Great report so far! The more I read about this the more I want to do it. Can’t convince DH it’s worth that money though so maybe I need to get DD21 to pay half with me 
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Wow, this is fantastic! Love the photos! And it looks like they’ve already changed up some of the food items - that merengue is new (to me., anyway).
Thank you for this!
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I agree with others who have said that since people are in costume and are wielding “weapons,” they have to make sure none of them are real.
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At 4:00, everyone is gathered in the atrium and the muster stations are identified - basically the whole room of people is divided into 4 sections based on where you are in the room. This is where we are introduced to all of the ship’s characters. Lt Croy (who was amazing), Sammie, Raithe, Lenka Mok and Captain Keevan.
There was a nice Captain’s toast and reception which gives you more opportunity to talk to the characters (and in my case, I had a phrase I had to give to Raithe as part of one of my missions).
Next on our itinerary was Bridge Training from 4:30 to 5:15. One thing that is cool is that depending on what time and day your bridge training is scheduled for, you get different elements of the plot. Our premise while on the bridge was to go pick up the singer Gaya and of course, there are obstacles along the way. If you attended at a different day/time, the premise would change to match the story.
One thing I liked about the bridge training is that you rotate stations so you get to experience all of them. We were in the Wampa group and started at the shield station. This is the least interactive because you are staring at the screen on the table, and not looking out the main window. That is why rotating stations is great, you get to experience all of it.
The crew gives you basic instructions on how to operate each station and you do a series of tests then actual simulations based on how the plot unfolds.
Initially, I thought this would be like a lame space invaders game based on the videos and photos I had seen. One thing about this experience - photos just don’t do it justice! Once we are actually in the training, it is really high energy and so much fun.
We then rotated to the Systems Console
Then Weapons
We had about 10 minutes before our early seating dinner (5:30pm) so we watched the story continue to unfold now that Gaya was safely onboard.
While there are set times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they do offer snacks in the evening and throughout the day
Our first dinner was at the Captain’s Table. It was just a small upcharge ($30/person) and I really enjoyed it. It included a few extra courses compared to the regular dinner and the food presentation and service was excellent.
I was seated next to the captain and she made small talk with each group at the table. She would ask where you were from and for those who said they were from one of the planets known in the Star Wars universe, she would talk about something specific to the location. This is a great opportunity to lean into your back story if you have one.
While everything is family style, the dishes are only shared within your own family, not among the whole table.
First course - Red Fruit Pillow (the lighting in the dining room makes it really hard to get good photos but this was really tasty and very light.
They also have space-age-looking finger towels that start compacted but then you put them in water and they expand. I know you can find these at the dollar store but it fit in well with the theming.
Drink selection for dinner. You can also order items that are in the sublight lounge as well
I tried the Hoth Icebreaker- it was really good and a gorgeous looking drink!
The Bento Box was next - 3 pods one each stuffed with beef, chicken, and vegetables. It also came with 4 different dipping sauces, ranging from a creamy sauce (similar to yum yum sauce), BBQ, a curry and a spicy sauce. There was also a noodle salad. Despite their look, even DH tried the chicken and beef pods and liked them both.
Next was my least favorite of the courses, the miso shooter. It tasted fine but it was an odd presentation.
Around this time, the entertainment came out - Raithe introduced Gaya and Ouannii and they performed for about 30-40 minutes. Being at the Captain’s table does put you in the center of the action but Gaya walks around throughout the whole dining room so you can generally see fairly well.
Next was the main course and it was a lot of food! Bantha Beef and seared scallops
Tip Yip (aka chicken)
Rice and veggies
Stewed shrimp (I apparently didn’t take a picture of that and didn’t try it either).
Most of the food had a lot of Asian inspiration and it was all so so good. Because DH is picky, he did order a cheese pizza (picture PizzaRizzo pizza) and there is a kid’s menu with less intimidating offerings as well.
Finally, dessert
Slight Spoiler: be sure to look through your bill when they bring it, there are some hidden communications in there!
What I wished we would have done was talked to other parties to get all three pieces of the note - but I think a lot of people didn’t even realize these pieces of paper were tucked in with the bill.
We finished dinner just in time to catch the Outer Rim Relaia - a fashion show of sorts that is totally optional and you can sign up for it. There were some cute costumes, including two who were dressed as Star Tours flight crew.
I’ll continue our first day a little later this evening!!
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The Hoth Icebreaker sounded good to me so I’m glad it tasted good - even though there’s not a chance in a million I’ll ever be onboard!
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That woman across the table… is she wearing a headdress or is she just positioned perfectly to line up with something on the wall?
As we watched various videos over the last couple of weeks I did say to DH once that he’d never survive because he would never eat any of the food
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It’s a headdress 
I was really surprised at how much DH did eat. They were so accommodating although in hindsight, probably not the best use of money to sit at the Captain’s table with a cheese pizza 
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And this is why my very picky family avoids prix fixe menus - the last time we did one was Storybook Dining (Snow White) and my Disney adult kids cost me $70ea for pasta and marinara off the kids’ menu.
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OMG love that! Was this in between the two dinner seatings?
Thanks for all the photos of the food, we’re doing CT first night too. DS9 is on the cautious side, but loves dips/sauces, so I think he’ll be intrigued enough to make captain’s table worth it.
And, did captain’s table get you a complimentary drink (I had heard this - maybe DFB’s review - champagne or wine)? It bugs me that they did not give everyone a drink ticket at each meal; with lots of NA options on the drink menus I think they should have included one for each meal in package pricing.
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And, it looks like you had a cast that was different than the media preview and @lens voyage. Glad to hear you thought they were excellent! I’m wondering how many casts they have in rotation - it’s quite a commitment!
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yep, in between the two, it was fun to see those who participated.
Yes, sorry, I did leave that out. The table gets champagne for the toast with the Captain. Also, I should mention that the captain doesn’t stay at the table either night. On night 1 she is called away for something urgent 
I thought we should at least get 1 free drink per day, I mean after all that we are paying, it shouldn’t be that hard to do. Also, somewhat surprising, the non-alcoholic specialty drinks also cost $. There is a tasting in the sublight lounge where you can sample them for free. I really wanted to do that but we had too many other things going on.
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I had watched the previews and all of the main characters were different (maybe Captain Keevan and Lenka Mok were the same, I would have to watch the previews again to be sure). Sammie, Lt Croy and Raithe were definitely different. I loved Lt Croy of the preview, he was so great, I was hoping he would be on ours but the one who played Lt Croy for us was good as well. I swear he used to be one of the first order on RotR.
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Fairly certain I saw one review which did list a Lt. Croy who had worked on RotR and had moved over. So it likely was the same CM you recognized from Rise. No idea now where I read/heard that unfortunately as I’ve seen so much coverage of the Galactic Starcruiser.
Thanks for your comprehensive review - it has been a fun read so far…
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This is so exciting to read! Thank you for doing it as spoiler free as possible and giving so much detail. I realize I am old school and like reading with pictures the best!
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A few of the jewelry items in the gift shop (I may have purchased the necklace and earrings with the CSL logo 
)
Starcruiser exclusive lightsaber. Nothing fancy about this per se but it does come with letters in Aurebesh that you can apply to the hilt.
This sign is posted at the cash register but limitations for the lightsaber, the lightsaber shields and maybe one other item (can’t remember what) are even more restrictive.
Fun Spoiler - we did not learn this until after we were finished with our voyage but apparently there is a limited edition pin that is not displayed. Supposedly, if you ask the gift shop cast member for the secret artifact, you will be able to buy it. Guessing this is once again due to supply chain limitations but we were so disappointed that we missed it. Again, this is where talking and befriending cast members and crew will be advantageous!
We missed our dance lessons (which I am not unhappy about!) because we ran back to the room. We noticed the light on the droid panel was on so we checked in to hear what she had to tell us. I’ll stay away from spoilers but this is a chance to advance the story. She does ask what activities we have enjoyed so far, who we have enjoyed meeting…etc. This is also when we learn about a new passenger that is on the ship and enlists our help to protect him…
We headed back out and stopped by the Atrium to check out Sector Set (aka Bingo). I know people think this is a waste of time but we did want to try a little bit of all of the activities (except dancing lol) so we grabbed our board and started to play.
However, we were both distracted because we each received another mission to complete. It was quite humorous because at this point, we were playing different paths and it got to be quite fun to spy on the other person to see where they were going and for whom. I think if we had been in an even bigger group, this would have amplified it. This is the part of the game play that I really got into!
After we each finished our mission, it was time for Sabacc in the sublight lounge. As I said before, there is only one holo Sabacc table but you can grab any table and get cards and a tutorial on how to play.
As we were entering the Sublight lounge, who did we run into but none other than Chewie!!! Ignore my stupid expression - I was so excited to come face to face with my furry friend.
This was super awesome, Chewie is just hanging out but eventually, this develops into a story plot. There was a guest who was dressed as an X-wing fighter pilot and chewie ran over to him and embraced him…it was great.
DH got to “talk” to Chewie as well
Sublight lounge menu - food is included, no extra charge. I really wanted to try the tuber chips but I was so full from dinner.
More missions!
The bad guys make their presence known
At this point, a major plot was developing in the atrium - I really wanted to follow this one but this is one of my operational complaints - it was almost impossible to. When one of the main characters is in the public space, everyone runs over to them. Often the scene plays out across many areas of the ship so the character is on the move, going from the Atrium to say the cargo hold. Trying to maneuver a crowd of 30-50 people who all want to be close to the action is tough. I would generally just give up because it got frustrating not being able to see. But, I was also filming a lot (for our own memories) so maybe if I wasn’t as concerned about that, it would have been different?
Our Light Saber training was scheduled for 8:30 so we headed to the training pod.
As far as lightsaber training (and remember, this is non Star Wars person’s view) - I thought it was kind of disappointing. It was really long and drawn out and slow paced. It did give an opportunity to rotate multiple times so everyone has the chance to use both the lightsaber and the training shields. But, I think it could have been about 15 min shorter and still be fine. This is another time where you really just have to buy into the whole story, otherwise, it can seem a little hokie. But, DH loved it. He is used to playing Vadar Immortal in VR and I really thought this would be disappointing compared to that but he said that you have to just accept this isn’t a VR experience. It does make me wonder why they couldn’t do that though. Or maybe have different levels so you can choose to do basic or advanced. It seems like something like the Void would play into this so well, it seems like a missed opportunity. Again, this is not to take anything away from the cast members, they were great.
We had about 45 minutes before the Cruise Director’s evening toast at 9:45 so we headed back to the Sublight lounge and the Sabacc table had an opening so DH sat down to play.
As we were in there, the droid was walking around! You could also scan your band on his side and he would make noise
This time, I tried the Cloud of Bespin
After the Cruise Director’s toast, more story plot unfolded with the finale of day 1.
We still had a few more things to complete and continued to stay up to date with our communications from just about all of the characters!
Climate Simulator at night
We took some time to get some pictures of the ship without as many people around
We finally headed back to our cabin around 11 pm to unpack, check in on our droid, watch out our space window, and shower. By now, our itinerary for our Batuu day had been updated based on all of the things we had done today and how our stories were unfolding.
On our way to our cabin, there were cast members at the entrance to the hallway handing out cookies
One last check in with our droid to get prepped for Day 2
At the end of Day 1, here is how DH and I measured up when it came to trust and familiarity with the crew, based on our chosen paths:
Day 2 is going to be jam-packed once we get to Batuu
As we settled in for the night, it was assuring to find that even in galaxies far, far away, they have a fondness of the Golden Girls 
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Oh thank god, I can live in the Star Wars galaxy after all.
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In the before times, I had a hug from Chewie and it is still a highlight for me. 
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By the way, Len’s podcast description convinced me this is something I really want to do. Your report is making it feel like something I have to do. I just need to find friends (with money!) to do it with me! My kids would be all over it, but then I’d have to pick up the whole tab! 
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Pure magic!
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