What camera are you using? Some of your photos are phenomenal.
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Thanks, used a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
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Day 2
We didnât get to sleep until around 1 and had to be up early because we signed up for the CSL Portrait (aka capture your moment) and the session started at 8 AM. This is an extra charge and it is $99 for a 30 min session. You can go anywhere on the ship and can pick locations based on your preference and costuming. DH had a lightsaber so he used that in most of the pictures. There were two CMS, one with the camera and the other with the lighting. We were told to allow 1 week to get the photos uploaded in MDE but we had them by Sunday. Overall, we are glad we did this, even though it was extra $. There are regular photopass photographers on board but only two locations that we saw both in the Atrium, Here are a couple of the shots we got:
Once we finished the photos, we grabbed breakfast. The breakfast buffet was different each day and todayâs was really good.
These were my favorite - kind of a take on eggs benedict, it was so yummy.
DH found lots of good things to eat. They also had plain, scrambled eggs
Around 9:00 we boarded our shuttle to Batuu. It was a staggered departure and I think we waited for 10 min or so to board. They handed out face masks (required on the transport - this seemed silly since we had spent the last 12 hours without masks in a huge windowless warehouse but whatever 
). This is also when we received our Halcyon pins to wear while on planet. The pins are beautiful and you do get to keep them.
We boarded the box truck, eh, transport
I thought this was another missed opportunity. The ride was about 8-10 minutes and the basically just played music from Batuu (think DJ Rex from Ogaâs). It would have been really cool if they would have had a window to show an alien driver or something like that. There are seats for 10 and then 4 people to stand. The seats were leather and pretty comfortable but DH and I had to stand on the way over. Once we arrived, you walk down a corridor and are greeted by a CM.
They had coolers with bottled water we could come get anytime. If you made purchases on Batuu, you could also bring the packages back to this area and they would take them back to your room. Of course this was also a shaded area so we could come back anytime to get out of the sun, if needed.
We have been to SWGE many many times and initially I was thinking we would spend as little time as possible so we could get back to the ship (since that is what we paid for). But, we ended up spending a fair amount of time here instead. Mainly because there are so many missions and tasks to complete! At this point, I was still playing both sides so I had more tasks than DH. We were planning to head straight to Rise since there is never a guarantee that the ride will be up. But, we got sidetracked with the missions on the data pad. If you have used the play disney app and the SWGE datapad, it is the same. You have tools to use to either hack, translate, scanâŚetc. depending on the mission. The main difference is that in your comms channel, the tasks that are sent come with a map, if you click on the map then you are prompted to scan, translate, hack and that is what will show as complete once you are successful. We did not know this initially so we were using the tools separately so nothing registered as being complete. Its a little hard to explain and it wasnât until someone else on the voyage told us that - then we had to go back and essentially redo some of the things we thought we had already completed.
At a little before 10 AM we headed to Rise, tapped in with our magic band (this and MFSR use the lightning lane) and were in the briefing room really quickly. As we were waiting to get on the transport, all of the music stopped and we knew what that meantâŚthe ride was down (sad trombone). So we exited and went back to our missions.
Editorial: It really is unacceptable that this many years into this ride and the reliability is not better. Talk about being taken out of the story with it breaking down, especially if you have never ridden it before. Especially since this does incorporate one of your missions (depending on your story), they really need to work on this being a better experience.
Next we decided to head over and ride Falcon. Again, used the lightning lane and spoke to the cast member about some things 
Hondo was not working (this is a theme with these rides) but the CMs did see our pins and (whether coincidence or not) we were all the very first in the line so we could all be pilots (there were 2 other Halcyon groups who happened to get in line at the same time).
Slight Spoiler: right before you enter the cockpit, be sure to pay special attention to the Hondo recording on the screen, he gives a shout out to the Halcyon passengers
We had booked an Ogaâs reservation for 11:30 so kept making progress on our tasks before heading over there. You donât have to have a reservation to participate in the mission at Ogaâs, the cast member outside can help you complete it. It would appear that Halcyon guests do get some level of priority at Ogaâs as we didnât have to wait at all to get in.
After hacking some droids, we saw that Rise was back up so we gave it another try
We had success!!
We had finished all of our side missions and decided to head to Docking Bay 7 to grab something to eat. I had read some reviews that the buffet lunch on the ship for Day 2 wasnât as good so we decided to eat now. You get a meal voucher for an entree and alcoholic beverage. The real advantage is that you donât have to mobile order and you can go up to the host stand and walk right in.
We headed back to catch the transport to the ship and were greeted with water and cool washcloths which was great. I know some people have asked what happens if you donât have to give the Halcyon pins back - what prevents someone from trying to reuse them? Well, to get back on the transport, you have to scan your magic band and finger just like when you enter the park. Unfortunately, our magic bands didnât work (or maybe their reader didnât work) so we had to show ID and they checked to make sure we had a valid reservation and then we were able to board.
We were chatting to the CMs during this and mentioned that DH had issues with the data pad when trying to complete one of the tasks. It got stuck in this loop that kept asking him to scan crates even though he had scanned them all. They thanked us for giving the feedback because they are still tweaking the program and reported it as a bug.
Back on board, we decided to swing by the dining room to see what lunch looked like because, you know, we paid for the food already
Iâm glad we opted to eat on Batuu, the lunch offerings were fine but definitely a little weaker than the previous day.
A few thoughts on the excursion to Batuu - I do wish that this was scheduled during a time when the park is closed. Logistically, that may not be possible but having rides down and just the overall crowds made it a little taxing.
You could always tell who was on the Halcyon because we were generally the only ones doing the hacking and playing the games on the datapad. We kept running into each other, which was fine and we did work together to complete some of the puzzles.
I would encourage people to go to Batuu and complete all of the tasks, even if you have been there many times. As a result of our time there, we unlocked three elements of the story that we got to participate in once we were back on the ship. Maybe we would have gotten these anyway but I donât think so.
If you have been to SWGE before, I would probably not spend all the time doing Saviâs, Droid Depot, Ogaâs unless you really want to do all of them or havenât experienced them before. We ended up spending about 4 hours and we did both rides (evacuated once on Rise) and Ogaâs.
From here until the end of the day, it is nearly impossible to continue with the trip report without massive spoilers.
I had something to do at 3:15 (DH did not) and then we had some time until dinner. There were other âoptionalâ activities including the Sabaac tournament, a newlywed game but we opted to take about an hour of downtime to shower, change and rest before the rest of our jam packed evening.
Next up is dinner which was the Taste of the Galaxy. I will try to finish this up tomorrow
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I love your pictures! Especially that force chokehold! 
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Ha ha. Of course they keep you too busy so they donât have to give anything away for free.
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wow some very cool pictures!! lots of detail.
Want
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The picture of DH, on what looks like the bridge, with the glow of the lightsaber is awesome.
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@DisneyDayDreamin keep it coming!!!
All the CSL photos Iâve seen look awesome, and for $99 including images seems worth it, especially with the supplemental lighting. Youâre also the first person to say anything about photopass photogs in the lobby, so great intel.
Looking back, would there have been another time on the ship where you would have preferred scheduling that photo session? We canât book ours just yet, which is fine because I canât decide when would be best with costuming prep/not missing activities!
No pressure, but if you wanted to do another post with tips on missions or that includes spoilers, Iâd be all ears!
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Thatâs real pretty!
which I think is amazing and would definitely be a deluxe hotel Iâd like to stay at
Me too! When they had him as a character meet!
Itâs now $79 elsewhere in WDW. I suppose the $20 upcharge is less than a one-day MM so seems fair.
They really are!
This would be cool. I also heard that the theming of the transport did not quite fit with the theming of the Halcyon, and was more like an escape pod. What are your thoughts about that? Should it have been more consistent with the luxury starcruiser or do you think it was appropriately themed as a transport to Batuu (the things you mention aside, which again would be awesome)?
I have heard that bugs in the âpublicâ Parks Play app is why they are currently providing you a datapad to use during your stay and that those will go away once the bugs are worked out.
For the cost, it really should be.
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That pic of your DH with his lightsaber and the planet/moon out the window is fantastic!!
Love all your photos from your photo package. Theyâre great 
What I was wondering about keeping the pin is if someone wore it in Batuu on a future visit that coincided with the current cruise excursion. Of course they wouldnât get back onto the ship, but would they be treated differently in Batuu?
Liking the CSL waffles!! 
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Unless there is RFID embedded, then I donât think there would be any way to prevent that from happening.
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I am LOVING reading about this! Thanks for all the detail!
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Honestly, I think this was the perfect time - we wanted to schedule it during a time when we wouldnât be pulled away from the action. I talked to a few people who had theirs scheduled right in the middle of the day which meant returning from Batuu before they were ready or having it conflict with missions they wanted to attend. If you wanted to do it Day 1, then anytime before 4 would be best. The schedule (during our voyage so YMMV) was Day 1 was 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM and Day 2 7:30 AM to 4 PM so we opted for the morning of Day 2.
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I can do that!
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I hadnât really noticed or thought about it but reflecting now, I think it fits well with arriving on Batuu. Although, on the way back to the ship, we were seated and the seats were really comfy leather - not plastic like the disney buses so maybe that was their nod to the luxury aspect of it?? It was definitely more escape pod feeling though.
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So, we actually tested this out. On our departure day, DH was scheduled for HS. He put his Halcyon pin on and used the magic band they gave us on our journey. Wearing the pin didnât really get much other than other (current) Halcyon passengers noticing it. And using the Magic band to tap in to Smugglers did not trigger the same Halcyon message from Hondo. So it must relay current voyage guests to trigger the message. On Rise, he did get hassled more by the first order and they had a back and forth about Lt Croy (at least DH knew how to play along since we had just been on the voyage).
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These are great too (really like that Halcyon frame), but you can definitely see a difference between the light/photo quality vs the SCL with the directed lighting!
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What a great write up and particularly amazing photos! To be honest your photos of the general areas on the Halcyon make it look better than in any photos or videos Iâve seen so far
Even the bridge looks cooler here!
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