Dave's trip in Skagway

[tobecool]

I know a lot of people had very good experience with Dave's trip in Skagway. Would anyone please tell in details what happened in the trip? I mean like where he stops for shooting and sightseeing, how many stops he has... I think people choose him only if he can let you see more than taking a train, not for the cost less than others, is that right?

[mr green]

We traveled with Dave this spring, to Emerald Lake. He stops at what he considers 'photo ops', but if you ask him he will stop any place if able.

One thing thatDave likes to do is to stay ahead of the buses, so we are usually the first to stop for wild life without frightening them. On this trip we stopped four times for bear, one was within fifty feet of us. At that time it seems they are still a little sleepy from waking up.

As far as the train goes, IMO you can see more of it by road, than if you were riding in it. Dave also keeps up a good supply of information and jokes.

Have fun.:)

 

john

[tobecool]

Thanks, John, that's what we are looking for. We prefer he's informative and give us stops as many as he can and let us take photos and of course we'd love him to tell the jokes, that's why we don't want train tour.

[VikkiGarcia]

Dave will stop anytime. My son commented about the "smallest desert" as we passed. (really nothing to see) Dave quickly pulled over and told my son to run across it.

[talentscout16]

We had a great experience 2 years ago with Dave but last year he was oversold and NO SHOWED for us. We stood and waited where we were told to for an hour.

 

Finally left a message and got a return call with some story later on back on the ship.

 

It didn't make up for us having nothing else to do pre planned on our last visit to Skagway

 

I would not use him again

[tobecool]

We had a great experience 2 years ago with Dave but last year he was oversold and NO SHOWED for us. We stood and waited where we were told to for an hour.

 

Finally left a message and got a return call with some story later on back on the ship.

 

It didn't make up for us having nothing else to do pre planned on our last visit to Skagway

 

I would not use him again

 

wow, so sorry to hear it. I'll be upset and helpless if it happens to us. Will consider it carefully.

 

Thanks for telling.

[barefoot cruiser]

I too was excited about Dave last year. He was oversold and the vans were very FULL. He seemed frazzled and off the day we were with him and it was only the beginning of the season. We saw what we wanted to see, but felt somewhat disappointed in the experience. Got what we paid for trip to Emerald Lake by Van, just not the "extra" we heard about.

[riverside75]

We've decided to go with Becky at Beyond Skagway Tours for our trip. From what I understand, she used to work for Dave, but decided to start her own company. This is her first year. From the conversations I've had with her so far, I'm really looking forward to this excursion. She's very accomodating and willing to put almost whatever we want into it. She's also a local, so she's knows all the best places to go based on what we want to see!

[Jen1000]

Do a search on the boards, there was mixed experiences with Dave last summer. There were several postings of problems. I decided I was not going to take any chances on my tirp, we went with Chilkoot and enjoyed it.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

I know a lot of people had very good experience with Dave's trip in Skagway. Would anyone please tell in details what happened in the trip? I mean like where he stops for shooting and sightseeing, how many stops he has... I think people choose him only if he can let you see more than taking a train, not for the cost less than others, is that right?

[roundpond]

We've decided to go with Becky at Beyond Skagway Tours for our trip. From what I understand, she used to work for Dave, but decided to start her own company. This is her first year. From the conversations I've had with her so far, I'm really looking forward to this excursion. She's very accomodating and willing to put almost whatever we want into it. She's also a local, so she's knows all the best places to go based on what we want to see!

Hi all thank you for this post - I am trying decide between the RR tour, Dave or Becky. Riverside75, a question: Dave looked like his price was about $69 for 6-7 hours vs. Becky's $100 an hour. Obviously, I'm misunderstanding something since that is too big a difference. Thanks!

[Jen1000]

It looks like Becky is a private tour. $100 per hour for how many ever people you have that will fit in her SUV, your group only. Dave is per person and you are combined with other people. That is what it looks like to me.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

Hi all thank you for this post - I am trying decide between the RR tour, Dave or Becky. Riverside75, a question: Dave looked like his price was about $69 for 6-7 hours vs. Becky's $100 an hour. Obviously, I'm misunderstanding something since that is too big a difference. Thanks!

[tobecool]

It looks like Becky is a private tour. $100 per hour for how many ever people you have that will fit in her SUV, your group only. Dave is per person and you are combined with other people. That is what it looks like to me.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

 

Yes, I felt Becky is kinda too pricey, and we don't want to take the train without stops. We'd really prefer to take a van. Is there anyone else of the provider there have van or car trip?

[ChitterChatter]

I'm a little bit confused with the difference between Dave and Becky. I sent an email to Dave inquiring about his tours and I got a reply from Becky. So I assumed she worked with him and was just replying on his behalf. But now that I'm reading this post, it seems as if she has her own company with different prices. So why would Dave allow her to have access to his emails and customers?

 

I guess I will need to clarify who I would be getting the tour with before booking the trip and ending up disappointed on the day of. Anyone else have this experience?

[sstradling3]

I also emailed dave and got a response from becky. She said that he is very busy so he allows her to check his emails and try to get buisness for herself. Athough i would much rather have apersonal experience with her $700 for 7 hours vs $69 per person with dave is a big difference. I'm getting a little nervous now though, hearing there have been problems in the past.

[tobecool]

yes, me too. Becky told me that she helps Dave to reply the emails. She said she once work for Dave before and now runs her own company, and when Dave is business, she also helps on the booked trips. Probably her cost is too pricey to most of the travellors and if she is free, she still help Dave. I'm also confused and feel uncomfortable to this. Maybe I'll change to Chilkoot.

[ChitterChatter]

So if I want a tour with Dave, how can I get through to him if she's handling all of his emails and taking the business for herself? It seems a little bit early in the season for him to be booked already. She was very quick to answer all of my questions until I brought up the question of whether or not Dave will be giving me the tour and what is the price of the tour. Haven't heard back yet on those questions. Seems like a bait and switch way of doing business.

 

I would go with Chilkoot, but I'd prefer to take the train on the way back and all of their tour descriptions say they do the train first. I asked them to confirm this information in an email I sent to them and they answered all of my questions except that one.

 

Has anyone ever done a Chilkoot tour to Emerald Lake by bus first and then the train on the way back?

[tobecool]

we are also contacting Chilkoot, but for their bus only trip. we want to have stops as many as they can which it can not by train. Anyone know that Chilkoot will have stops on both way up and down?

[jasminelee]

So if I want a tour with Dave, how can I get through to him if she's handling all of his emails and taking the business for herself? It seems a little bit early in the season for him to be booked already. She was very quick to answer all of my questions until I brought up the question of whether or not Dave will be giving me the tour and what is the price of the tour. Haven't heard back yet on those questions. Seems like a bait and switch way of doing business.

 

I would go with Chilkoot, but I'd prefer to take the train on the way back and all of their tour descriptions say they do the train first. I asked them to confirm this information in an email I sent to them and they answered all of my questions except that one.

 

Has anyone ever done a Chilkoot tour to Emerald Lake by bus first and then the train on the way back?

 

That is why I booked with Dave-we wanted to do the bus first with the option he gave us for riding the train back or the bus. And I didn't think Chilkoot went as far as Emerald Lake. Now I am concerned with all the negative posts about Dave. Have to think about this further. I, too, will look for future posts about this.

[travelbug11]

I've been with Chilkoot Charters a few times and there is always someone taking the train up then the bus back , or bus up and train back. This is the 7 hr. tour that does go to Emerald Lake and up to Carcross for lunch.

[tobecool]

I've been with Chilkoot Charters a few times and there is always someone taking the train up then the bus back , or bus up and train back. This is the 7 hr. tour that does go to Emerald Lake and up to Carcross for lunch.

 

For their bus only tour, during the 7 hours, how long will we just sit in the bus, and how long we get off for sighting and something else? Do you feel boring if only bus?

[riverside75]

Hi all thank you for this post - I am trying decide between the RR tour, Dave or Becky. Riverside75, a question: Dave looked like his price was about $69 for 6-7 hours vs. Becky's $100 an hour. Obviously, I'm misunderstanding something since that is too big a difference. Thanks!

 

Roundpond: I checked into Dave's tour. From what I can tell, his price is $79 NOT INCLUDING THE TRAIN RIDE, which according to the WPYR website is $112/person. For a family of 4, it would be $191/person or about $764 total. Becky is adding lunch for us in her total. With Dave, that would be another $40 ($10 extra per person) for a grand total of just over $800 for the 6-7 hour tour. With Becky, we would be spending $600-$700 including lunch for that same time period. Hope that helps.

[Jen1000]

We went to Emerald Lake with Chilkoot. Last summer it seemed that some days Chilkoot had the option of train or bus first on different days. The day we went it was only train first.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

That is why I booked with Dave-we wanted to do the bus first with the option he gave us for riding the train back or the bus. And I didn't think Chilkoot went as far as Emerald Lake. Now I am concerned with all the negative posts about Dave. Have to think about this further. I, too, will look for future posts about this.

[sstradling3]

Daves tour is $69 per person

[Texas Tillie]

Daves tour is $69 per person

 

But that doesn't include the train or lunch.....just want people to compare apples to apples!

[Snookum]

I started discussing tour options with Dave/Becky a few months back. I emailed Dave and Becky responded. She told me all the options, including the ones with Dave and even gave me a name of another company to inquire about tours. She was very open with all the answers she gave me. We wanted a private tour but she was short one seat. we have 8 people and she said she would be going away in February and purchasing a new SUV and hopefully would get an 8 seater. Meanwhile she suggested and we took her up on it, booking us both with her and with Dave in case she wasn't able to get the 8 seater. That way we had a reservation with Dave on the 16 seat bus. I just emailed to see if she was back and Dave responded letting me know she did get the 8 seat SUV and we were very glad. Next day she followed up with and email after speaking with Dave and told me she had gotten it and would get in touch soon to finalize our tour. She customizes everything with you on where you go and what you do. It is $100 an hour but we will be splitting 6 ways so that's not too bad. If you were shouldering most of the cost it would be expensive though. She will take you anywhere and I hear she is very knowledgeable. I think she is related to Dave and she said he supports her starting her own tour company and maybe that's why. I have read alot of good feedback on her on CC and we are looking forward to this as we have done the train on another trip and the train/bus on yet another. She also provides lunch and takes you on a hike to the lake to eat or you can go to a restaurant. We have now confirmed our tour with her and if you look at her web site you will see if you book by or before February 28th you get a 10% discount. Everyone go book now if you plan on using her to save a little! (: