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My fiancee and one of her friends spent last Friday and Saturday (May 6 and 7) on the Disney Galactic Starcruiser, and what follows is a fairly bare-bones review.
The primary question/controversy regarding the Galactic Starcruiser seems to be, "Is the experience worth the cost?" There isn't a simple, yes or no answer to that question. The answer depends on how easily you can afford it, and my answer to that is, if you can comfortably afford to spend $5000+ for a two night experience, yes, it's worth it. The attention to detail and the commitment of the cast members is incredible. There are also so many things to do that you can't possibly be bored. In fact, in my estimation, you'd have to go on the Starcruiser at least three times to experience all of the storylines and complete all of the missions.
On the other hand, if the cost would be a burden for you, or would put you (deeper) in debt, I don't think the experience is worth that.
If you are considering doing this, I have one recommendation - unless you need it due to the size of your party, don't bother with the Galaxy Suite or the Captain's Suite. We had three adults in our party, two of us being a couple, so having the Galaxy Suite with its separate living room/sleeping area was a bonus, but we spent so little time in the cabin, if our friend hadn't come with us it would've been wasted money.
One of the less than spectacular aspects of the trip was the food. It was so-so, at breakfast and lunch. On the other hand, the dinners were quite good, but I think they suffered a bit from having to all be served at, or around the same time. It was obvious, particularly the first night, that some of the dishes had sat in the back for a while.
There was a mix of people who wore costumes and some who didn't. Some folks just wore Star Wars T-shirts, and some just wore street clothes. For me that really didn't break the immersion because I concentrated on the actors/crew members who never broke immersion.
The actors who played roles on the ship were very good. Not only did they know their roles really well, and were well versed in Star Wars lore, they were obviously trained in improvisation because they never seemed to miss a beat regardless of what was thrown their way. Interaction with these folks was not only encouraged, it was essential to an enjoyable trip.
I am generally an introvert, so I was a bit nervous about the whole interaction aspect of the experience. I decided to create my own character and interact with the crew members as that character, and it worked out quite well. My "character" was the proprietor of a chain of Power Converter distributors on Tatooine, and my opening in dealing with many of the characters was to introduce myself as such and ask if their power converter needs were being met by their current suppliers. I even had business cards and a few promo items (luggage tags and tote bags) made and handed them out at various times to other guests to advertise my business.
Unfortunately for my character, no one was in the market for a new power converter supplier, but my angle made an impression on the crew members and a couple of them remembered my character's name (as well as other guests' names) throughout the voyage just from a single introduction. That really impressed me as well because I had trouble just remembering some of their character's names!
There more children on the cruise than I expected. Those in the 8-12 y.o. age range really seemed to get into it. Apparently one nine year old who chose to help the First Order even outed his dad as "Resistance Scum"! Fortunately none of the kids on our cruise were particularly obnoxious, because that would've gotten old awfully quick. As it was it was still a bit of a balancing act to let the kids have their fun and not get too annoyed by their actions.
The crew members were well-trained at dealing with the kids and adeptly deflected their frequent interruptions without being condescending or scolding. Some folks brought kids who were younger than about 5 or 6 on the cruise, which I didn't really understand. Kids that young really couldn't participate in the roleplaying or the missions, so I would think the whole experience for them would be kind of boring and exhausting, and that would dampen their parents' experiences as well. Maybe the parents though the whole thing was more like a character meet and greet, or maybe they thought the whole thing would only last a year or two and they would miss it if they waited until the kids were older.
I took a lot of pictures on the trip, and my fiancée took even more, but I don't have any available to easily post at the moment. I will try to post some in the coming days as time allows.
A second recommendation I'd make to anyone considering this, especially if you're considering combining it with a longer Disney trip, is to give yourself a day to relax and unwind afterwards. It is an incredibly full 40 hour, or so, experience with little time to relax, assuming you try to get as much as possible out of it like we did.
The primary question/controversy regarding the Galactic Starcruiser seems to be, "Is the experience worth the cost?" There isn't a simple, yes or no answer to that question. The answer depends on how easily you can afford it, and my answer to that is, if you can comfortably afford to spend $5000+ for a two night experience, yes, it's worth it. The attention to detail and the commitment of the cast members is incredible. There are also so many things to do that you can't possibly be bored. In fact, in my estimation, you'd have to go on the Starcruiser at least three times to experience all of the storylines and complete all of the missions.
On the other hand, if the cost would be a burden for you, or would put you (deeper) in debt, I don't think the experience is worth that.
If you are considering doing this, I have one recommendation - unless you need it due to the size of your party, don't bother with the Galaxy Suite or the Captain's Suite. We had three adults in our party, two of us being a couple, so having the Galaxy Suite with its separate living room/sleeping area was a bonus, but we spent so little time in the cabin, if our friend hadn't come with us it would've been wasted money.
One of the less than spectacular aspects of the trip was the food. It was so-so, at breakfast and lunch. On the other hand, the dinners were quite good, but I think they suffered a bit from having to all be served at, or around the same time. It was obvious, particularly the first night, that some of the dishes had sat in the back for a while.
There was a mix of people who wore costumes and some who didn't. Some folks just wore Star Wars T-shirts, and some just wore street clothes. For me that really didn't break the immersion because I concentrated on the actors/crew members who never broke immersion.
The actors who played roles on the ship were very good. Not only did they know their roles really well, and were well versed in Star Wars lore, they were obviously trained in improvisation because they never seemed to miss a beat regardless of what was thrown their way. Interaction with these folks was not only encouraged, it was essential to an enjoyable trip.
I am generally an introvert, so I was a bit nervous about the whole interaction aspect of the experience. I decided to create my own character and interact with the crew members as that character, and it worked out quite well. My "character" was the proprietor of a chain of Power Converter distributors on Tatooine, and my opening in dealing with many of the characters was to introduce myself as such and ask if their power converter needs were being met by their current suppliers. I even had business cards and a few promo items (luggage tags and tote bags) made and handed them out at various times to other guests to advertise my business.
Unfortunately for my character, no one was in the market for a new power converter supplier, but my angle made an impression on the crew members and a couple of them remembered my character's name (as well as other guests' names) throughout the voyage just from a single introduction. That really impressed me as well because I had trouble just remembering some of their character's names!
There more children on the cruise than I expected. Those in the 8-12 y.o. age range really seemed to get into it. Apparently one nine year old who chose to help the First Order even outed his dad as "Resistance Scum"! Fortunately none of the kids on our cruise were particularly obnoxious, because that would've gotten old awfully quick. As it was it was still a bit of a balancing act to let the kids have their fun and not get too annoyed by their actions.
The crew members were well-trained at dealing with the kids and adeptly deflected their frequent interruptions without being condescending or scolding. Some folks brought kids who were younger than about 5 or 6 on the cruise, which I didn't really understand. Kids that young really couldn't participate in the roleplaying or the missions, so I would think the whole experience for them would be kind of boring and exhausting, and that would dampen their parents' experiences as well. Maybe the parents though the whole thing was more like a character meet and greet, or maybe they thought the whole thing would only last a year or two and they would miss it if they waited until the kids were older.
I took a lot of pictures on the trip, and my fiancée took even more, but I don't have any available to easily post at the moment. I will try to post some in the coming days as time allows.
A second recommendation I'd make to anyone considering this, especially if you're considering combining it with a longer Disney trip, is to give yourself a day to relax and unwind afterwards. It is an incredibly full 40 hour, or so, experience with little time to relax, assuming you try to get as much as possible out of it like we did.
