Dyea Dave or Chilkoot

[HEINER]

Help!! I need advice what tour Co. would be the best for a 10 year old? Dyea Dave or Chilkoot Tour's. What made you choose one over the other? They both look great.

Thanks for any help you can give us.

Betty:)

[AmazingJourneys]

Help!! I need advice what tour Co. would be the best for a 10 year old? Dyea Dave or Chilkoot Tour's. What made you choose one over the other? They both look great.

 

Thanks for any help you can give us.

Betty:)

 

I haven't been on either, but I've heard rave reviews about both of them from CC and trip advisor, among other sites.

 

I am booked with DYEA Dave in early August and I went with him because of his flexibility. I can take the train one way (either direction) or go in the Van with him both directions. The train is an additional $81.00. He has a more personal tour, because there are less people. It will also be easier to stop and take pictures. This is what sold me, but Chilkoot Tours was a close 2nd for me.

 

It all depends on what you are looking for and neither will be a wrong choice. Do a search and you'll find a lot of reviews from both companies and call both places, if you haven't already.

[VikkiGarcia]

When we toured with Dave he did not charge for children. This may have changed. The savings made it a no brainer.

[kdzkatz]

I have no experience with Chilkoot tours but we went on a tour with Dyea Dave last May and very much enjoyed ourselves. He is very flexible and accomodating. We felt it was a very personable tour and recommend him to anyone going to Skagway. We took the van both ways so we could stop for photo ops both ways. I hope this info helps.

[csaeroach]

We booked Dyea Dave in Sept 2008 for our first cruise to Alaska after reading so many positive reviews on CC. I am glad we did as it is one of the best private excursions we ever did. We went back to Alaska Sept 2009 and we booked him again, for another wonderful day! He goes the extra mile for all his clients, and makes sure you have a great time, and he is so flexible to accommodate you in any way he can. You have the ability to set the day to what you want to do and see, and not many tour operators operate like this. His knowledge of the area and history of Skagway/Yukon, is very impressive! He makes sure your 100% satisified with your tour before you ever pay him anything. We are thinking on going back to Alaska in 2011, and I will likely be booking a day with Dave again for the third time.... he is awesome!

[FlightMedic555]

When we did the Alaska Cruise we used Chilkoot and had a great time. Dave did not answer direct phone calls or e-mails and I did not want to risk my excursion on poor customer service.

[cage keeper]

I'm surprised you had a problem with Dyea Dave. We have emailed him several times in the past month and he has responded very quickly every time.

 

We booked the 15 passenger van $600.00. There are 11 of us and two are 10YO's. We can customize the tour and he will take us where we want. I can't wait.

[luvlake]

Every thread you find on Chilkoot's and Dyea Dave is the same. Chilkoot's has their cheer leaders and Dyea Dave has his cheer leaders.

 

We personally took Chilkoot's this last summer and it was wonderful, but all of Dave's customers say the same. There were 17 of us in our group and we were able to use their big mini bus with huge windows. I was able to speak with the owner of Chilkoot's several times and he was an extremely nice person and very accomodating.

 

You will find great things said about both!

[anamanxs]

We are booked with Dave in May of this year, I spoke to him on the phone last weekend and he seemed like a really nice person. He is not charging for my grandson who is 2 1/2. We are really forward to our tour, we are taking the train to Fraizer and Dave is picking us up and we are going into the Yukon.

[CruisingGoddess]

I'm booked with BOTH of them! I'm using Chilkoot to go to the Yukon. I understand when people say Dyea Dave lets you take the train one way and van back when Chilkoot is similar. We take a train to Fraser and the motorcoach from Fraser to Caribou Crossing and back to Skagway.

 

I'm booked with Dyea Dave for the Trip to Dyea tour after Chilkoot. :) Our ship doesn't leave Skagway until 8:30 pm so I figured why not!

[HEINER]

Thanks so much for all your information. I booked with Dyea Dave spoke with him on the phone we won't be in the van with Dave but with his sister or Becky. He gave me so much information about the tour and I liked that it is a small group.

Hope everyone has a great cruise.:)

Betty

[vbmom87]

What I liked about Chilkoot was their mini-buses with huge windows. We happened to be on a 13 passenger (I believe) mini-bus. One side had two person seats and the other side had one person seats. No matter what side you were on, you could easily see out the windows on the opposite side to view the scenery. I know they have some larger buses too, but I think they all have the big windows. You would have to call or email to be sure. I am not sure what kind of windows Dave has. If it is a normal van that has not been converted, the windows would not be as nice. However, as mentioned above, if he doesn't charge for children, that could be a plus.

[LindaandJeff]

I talked to him yesterday and he is currently in Elkhart, Indiana picking up a brand new bus (12 passengers, I think) so it should have nice windows. Don't you just love that "new bus smell"!:D But I suppose it depends how many groups he has booked that day. I think he will have 4 vehicles, so it will depend which one you get.

[apeller]

We are booked with Dave in July. I emailed him and never received a reply from him so about a week later I phoned him. He has been having issues with his email (incoming and outgoing). We sent some test emails going back and forth and some got through and others didn't. He was going to look into the situation.

Anyway, he was really fun to talk to on the phone, I was only booking the tour for others in our group since we had done a similar tour a few years ago, and while we were chatting I decided to join the tour as well. He definitely had a sense of humor (maybe somewhat warped) and I loved it. Can't wait to meet him in person.

I'm glad to hear he got the new van, he mentioned that he was planning on getting it, and it should make our tour that much nicer.

[ncgolferette]

I spoke to Dave this evening to confirm a tour for early July. He has gone to Carcross on some family business and will be out of touch (no phone and no emails) for four to five days. If anyone is trying to contact him, you won't hear back until the weekend.