to our cruise, by email and by phone (leave a msg and he has your number, etc) Finally we spoke to him via phone a couple of times. Dave seemed a bit confused, but very nice. We wanted to confirm details of our trip, and Dave asked us to call him back. We called him back and he said he needed to get some details arranged...he would call us back with info. Well, never heard from Dave again. We called a couple times close in to our cruise, and once during, but never heard a thing. We had an open day as a result and had to scramble to fill it. Seemed that Dave may get a bit over committed during this busy season.

[cc_double]

We booked our tour with Dyna Dave for our May 6th 2008 Carnival Spirit Cruise, and can't fault his service, we found all contact with him to be professional, prompt and informative. The day of our tour was well organised and us as a family of 3 had the best day out with Dave, we even saw a bear in May!!! We would have no hesitation in reccomending Dave to all that visit Skagway.

[VikkiGarcia]

My family used him July 2008. He did not charge for kids under 12. We had 3 kids in our group. This was a HUGE HUGE HUGE savings over any other option in Skagway. Try to find any other operator that lets a kid go FREE with paying adult.

[Driftwoodgal]

Anytime a post runs with numbers like this it is (free advertisement, self promotion), a lot of people get caught up in this con! Use companies

that have proven policies.

 

Stacym

 

No self promotion here, I enjoyed every minute of our tour with Dave. I don't get a kick back nor do I have any relation to Dave. I just love to do independent tours and it is from threads like this that you find gems in the rough. Dave has reliable equiipment to get you from point A to point B. He has a cell phone that works, is willing to tailor your excursion to your wants.

 

I think if you do a view of my posts you will find that I post about various different ports not just Alaska cruise. I enjoying my expierence with a good tour operator.

[karatemom2]

Dave has reliable equiipment to get you from point A to point B. He has a cell phone that works, is willing to tailor your excursion to your wants.

 

His equipment wasn't too reliable according to this quote from a current review:

 

"At the Frasure Station there were numerous buses and vans waiting for their clients who rode the train, but no Dave. After about 10 minutes, someone from one of the other tours companies came up to us and said the Dave’s van had a flat tire on the way up, but they were fixing it and would be there shortly. About 5 minutes later a tour guide for Frontier Excursions came up to us and said that Dave’s driver could not get the lug nuts off the wheel and that Dave arranged for them to take us on their tour to Emerald Lake. We were very disappointed that we were not with Dyea Dave as originally planned, (especially since he had told my husband that he would take him into the WP&YR rail yard to see all the equipment) but we ended up going and seeing most everything we wanted."

 

At least he did make sure they finished the tour, but it was obviously not what was planned or expected. I know stuff happens, but it seems to happen to his customers a lot judging by the number of less than stellar experiences reported here. I will say again, it seems that when it works out well for people his tour can be great, but I personally would not be willing to take the chance.

[McDebbie]

It's sad to see such negative reviews here but I understand a lot of people have had a lot of different experiences. We went with Becky and had a great time and by the end of our trip with her the 2 couples that were not part of our CC group had been "adopted", it was one of the highlights of our trip. It really beats the big tour bus operations.

[Driftwoodgal]

His equipment wasn't too reliable according to this quote from a current review:

 

"At the Frasure Station there were numerous buses and vans waiting for their clients who rode the train, but no Dave. After about 10 minutes, someone from one of the other tours companies came up to us and said the Dave’s van had a flat tire on the way up, but they were fixing it and would be there shortly. About 5 minutes later a tour guide for Frontier Excursions came up to us and said that Dave’s driver could not get the lug nuts off the wheel and that Dave arranged for them to take us on their tour to Emerald Lake. We were very disappointed that we were not with Dyea Dave as originally planned, (especially since he had told my husband that he would take him into the WP&YR rail yard to see all the equipment) but we ended up going and seeing most everything we wanted."

 

At least he did make sure they finished the tour, but it was obviously not what was planned or expected. I know stuff happens, but it seems to happen to his customers a lot judging by the number of less than stellar experiences reported here. I will say again, it seems that when it works out well for people his tour can be great, but I personally would not be willing to take the chance.

 

I guess you could look at the review as a glass half full or half empty. If Dave had made them wait instead of making arrangements with another tour group he would have been a bad operator because they had to wait. Because he put them on another bus so they could continue their tour he is a bad tour operator. Flat tires can happen to a large bus as well as a van. Gosh we had a water pump go out on a big tour bus once. They didn't have a spare with them but we still had a good time as we continued the tour in another bus.

 

What is great about the boards... you can get information and make your decision on the tour you think is best for you. I do hate it though when people haven't used a tour guide and come on here and post negatively because of others posts. I make a point to come back and post about a all of my tours so others benifit from my first hand expierence. I just wonder how many people have had a good time with Dave and didn't respond? I can't comment on what the ratio of good posts to bad posts as I haven't counted them. I do however see lots of positive ones along with some negative, again glass half full or half empty.

[pizzalady1]

His equipment wasn't too reliable according to this quote from a current review:

 

"At the Frasure Station there were numerous buses and vans waiting for their clients who rode the train, but no Dave. After about 10 minutes, someone from one of the other tours companies came up to us and said the Dave’s van had a flat tire on the way up, but they were fixing it and would be there shortly. About 5 minutes later a tour guide for Frontier Excursions came up to us and said that Dave’s driver could not get the lug nuts off the wheel and that Dave arranged for them to take us on their tour to Emerald Lake. We were very disappointed that we were not with Dyea Dave as originally planned, (especially since he had told my husband that he would take him into the WP&YR rail yard to see all the equipment) but we ended up going and seeing most everything we wanted."

 

At least he did make sure they finished the tour, but it was obviously not what was planned or expected. I know stuff happens, but it seems to happen to his customers a lot judging by the number of less than stellar experiences reported here. I will say again, it seems that when it works out well for people his tour can be great, but I personally would not be willing to take the chance.

 

That was my review that you quoted. Yes, we were disappointed that we did not tour with Dyea Dave but I was very pleased that he saw that we did get a tour and were not stranded. Flat tires can happen to any tour operator or anyone for that matter, at any time. I do not see how you can claim that his equipment is less than reliable based on a flat tire. If we had to do it all over again, knowing what we know, I would not think twice about scheduling with Dyea Dave again. He offers something different than any other tour operator in the area--a tour tailored to what you want to see, not tailored for what the operator thinks you should see.