As a "Masters of Horror" episode, "Dream Cruise" has one distinct advantage over all the others; It's longer, clocking in at about 83 minutes instead of the hour long format we're used from other eps. This is used to good advantage as the film gradually builds up to a rather suspenseful finale.
Now I'm no expert in Japanese horror but the ones I've seen are somewhat similar. I'll give them one thing; They're sure good at creating creepy ghosts. One scene here made me spill my beverage all over myself (maybe I should have seen it coming but I didn't). The same thing happened with "Ringu", it's damn creepy. Not horrifying but immensely creepy. "Dream Cruise" is pretty creepy as well once it gets going.
Now, the feature length aspect really helps the film. Some of the best "Masters of Horror" episodes really cry out for feature length treatment, "Cigarette Burns" and "Deer Woman" could easily have been stretched out with good results. "Dream Cruise" doesn't really kick into high gear until 50 minutes in but a fair amount of mood and atmosphere has been established up to that point.
Finally I must compliment the makers here for that insanely creepy ghost. Towards the end I was feeling rather uncomfortable and all in all I was quite pleased with "Dream Cruise". Not the top of the cream in "Masters of Horror" but a solid entry.