Comparison: DCL vs. Starcruiser

squirk

Saw what you did and knows who you are.
Joined
Apr 9, 2011
I was asked by a few ppl to compare my recent Starcruiser trip to a real DCL cruise. For those interested:

I am a deep, hardcore Star Wars nerd, so I’ll admit upfront to a heavy bias toward the theme of the Starcruiser experience.

And I think that’s the best way to describe Starcruiser - it is cruise-ish, but it’s really more of an “experience.” I’ll try not to spoil anything, but no guarantees.

11 ways it’s similar to a DCL cruise:
1.) Cast members are top-notch. They clearly recruited the cream of the crop in terms of the front-of-the-house talent pool.
2.) All food included. Alcoholic and specialty drinks extra.
3.) Clean, clean, clean. Everything was spotless on arrival and stayed that way throughout the cruise.
4.) Dinner entertainment similar to Tiana’s, Rapunzel’s or the upcoming Frozen restaurant on the Wish.
5.) Standard staterooms are smaller than a normal WDW hotel room (though actually bigger than a standard DCL stateroom). You need to be creative with your use of the space.
6.) Themed music piped into the hallways of the ship.
7.) Every room has an “ocean view” (of space).
8.) You get to interact/mingle with the “captain”, the “cruise director”, the entertainers.
9.) There are on-deck activities like bingo, droid racing, costume regalia, matching/memory games, etc.
10.) A huge part of the experience is something best described as “Midship Detective Agency on ultra-mega steroids.” It’s what Galaxy’s Edge should have been when it opened.
11.) You have a “port adventure,” complete with a tender, down to Batuu/Galaxy’s Edge.

11 ways it’s different than a DCL cruise:
1.) Every cast member stays in-character 24/7. They will talk to you as if they (and you) are living in the SW universe.
2.) None of the rooms have real windows, and there is only one place on the ship to get real-life fresh air and sunshine.
3.) Dinners are served family style. No official a la carte options on the menu (though the server will find you something else if you like).
4.) No pool.
5.) Common areas are very limited. Really, it’s just the ship’s atrium, the one shop, the one lounge, the one restaurant, and then special rooms (the bridge, the engine room, the brig, etc.) where story events take place
6.) There is a heavy LARP component to the cruise. You don’t have to participate, but you are constantly surrounded by it.
7.) No place to get sundries (though CMs can run and get you some).
8.) Only one dining area for breakfast/lunch/dinner.
9.) No kids club or adult-only area.
10.) They did a great job making food look weird and alien, but that creativity comes at the expense of variety. Nowhere near as many buffet food options as Cabanas.
11.) If you want value for what you paid, there isn’t a lot of time to relax. It’s chock-a-block activity for the two days. Sure, you don’t have to engage and can just chill in your room, but you are then paying a lot of money to just hang out and watch TV.

In short, I loved it. But again, I have a deep affinity for the SW IP.

Also, I will be the first to echo what Len Testa said - there are a LOT of real-life adventures to try and locations to visit that you can do for far less money. I will definitely do this again, but it probably won’t be something I’ll do every year, like I do with a cruise.

You will get the most bang for your buck if you really lean into the story unfolding on the ship. You don’t have to wear costumes or LARP per se, but if you play along and have fun with it, you’ll get a lot more out of the experience.

TL;DR - if SW is your thing, this is easily a 5/5 experience. If you are neutral on SW, you still might enjoy it because of the excellent theming, the top-notch CMs, and the immersive storytelling experience. If you actively dislike SW, your money is probably better spent elsewhere.

I hope that was helpful. Happy to answer any questions anyone may have.
 
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Thanks for sharing! I have heard lots of comparison to a cruise, so thanks for breaking it down (and doing it without any spoilers)! :)
 
I was asked by a few ppl to compare my recent Starcruiser trip to a real DCL cruise. For those interested:

I am a deep, hardcore Star Wars nerd, so I’ll admit upfront to a heavy bias toward the theme of the Starcruiser experience.

And I think that’s the best way to describe Starcruiser - it is cruise-ish, but it’s really more of an “experience.” I’ll try not to spoil anything, but no guarantees.

11 ways it’s similar to a DCL cruise:
1.) Cast members are top-notch. They clearly recruited the cream of the crop in terms of the front-of-the-house talent pool.
2.) All food included. Alcoholic and specialty drinks extra.
3.) Clean, clean, clean. Everything was spotless on arrival and stayed that way throughout the cruise.
4.) Dinner entertainment similar to Tiana’s, Rapunzel’s or the upcoming Frozen restaurant on the Wish.
5.) Standard staterooms are smaller than a normal WDW hotel room (though actually bigger than a standard DCL stateroom). You need to be creative with your use of the space.
6.) Themed music piped into the hallways of the ship.
7.) Every room has an “ocean view” (of space).
8.) You get to interact/mingle with the “captain”, the “cruise director”, the entertainers.
9.) There are on-deck activities like bingo, droid racing, costume regalia, matching/memory games, etc.
10.) A huge part of the experience is something best described as “Midship Detective Agency on ultra-mega steroids.” It’s what Galaxy’s Edge should have been when it opened.
11.) You have a “port adventure,” complete with a tender, down to Batuu/Galaxy’s Edge.

11 ways it’s different than a DCL cruise:
1.) Every cast member stays in-character 24/7. They will talk to you as if they (and you) are living in the SW universe.
2.) None of the rooms have real windows, and there is only one place on the ship to get real-life fresh air and sunshine.
3.) Dinners are served family style. No official a la carte options on the menu (though the server will find you something else if you like).
4.) No pool.
5.) Common areas are very limited. Really, it’s just the ship’s atrium, the one shop, the one lounge, the one restaurant, and then special rooms (the bridge, the engine room, the brig, etc.) where story events take place
6.) There is a heavy LARP component to the cruise. You don’t have to participate, but you are constantly surrounded by it.
7.) No place to get sundries (though CMs can run and get you some).
8.) Only one dining area for breakfast/lunch/dinner.
9.) No kids club or adult-only area.
10.) They did a great job making food look weird and alien, but that creativity comes at the expense of variety. Nowhere near as many buffet food options as Cabanas.
11.) If you want value for what you paid, there isn’t a lot of time to relax. It’s chock-a-block activity for the two days. Sure, you don’t have to engage and can just chill in your room, but you are then paying a lot of money to just hang out and watch TV.

In short, I loved it. But again, I have a deep affinity for the SW IP.

Also, I will be the first to echo what Len Testa said - there are a LOT of real-life adventures to try and locations to visit that you can do for far less money. I will definitely do this again, but it probably won’t be something I’ll do every year, like I do with a cruise.

You will get the most bang for your buck if you really lean into the story unfolding on the ship. You don’t have to wear costumes or LARP per se, but if you play along and have fun with it, you’ll get a lot more out of the experience.

TL;DR - if SW is your thing, this is easily a 5/5 experience. If you are neutral on SW, you still might enjoy it because of the excellent theming, the top-notch CMs, and the immersive storytelling experience. If you actively dislike SW, your money is probably better spent elsewhere.

I hope that was helpful. Happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

Thanks - I was thinking about whether you had done the experience yet the other day when I saw one of your posts.

It sounds really unique. But, even as a big Star Wars fan, I don't really enjoy the LARP thing, so I don't plan to book it any time soon. I just don't think I would get my money's worth. I'm at a place where I value more relaxation on my vacations with splashes of adventure. That is why cruising works so well for me. But I am so glad to hear it is what you were looking for!

Did it bother you to not see outside (beside the one section with the "simulated" real sky)? Or were the simulated windows enough to make you feel like you weren't enclosed in a windowless building?

Does your mind buy into the simulated ship theme, or do you mostly have the feeling you are in a building with screens? It's hard to tell form the videos.
 
Thanks - I was thinking about whether you had done the experience yet the other day when I saw one of your posts.

It sounds really unique. But, even as a big Star Wars fan, I don't really enjoy the LARP thing, so I don't plan to book it any time soon. I just don't think I would get my money's worth. I'm at a place where I value more relaxation on my vacations with splashes of adventure. That is why cruising works so well for me. But I am so glad to hear it is what you were looking for!

Did it bother you to not see outside (beside the one section with the "simulated" real sky)? Or were the simulated windows enough to make you feel like you weren't enclosed in a windowless building?

Does your mind buy into the simulated ship theme, or do you mostly have the feeling you are in a building with screens? It's hard to tell form the videos.
Well, you don’t have to LARP at all. Just watching the other guests really dig into it was fun in and of itself. I don’t LARP either, but for this trip, I genuinely regret not doing it. When I do “sail” again, I will definitely go whole-hog and come in costume.

But yeah, if you’re looking to relax and unwind, this is not the Disney vacation for that.

Not seeing the outside didn’t bother me at all. For starters, you don’t board until noonish on the first day, so you can get your fill of fresh air and sun before you arrive. The second day, you have the port adventure to Batuu, so you get several hours outdoors then. Finally, the last day, you’re off the ship no later than 10:00 a.m., so you have the rest of the day to soak up air/sun.

Finally, there is also a “climate simulator” room on the ship that “replicates the climate of your home planet” - in other words, it’s just a themed outdoor courtyard that lets you get sun and fresh air in the middle of your cruise.

So, for the time on the ship, I totally bought into the charade of being in space.

There really aren’t tons of the viewports, though. There’s the one in your room, there’s the bridge, there are (too) small ones on your transport pod (elevator) for embarkation/debarkation, and there are a few in the atrium.

So, overall, it did feel a little claustrophobic, but I think that only enhanced the illusion that you were bottled up in a spaceship. So, a net positive, in my book.

Oddly, there are no viewports for your tender to/from Batuu, and it was a glaring omission. Plus, the tender didn’t feel like a “shuttle craft”. No engine rumble/vibration. It felt exactly like what it really was - a bus ride. Probably the one thing out of the whole experience where it felt like they cut corners and went cheap.
 
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I wanted to add my two cents to this discussion... I agree with the OP on pretty much everything, other than the bit about it feeling claustrophobic. The Atrium, which is the main common area, has a massive vaulted ceiling (easily 3+ stories), and the other areas likewise were very spaciously designed. Given the limited number of passengers on each cruise, it never felt overly crowded even at the busiest of times.

I am not someone who normally suffers from claustrophobia so I might not be the best person to comment on this; but I would bet that only those who suffer the most acutely would have any issues whatsoever.
 
I wanted to add my two cents to this discussion... I agree with the OP on pretty much everything, other than the bit about it feeling claustrophobic. The Atrium, which is the main common area, has a massive vaulted ceiling (easily 3+ stories), and the other areas likewise were very spaciously designed. Given the limited number of passengers on each cruise, it never felt overly crowded even at the busiest of times.

I am not someone who normally suffers from claustrophobia so I might not be the best person to comment on this; but I would bet that only those who suffer the most acutely would have any issues whatsoever.
I agree, and reiterate that it feels just a little claustrophobic, but in a good, immersive way - i.e., not that you feel trapped or smothered, but that you really are inside a vessel in the middle of space, and the number of places you can go are finite. To be fair, I’m not a claustrophobe, either.

I’d say that the Atrium felt a tiny bit packed during the muster drill on Day 1 and the final evening event on Day 2. Not that everyone is cheek-to-jowl, but true agoraphobes may not dig it.
 
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