DreamConnections

I had attended a DC tour to Nikolaev a little over 5 years ago. Yes, it was a bit expensive - $4600, but that was the price to meet Ukrainian ladies face-to-face rather than trying the old fashion way of writing a million letters. So, I put down my money and gambled on a chance for success.

The success rate was not as high as advertised. Of the 13 or 14 guys that went on my tour, only two guys actually were able to start a relationship and to get engaged. Yes, the promise of meeting a lot of women was met, but there were women who were not vetted as Mark claimed. Some women were total walk-ins, and many were not listed in their database, which meant they were not registered with DC. Some ladies were totally bored through the two-day speed-dating process; one was on her phone all the time reading, another was reading a book and did not participate in any of the conversations. They were there for the free food and drink only.

A lot of the women do try to extract money from the men on tour. This not only happen to me, I had heard this from other guys on my tour as well. The woman I met wanted me to provide her daughter $500 a month to buy her affections, which I promptly said 'no'. Her daughter was 24 and was married. I asked: 'why couldn't her husband provide for her?' Needless to say, the relationship with this woman crashed and burned. This leaves one with the feeling that there are no honest women in Ukraine, but this is not true. I simply chalked up my tour to experience and stored it away in my drawer of experience - live and learn.

The upside is that I did have a great time in Nikolaev. All the guys who came on the tour were good, upstanding guys who I enjoyed meeting. My translator was first rate and I enjoyed her company as she had a good sense of humor. All in all, it was a great vacation for a week's time and I had good memories as well, even though I did not meet the girl of my dreams.

Being retired early now and I live in Ukraine 6 months of the year near Kiev, I have really learned a whole lot more about Ukrainian culture and its women. What I discovered is that if you come here to Ukraine and live for a time and don't subscribe to any dating sites, just live each day, you will meet women here by doing nothing. There are lots and lots of single women here of all ages. Another thing I discovered is that if you frequent many of the same places, like the gym, restaurants, even a museum, women will approach you. Yes, that's right! You can meet women here by doing absolutely nothing... Even if you don't speak the language to conversation level, it still works. Many of the women in Kiev speak English to various degrees of fluency. Also, living here in the land of beautiful women, I have also grown somewhat immune to the Ukrainian beauty because you see so much of it everywhere you go no matter where you are in Ukraine. I don't go ga-ga over them when I see or meet an beautiful woman here; I am very relaxed when talking with a woman here. However, if you choose to meet women here, they are indeed very approachable compared to the USA. The key here is just be yourself and don't put on any pretense and you will do just fine. Just always be neat in your appearance and dress, and always have good personal hygiene and you will do just fine; the women here do notice all of this about you. I find it a relaxing and enjoyable experience compared to the online dating world - no BS. I could never go back to Internet dating again, never.

So, guys, there are alternatives to DC or any other dating website out there. However, the choice is all yours - you decide what is the best option for You. DC wasn't the best option for me, but for some guys it was. It's really Russian roulette using any dating sites today - put your money down and spin the wheel to see if you get lucky. Best of luck, guys.

Went on a DC tour this year (2017)

Arrived and was met at the Airport, driver was on his phone constantly and this was a safety concern for me. I payed a lot of money and traveled a long way. TO be involved in a traffic accident would have ruined my vacation. Safety should be paramount.

Accommodation was 21/2 Star at best!
Bus transfer from Odessa was terrible, exhaust fumes were coming into the rear of the bus where I was sitting. No air conditioning and felt sick from heat and fumes.
When I complained it was stated that this was the only bus available?

No shortage of women who wanted to go on a "date" naturally as they get flowers chocolates dinner and entertainment. I did have some great dates but that was because it was all in fun no serious contenders.

I meet 2 women who were what I was looking for, One was just after as much as she could get and picked EXPENSIVE places every time. Lunch was $60 USD! Dinner was always double that.
I suggested bowling and other activities but NOT interested. She always had Steak and Seafood. Also I felt she KNEW some of the staff at the restaurants we were going to.

That went south very quickly!

There was no free time to explore the city and it seems that DC does not want you to freelance or explore on your own, I have traveled extensively and do not require BABYSITTING.

So it is way more expensive than portrayed in the videos.
Overall disappointed in this tour. 80% seems to be an exaggeration most men on my tour went away without any success.
Others were just plain ripped off by some of the women.

Good Points.
Translator was Excellent
Met a great bunch of men
Will be going to Ukraine again as it is a good place to visit.

Update Spring 2018: After more than one year of research about dating in UA and EE this review needs a final update.

DC's intentions might be more genuine than others but for months they had & still have known scammers in their database. After all there is hardly any chance that DC does NOT know about this fact and the whole Nikolaev dating scene - Nikolaev is nicknamed "the city of scam" among insiders

This has been documented pretty well by an organization - so his database is a mix of paid pro daters / scammers and maybe(!) some legitimate women. If you are lucky you can find her on their events and there might be genuine success stories - but why would you want to pay thousands of $$$ for something that might just end up as an illusion.

Original Review:
DC has one of the better reputations in the whole jungle of dating agencies with Ukrainian beauties and they have a different approach as well. What I like about DC though is their very open and honest information policy of their work like hardly any other agency - you can find tons of YT videos, interviews and all of them feel real & genuine. They wont give your information to the ladies of your interest until 3 weeks before their tours begin. Of course you see the profiles and the pictures of the lady but you dont get in contact with them before.

The question you should ask yourself is: are you ready for this kind of dating as it is completely different when you start off with PPL (pay-per-letter) sites. This shall not sound negative but you simply have to be the type who likes this. You pay like 5k$ / group tour or 8k/ individual tour before meeting your lady - not a small amount, right. On the other hand ask yourself - what is better? Losing months or even years writing letters, sometimes dubious chats... or... meet somebody in reality?

Personally, it was absolutely not my style in the beginning because I dont like "blind dates" and wanted to be like 100% sure with letters before going on a trip - but this apporach is too complicated and wrong actually imho - this is an individual decision though, you should take this type of dating approach into consideration! I realized that PPL sites mainly lead to... "exactly nothing" rather than wasted hopes, money and especially time which becomes a even major factor when you have tons of responsibilities in life and you get older (I am now in my mid-40s)... you have to get on a plane and fly over to meet in person otherwise you will create illusions, fall in love with pictures and if after months you really meet in 1 / 100 cases you will be disappointed because nothing is like it is compared to the picture created in your mind.

Update May 2017: I have to update this review a bit again - why? This whole (online) dating scene is big business good agencies have to pushed - no, there is no guarantee that DC gives you 100% success - why, because you get acquainted with the ladies, not them - it is your search, prepare yourself, inform yourself - be ready and be there! Then you will succeed!