Dyea Dave in Skagway?

[karatemom2]

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.

 

I'm sorry if you are upset that I quoted your review. I thought it just seemed pertinent to this discussion. I do agree that flat tires can happen, but a properly equipped driver should be able to get the lugnuts off and change the tire. What if that had happened after you had been picked up and you ended up stranded and risk missing your ship? I do think it is good that he arranged for you to finish the tour with another vendor, but I thought it was applicable to the discussion of reliability of his equipment.

 

We had planned to tour with Dave based on much of what I read here, but to be honest I did not get a very secure sense of his reliability based on our emails. The operation just seemed very loose, and with no deposit or firm financial agreement I was just hesitant to entrust my port day to him. We had a bad experience with a similar situation in another Alaska port a couple of years ago when we put all of our faith in a local vendor who ended up ditching us for a larger, more lucrative party. Since we had no money invested upfront, we really had no hold on them other than their word. It ruined our day and I vowed never to use another vendor who didn't require some financial commitment and that is one of the reasons we opted not to tour with Dave. It was only later that I read many of the negative comments cropping up here which just confirmed my concerns.

 

I'm sure Dave is a great guy, but while I want a personal tour, I also want a professional tour operator and in my experience we have found vendors who can provide both. It sounds as if the business is outgrowing his capacity to manage it and he needs to seriously consider some more professional organizational and business practices for his own success and the satisfaction of his clients.

[karatemom2]

And some of us think that is unfortunate. Recommendations or criticisms should be based on experience, not just repeating what others say. Goes for any tour operator, not just this guy. Fortunately you base your comments on your experience, not rehashing others' positive or negative experiences. The few chronic complainers of this tour operator have never stated they have any personal experience with his tour. For all we know, it can be a personal vendetta.

 

Well speaking on my part, there is certainly no persoanl vendetta. And even though I didn't take the tour, I do have some reference point in attempting to book a reservation which is why this topic was even of interest to me in the first place.

 

But, regardless, this is a public forum and as such people have a right to comment on this topic and any other topic posted. I don't believe that there is any requirement to have first hand experience in order to participate in any discussion here. I find many helpful and informative comments from many different sources and experience comes in all forms. If someone disagrees with my opinion, that is certainly their right, but I still have the right to voice my opinion, as does everyone else who posts here.

[Trailblazer99]

While you do have to take a tour to know if the operator is good, you can certainly tell who to avoid without going on the tour. When DyeaDave didn't respond to my initial email I simply moved on to a more professional operator who responded within an hour. We had an excellent day with Chilkoot. The driver, Sean, was very good and we even enjoyed the large "tourist trap" at Carcross.

[Choozin Croozin]

I am another very happy traveller with Dave from June 2008. We had a fantastic day with everything running very smoothly, and similar trips as already relayed by others before me in this thread.

 

Murray, sorry, Yukon, noting your previous not uncommon swipes at Dave on another forum prior to our trip, I asked him about the background between you two and he advised that, at that time, to his knowledge he had never met you, and had no idea why you had an agenda against him. And you also probably know that he is far too much a gentleman to respond to you.

 

It is sad for me to see that his business has grown to the extent that some travellers are being disappointed, but it has only grown because he, most often, delivers a great trip. I particularly like the complaint from one poster that Dave did not provide a map - perhaps that person should have purchased a map from you, Murray. :rolleyes: Right on!

 

I will echo this entire comment, it is VERY well written. I was just with Dave a couple of weeks ago and we had the same conversation. He could not have done more for us and we were all very pleased. One of our party even lost their hat and while we were eating lunch he went back and found it. This is still one of 2 favorite days of my trip (the other a bear excursion in Homer). Out of all the people we dealt with for 12 days, he is in a minuet showing of people that actually knew what customer service was all about.

[Driftwoodgal]

I am another very happy traveller with Dave from June 2008. We had a fantastic day with everything running very smoothly, and similar trips as already relayed by others before me in this thread.

 

Murray, sorry, Yukon, noting your previous not uncommon swipes at Dave on another forum prior to our trip, I asked him about the background between you two and he advised that, at that time, to his knowledge he had never met you, and had no idea why you had an agenda against him. And you also probably know that he is far too much a gentleman to respond to you.

 

It is sad for me to see that his business has grown to the extent that some travellers are being disappointed, but it has only grown because he, most often, delivers a great trip. I particularly like the complaint from one poster that Dave did not provide a map - perhaps that person should have purchased a map from you, Murray. :rolleyes:

 

Priceless post ........well done.

 

Originally posted by choozin cruzin I will echo this entire comment, it is VERY well written. I was just with Dave a couple of weeks ago and we had the same conversation. He could not have done more for us and we were all very pleased. One of our party even lost their hat and while we were eating lunch he went back and found it. This is still one of 2 favorite days of my trip (the other a bear excursion in Homer). Out of all the people we dealt with for 12 days, he is in a minuet showing of people that actually knew what customer service was all about.

 

Another great post. Our day was fabulous with him...... we even got snowed on. He told us all we would have to do was shout out if we wanted a photo opt. I got some great pictures of big horn sheep about four minutes after I yelled stop! Larger tour buses were trying to stop for the same pictures but were to big. Our day was one of our best in Alaska.

[Murrumba]

I am another very happy traveller with Dave from June 2008. We had a fantastic day with everything running very smoothly, and similar trips as already relayed by others before me in this thread.

 

Murray, sorry, Yukon, noting your previous not uncommon swipes at Dave on another forum prior to our trip, I asked him about the background between you two and he advised that, at that time, to his knowledge he had never met you, and had no idea why you had an agenda against him. And you also probably know that he is far too much a gentleman to respond to you.

 

It is sad for me to see that his business has grown to the extent that some travellers are being disappointed, but it has only grown because he, most often, delivers a great trip. I particularly like the complaint from one poster that Dave did not provide a map - perhaps that person should have purchased a map from you, Murray. :rolleyes:

 

 

I live in Australia and was organising our excursions for a July 3-17 ( HAL cruise on the Ryndam) with private operators prior to us leaving. On recommendations for Dyea Dave I made contact with him. Very slow response and then virtually no response. You can go back on my emails at this time where I was trying to chase him up and see if anybody knew what happened to him.

 

Eventually he did contact (one of my cruise critic buddies who had joined up with us for this excursion), but never me, and we were told after initially booking with him that he would hand us over to another person. Well we were picked up at the wharf, but really the experience was disappointing - not at all what we had expected for our money. Obviously the scenery was wonderful, but ......??? I felt uneasy when there was no contact in response to our followup confirmations and should have gone with another operator or rented a car for all the information that we received on this trip.

 

I am sure that if you get Dyea Dave to take you on the day it would be wonderful, but if you are just jerked aside to another person - well???????

Personally for us, it was a long way to come to be unsure of what we were doing and we tried to look on the positives, but we were really upset and p...... off at his don't care attitude. Never followed up to see if we were pleased with his push off to another person. Honestly I suppose this person was a good person, but no personality and it was like pulling teeth to be in his company!!! Went to Emerald Lake - for 5 minutes at the top, did not get to stop in Carcross (which I am sure we would have liked), and slept in the car while we had lunch.

 

To be sure what you are getting go somewhere else until Dave improves his attitude towards people who book with him and customer service.

[CaseyJr]

and slept in the car while we had lunch.

 

 

Slept in the car? That would be Howard.

[McDebbie]

I am not sure if Dave reads these boards but I know Becky does (or has somebody check them for her) and even she admitted that Dave was disorganized and needs a secretary. I was looking forward to traveling with Dave but kind of glad we got Becky, I understand Dave is good with the corny jokes and I could not have stood that first thing in the morning. ;)

[sunshine 229]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I just returned from an Alaskan cruise that included a tour with Dyea Dave's company. I say his company because I ended up in going in Becky's van rather than Dave's, and I had a great time.

 

I was a little apprehensive because I'd read here about someone getting left at the dock and when I didn't see his van as soon as I got off the ship, I did wonder if I would have the same experience but in a few minutes a Dyea Dave van showed up and, after reminding me I needed my passport to cross into Canada, and waiting while I went back on the ship to get it (boy did I feel dumb for forgetting)whisked me off to meet the other passengers and carry on with the tour.

 

I had a great day and saw my only bear of the trip (even though I paid a lot more to take a ship sponsored 'wildlife and bear search' in another port and saw no wildlife).

 

We got a lot of history of the area and the gold rush and a lot of lovely scenery and photo ops. Becky was very personable and just chatting with her and hearing about some of her experiences gave me a little more understanding of what it would be like to live in the area both the good things about it and some of the less pleasant things.

 

At the end of the tour we returned to Skagway and Becky offered to drop us off wherever in town we wanted, which for me was the Skagway Brewing Company.

 

A great day with an interesting guide at a great price.

[cruiseonecer]

Lets all stand back, take a deep breath, and absorb some facts about Skagway.

 

Fact - Latest available population information from the US Census Bureau from 2000 records the permanent population of Skagway to be 862 people.

 

http://www.census.gov/

 

Fact - On most days of the cruise season there are up to four cruise ships in port. I know this because I regularly flick to the WPYR port webcam, when on long, boring phone calls at work, and see them there.

 

Fact - Most of these cruise ships are carrying in excess of 2000 passengers. 4 x 2000+ is nearly 9000 people.

 

Fact - The summer cruise season requires many seasonal workers to support the cruise industry.

 

So, to have great, knowledgeable, local operators conducting the tours, from such a limited population base, is a classic case of supply and demand. How widely can Dave and Becky spread themselves to meet demand?

 

As I have said before, in my opinion the deterioration of services experienced by some has been caused by increased demand and that demand has been driven by the reports of very enjoyable experiences with Dave, as I, along with many others, have previously posted, but supply is limited as there is only one Dave and one Becky.

 

Sorry for the long post, but people have to look at the reality of Skagway.

 

However, getting off my soap box, the WPYR, and a further trip to Emerald Lake in the Yukon, is probably the most memorable day of our trip June last year for the experience and scenery alone.

[seamare]

Back in August I booked an Emerald Lake excursion with Dave. He confirmed it but said we were the only ones that had booked for that day. I called the day before and he confirmed that we would go. When we showed up for the tour, he stated that the weather conditions were not favorable to go up to Emerald Lake. He stated that he had a group that he was taking on a "Bear" sighting excursion and that he would take us along at no charge. We went, but were not too happy with traveling around and not really seeing much at all. He pointed out all the local tourist traps and a little history of the area. This was what the other 4 couples wanted to do but not what we wanted. In the end, we did not see any bears, which was really no fault of Dave. He said he wouldn't charge us for this but we felt like we should give him something so we gave him $20 which we found out what he was charging per person for the rest of the group. We enjoyed ourselves more just walking around town. The national park service has done a wonderful job there. I wished though, we had taken the train up to Emerald Lake. I felt like maybe he just didn't want to take just 2 people up to Emerald Lake, that he needed another couple in order to make it worth while and if that was the case, I wished that he would have said so and we would have arranged another tour.

[vbmom87]

Back in August I booked an Emerald Lake excursion with Dave. He confirmed it but said we were the only ones that had booked for that day. I called the day before and he confirmed that we would go. When we showed up for the tour, he stated that the weather conditions were not favorable to go up to Emerald Lake. He stated that he had a group that he was taking on a "Bear" sighting excursion and that he would take us along at no charge. We went, but were not too happy with traveling around and not really seeing much at all. He pointed out all the local tourist traps and a little history of the area. This was what the other 4 couples wanted to do but not what we wanted. In the end, we did not see any bears, which was really no fault of Dave. He said he wouldn't charge us for this but we felt like we should give him something so we gave him $20 which we found out what he was charging per person for the rest of the group. We enjoyed ourselves more just walking around town. The national park service has done a wonderful job there. I wished though, we had taken the train up to Emerald Lake. I felt like maybe he just didn't want to take just 2 people up to Emerald Lake, that he needed another couple in order to make it worth while and if that was the case, I wished that he would have said so and we would have arranged another tour.

 

How unfortunate for you. Back in 2007, when I was planning our June 2008 trip, I considered going with Dave. At the time it seemed like a one man operation and I was concerned that if something happened to him (illness or family emergency) we would be left with no trip to take. So, I decided to do the Chilkoot tour which was a very good tour. We took the train to Carcross which was fabulous!!!! Later I read that Dave discourages people from taking the train to Carcross. I am not sure why, as the scenery beyond Fraser is so magnificent. He lost a bit of credibility after I saw that post on another forum.

[seamare]

How unfortunate for you. Back in 2007, when I was planning our June 2008 trip, I considered going with Dave. At the time it seemed like a one man operation and I was concerned that if something happened to him (illness or family emergency) we would be left with no trip to take. So, I decided to do the Chilkoot tour which was a very good tour. We took the train to Carcross which was fabulous!!!! Later I read that Dave discourages people from taking the train to Carcross. I am not sure why, as the scenery beyond Fraser is so magnificent. He lost a bit of credibility after I saw that post on another forum.

 

I'm glad you had a great tour - I always seem to have something on the back bunner to do on the "next" trip. I never look at a vacation as an once in a life time event. I've been very fortunate that my DH lets me keep planning vacations. When I was planning the Alaska cruise, we were going to have a very hetic summer so I was only going to do the cruise plus one extra day in Vancouver which worked out fine. Now I know more as to what to expect and am now planning my "next" trip to Alaska which I will extend and to a land tour that I will probably plan myself. My only delima is when to go. Do I go during the early season or do I wait and go in September. We went in August this year an although it only rain one day, the rest of the time was very cloudy and cold.

[vbmom87]

I'm glad you had a great tour - I always seem to have something on the back bunner to do on the "next" trip. I never look at a vacation as an once in a life time event. I've been very fortunate that my DH lets me keep planning vacations. When I was planning the Alaska cruise, we were going to have a very hetic summer so I was only going to do the cruise plus one extra day in Vancouver which worked out fine. Now I know more as to what to expect and am now planning my "next" trip to Alaska which I will extend and to a land tour that I will probably plan myself. My only delima is when to go. Do I go during the early season or do I wait and go in September. We went in August this year an although it only rain one day, the rest of the time was very cloudy and cold.

 

I had to plan my Alaska trip as a possible once in a lifetime trip as vacation dollars are limited. I do hope we can get back, although my DH is not as keen about heading back to Alaska as I am. (Still think that Northwestern Fjord tour out of Seward just did him in ;) ..we had a rough sea day there). He prefers to go see places we just haven't been. I am dying to get back to see what I missed the first time. I will keep watching for deals.

 

You will love interior Alaska. We spent 9 days on land after our tour. It is difficult to decide on a time of year to go. If you are after warmer temps then in general late June through July are your best bet. However, July begins the rainy season in SE Alaska. However, if you have been following these boards for a few years, you just never know what kind of weather you will get. We picked mid to end of June because I was looking for the best chance of avoiding rain. Overall we didn't have that much rain, but unfortunately it hit the days of our key excursions. We had a full day of rain in Juneau where we were taking the all day trip to Tracy Arm Fjord. We had all day rain for the 9 hour Northwestern Fjords Tour, and we had all day rain for our 11 hour trip into Denali. The only other real rain we had was the morning in Ketchikan. The other days were all rain free, but on the cool side. Considering we were gone 18 days we didn't have that much rain. It was just unfortunate that our big excursions were on such rainy days. Last year Alaska had record low tempratures. This year they some real hot days. So, you just never know. You need to be prepared for all kinds of weather and then just go and enjoy!!!

[LindaandJeff]

.... We had a bad experience with a similar situation in another Alaska port a couple of years ago when we put all of our faith in a local vendor who ended up ditching us for a larger, more lucrative party. Since we had no money invested upfront, we really had no hold on them other than their word. It ruined our day and I vowed never to use another vendor who didn't require some financial commitment and that is one of the reasons we opted not to tour with Dave. It was only later that I read many of the negative comments cropping up here which just confirmed my concerns.

...

 

I know you probably can't tell us the tour operator that ditched you, but can you share what port it happened in? We recently booked with a company for a tour with no financial commitment required and now I am worried...Care to share?

[karatemom2]

I know you probably can't tell us the tour operator that ditched you, but can you share what port it happened in? We recently booked with a company for a tour with no financial commitment required and now I am worried...Care to share?

 

It was in Icy Strait Point for a bear watching tour. It was a couple of years ago and they have since closed so I doubt you are booked with the same operator. But, after what we experienced I would always have a back up plan in place in a circumstance where I felt there was any possibility that we could get stood up. It was a painful learning experience for us.

[frugaltravel]

I know you probably can't tell us the tour operator that ditched you, but can you share what port it happened in? We recently booked with a company for a tour with no financial commitment required and now I am worried...Care to share?

 

Tour operators are mentioned here all the time - as was said Dyea Dave is mentioned in this thread :D

 

I have read on CC about at least three particular operators that I would be hesitant to use - Adventure Bound in Juneau, Homer Ocean Charters in Homer and TECKK in Icy Strait Point. All have had good reviews but also more than one negative review. Same with Dave - I would be hesitant to use him. Would I use any of these three? Perhaps, but I would do my homework, question the operators about the negativity, etc. I would also confirm and reconfirm anything I book with them.

[Driftwoodgal]

How unfortunate for you. Back in 2007, when I was planning our June 2008 trip, I considered going with Dave. At the time it seemed like a one man operation and I was concerned that if something happened to him (illness or family emergency) we would be left with no trip to take. So, I decided to do the Chilkoot tour which was a very good tour. We took the train to Carcross which was fabulous!!!! Later I read that Dave discourages people from taking the train to Carcross. I am not sure why, as the scenery beyond Fraser is so magnificent. He lost a bit of credibility after I saw that post on another forum.

 

The bridge in Carcross was closed when we were there in May. That leg of the train ride wasn't available because of the closure.

[js cruisers]

Just back from our cruise and spent Sept. 16 on a tour with Dyea Dave specifically Becky. I have been following this post prior to our cruise and so knew of the positive and negative responses. May I just say this tour exceeded my expectations. It was a fantastic day for our group. There were some who had decided they were going to do the train portion of the tour but ended up staying with Becky because she was better than the train (in our opinion).

[d-ray]

For all of you who have been with Dave, if you want to take the train to Fraser and go onward with Him how do you book it? Do you have him pick you up and take you to train, buy tickets at train and in Fraser he will be waiting for you? Confused.

[Driftwoodgal]

We drove up with Dave and rode the train back to Skagway. We had to buy our tickets for the return trip in town. I didn't see a ticket booth at the station, in fact there wasn't a station. The train was just stopped near the border on the tracks. If we had choosen to ride the train up not sure where would have picked us up. It was nice to be flexible and choose which way we wanted to travel in the van. The weather was socked in when we arrived in port. It had cleared by the time we drove up and were ready to board the train.

 

Jscruisers,

 

Glad you came back and reported on your day. Ours was wonderful too.

[pizzalady1]

There is a large parking lot where all of the cars/vans/buses are waiting for the train. There are also restrooms. You would have to call WP&YR about the Frasure to Skagway run--you may be able to purchase the ticket from the conductor or you may have to purchase it before hand either at the Skagway station or on their website. If you ride from Frasure to Skagway, sit on the right side.

[SnowFlake8]

The four of us spent Sep 21 with Dave. Ryndam docked a little past 8 am and Dave was at the dock to meet us. He told us there would be six of us so we waited for Couple #3 to show up. When they didn't show after 15 minutes of waiting, Dave drove us into town to the National Park Service Visitor Center to catch a historical film about Skagway while he returned to the ship to meet the missing couple. After the film, we met him outside the center and Couple #3 was still missing. Well, they never did show and they didn't call to say they weren't coming.

 

Our tour with Dave was informative, relaxed and entertaining, and he stopped whenever we wanted for photo opps. He gave us the option of taking the train, which in the end we were glad we didn't, as the weather turned rainy. We had a great trip to Carcross and Emerald Lake, and we gained loads more information on this trip than on the shore excursion we had done on our first trip to Skagway. Our tour didn't include Dyea, but Dave took us there anyway as we hadn't seen any bears on the tour. He didn't charge us for the extra hours, but we gave him more than what he'd quoted as we felt he'd gone beyond what was expected.

 

When I booked with Dave, I had initial reservations due to the negative reviews that I'd read. However, he was prompt in replying e-mail and I had no need to call. Not that I'd have wanted to anyway, due to the time difference where I am and that it would have been an international call.

[vbmom87]

The four of us spent Sep 21 with Dave. Ryndam docked a little past 8 am and Dave was at the dock to meet us. He told us there would be six of us so we waited for Couple #3 to show up. When they didn't show after 15 minutes of waiting, Dave drove us into town to the National Park Service Visitor Center to catch a historical film about Skagway while he returned to the ship to meet the missing couple. After the film, we met him outside the center and Couple #3 was still missing. Well, they never did show and they didn't call to say they weren't coming.

 

Our tour with Dave was informative, relaxed and entertaining, and he stopped whenever we wanted for photo opps. He gave us the option of taking the train, which in the end we were glad we didn't, as the weather turned rainy. We had a great trip to Carcross and Emerald Lake, and we gained loads more information on this trip than on the shore excursion we had done on our first trip to Skagway. Our tour didn't include Dyea, but Dave took us there anyway as we hadn't seen any bears on the tour. He didn't charge us for the extra hours, but we gave him more than what he'd quoted as we felt he'd gone beyond what was expected.

 

When I booked with Dave, I had initial reservations due to the negative reviews that I'd read. However, he was prompt in replying e-mail and I had no need to call. Not that I'd have wanted to anyway, due to the time difference where I am and that it would have been an international call.

 

Happy to hear things worked out for you. As with most businesses some people are happy and some are not. It depends on your personal experience. It just seems that many expected to get Dave and got someone else. Some of those experiences were okay others disappointing. Sounds like if you actually get Dave you will have a great experience. With you going in later September, it is probably easier to get him as the tour guide. Because of this forum I think his business has increased dramatically and rather than turn people away he has others help him with the tours. Sometimes it works out other times it doesn't.

[ncgolferette]

I have sent him two emails within the past six weeks for next summer, he has not replied to either!!!! We will probably do the tour with another company.