News Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser - Guest reports from March 1 2022

[Higginbotham587]

I've seen some negative/glaring reviews posted on the WDW subreddit in the past month. Wonder how it compares to those that experienced it here.

Here's a recent (lengthy) one:

Reading this I wonder if this person was really on the cruise versus writing a fake review. The theming on the Halcyon is first rate. The rooms are decent and why would you spend a ton of time in them?! It does not seem small, and you get familiar enough with it over the experience that it is easy to get from one place to another.

I’m just totally unclear on what this person expected. To not mention bridge training or the finale seems odd.

 

[mergatroid]

I've seen some negative/glaring reviews posted on the WDW subreddit in the past month. Wonder how it compares to those that experienced it here.

Here's a recent (lengthy) one:

Could be genuine and not everyone is going to be satisfied. It differs quite a bit to reports on this thread from members of this forum but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not a true reflection of what the originator felt. I do feel it a bit odd the lengths they go to criticise the use of CP's there for some of the roles though, like it's some way of undercutting the guest experience. I mean no disrespect to people doing any job there, but some of the roles there don't demand 10 years of experience to do. When younger my best friend got a job with a very upper class hotel chain at the age of 19 and was put on the door to look smart, be polite at all times and greet guests.

I've heard a few reports about checking in taking too long or somebodies luggage taking too long to reach their room, perhaps there are some issues there that need addressing. Alternatively though, so many reviews say just how amazing ALL the staff are and specify not just the 'actors' who shape the story. That's been one constant throughout since it opened. It's interesting reading a negative review from a paying guest though as they've genuinely been hard to find.

 

[Higginbotham587]

Could be genuine and not everyone is going to be satisfied. It differs quite a bit to reports on this thread from members of this forum but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not a true reflection of what the originator felt. I do feel it a bit odd the lengths they go to criticise the use of CP's there for some of the roles though, like it's some way of undercutting the guest experience. I mean no disrespect to people doing any job there, but some of the roles there don't demand 10 years of experience to do. When younger my best friend got a job with a very upper class hotel chain at the age of 19 and was put on the door to look smart, be polite at all times and greet guests.

I've heard a few reports about checking in taking too long or somebodies luggage taking too long to reach their room, perhaps there are some issues there that need addressing. Alternatively though, so many reviews say just how amazing ALL the staff are and specify not just the 'actors' who shape the story. That's been one constant throughout since it opened. It's interesting reading a negative review from a paying guest though as they've genuinely been hard to find.

Agree with everything you said. I didn’t mean to suggest that I knew it was fake or not. But one thing you mentioned and I should have in my short review. Show up at 3pm. The security line to get in just before 1pm was almost 90 minutes long. Our friends showed at 3 and walked right in. The line for security is crazy because people want to maximize their time in there and catch the lunch buffet which is 1-4. But the first mandatory event is at 4 and you will miss nothing but a long line by showing up a touch later.

 

[mergatroid]

Agree with everything you said. I didn’t mean to suggest that I knew it was fake or not. But one thing you mentioned and I should have in my short review. Show up at 3pm. The security line to get in just before 1pm was almost 90 minutes long. Our friends showed at 3 and walked right in. The line for security is crazy because people want to maximize their time in there and catch the lunch buffet which is 1-4. But the first mandatory event is at 4 and you will miss nothing but a long line by showing up a touch later.

Sorry I wasn't insinuating that you'd said it was fake but with me being supportive of this experience I've been accused of ignoring negative things by some posters in the past so was just trying to be fair. I thought the best way was to 'assume' it was a genuine review and address it from that perspective as I've done with the positive ones. I think the responses from those on here who've experienced it have also done the same.

And yes I'll happily admit that there seems to be an issue with checking in, it's been mentioned several times.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Could be genuine and not everyone is going to be satisfied. It differs quite a bit to reports on this thread from members of this forum but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not a true reflection of what the originator felt. I do feel it a bit odd the lengths they go to criticise the use of CP's there for some of the roles though, like it's some way of undercutting the guest experience. I mean no disrespect to people doing any job there, but some of the roles there don't demand 10 years of experience to do. When younger my best friend got a job with a very upper class hotel chain at the age of 19 and was put on the door to look smart, be polite at all times and greet guests.

I've heard a few reports about checking in taking too long or somebodies luggage taking too long to reach their room, perhaps there are some issues there that need addressing. Alternatively though, so many reviews say just how amazing ALL the staff are and specify not just the 'actors' who shape the story. That's been one constant throughout since it opened. It's interesting reading a negative review from a paying guest though as they've genuinely been hard to find.

One of the points the reddit post made I agree with and thought a lot about. The size and amenities of the Starcruiser.

They should have built a full size resort with deluxe sized rooms, with a massive lobby and all of the open space and amenities we are used to having in deluxe resorts - including fully enclosed a pool area if they wanted to stay with the spaceship vibe.

This all fictional but even in fiction, Starships are NOT SMALL they are massive and fiction aside, folks are paying a premium price, and if the resort is to be the star like in the Starcruiser, it should have been bigger and better.

The Starcruiser experience feels like to me a glorified Cinderella Royal table - Get them in - feed them and give them the show they came for - and get them out to get ready for the next bunch.

 

[gerarar]

Here's 2 more recent ones from Reddit:




Obviously the more "negative" ones, including the one posted previously got a ton more upvotes.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

It's unclear from that report what they even actually did/saw. Maybe they never made it to Engineering? There's very little specific in there, and most of the discussion that follows just ended up ranting about the CP... which is really not the important part of the cast to be interacting with. I can count the number of hotel ops people I talked to during our stay on one hand.

Based on the different reports I've seen, you can basically sum it up as: if you over-rely on the app and don't make an effort to (and/or don't want to) actually talk to the cast of characters, you will be disappointed in some way.

There are a lot of CPs on board just for reference. They do the majority of the guest facing stuff

 

[brideck]

There are a lot of CPs on board just for reference. They do the majority of the guest facing stuff

100% understand. My comment was about how 95% of my cast interactions onboard were with the actors, not hotel staff. There's really very little you'll probably need to interact with staff about, outside of food service, unless something goes horribly wrong with your trip, like missing luggage, etc. Despite people thinking/expecting/wishing to the contrary, it's really not a deluxe hotel experience -- you're paying for the actors and story experiences. If your idea of a vacation is relaxation and pampering, there are plenty of other places that would fit the bill.

The AmberHeartsDisney Reddit review is interesting. I can't tell if something went colossally wrong with their app experience like they think, or if they didn't interact early enough with the actors to start getting missions added to their itinerary. For example, they didn't mention muster at all, which is when you first meet everyone and really get started with the story. The meetings being late or non-existent is interesting, too. That was obviously not my experience, but it's such a tightly organized timeline that I could see there being a bad domino effect if something goes off the tracks early in a day. There are only so many character actors and they can't be in two places at once. I could totally see there not being a lot of built-in flexibility, and it's not as if someone can really come in, break immersion, and say, "Sorry, this meeting isn't going to happen -- the Captain is busy elsewhere." A lot of the meetings are "secret" and there wouldn't be an appropriate person to deliver that message.

 

[mergatroid]

Adam the Woo really enjoyed it

 

[Disstevefan1]

Adam the Woo really enjoyed it

ATW for sure paid his own way, he was not invited. The woo is NEVER EVER negative about anything, never gets into controversial topics, his videos are positive and uplifting. He is super well behaved these days compared to his old days of sneaking backstage in both WDW and Universal.

One of my favorite of his videos was when he attempted to ride his bike down a playground slide.

He now lives in comfort, living off his YouTube money in Celebration.

Jealous? Absolutely yes.

 

[some other guy]

but it's such a tightly organized timeline that I could see there being a bad domino effect if something goes off the tracks early in a day.

wow how could this have failed

 

[Higginbotham587]

wow how could this have failed

I for one am really sad it did. It was probably the best Disney experience I have ever had. To me it is pretty obvious that the cost structure of the thing (recoup of capex + opex) could not accommodate the lower prices needed to fill the hotel. I would guess the opex part of that is more significant than usual for a hotel, because the significant number of union actors that were there.

Now Disney is accelerating all the depreciation and writing the whole thing off. It makes financial sense, but I am both very grateful we got to go and sad we won't be able to do it again. Got lucky that Disney created a financial albatross that happened to be fantastic.