Our first stop on this quick 3-night cruise is Royal Caribbean's private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Independence of the Seas was cleared for guests to disembark around 8am, but that's a bit too early to round up our family, so we planned to walk off the ship at 9am.
Our first stop was the Windjammer for breakfast. It's strange when I don't go to the Windjammer on the first day, because of how much of a usual stop that is for us.
A lot of other people had the same idea because the Windjammer was packed. We had to do a loop around until we found a table.
Breakfast was great, and just what we needed to make it off the ship and keep us sustained until the Snack Shack opened up on CocoCay.
Joining us on the island were guests from Freedom of the Seas, also doing a quick weekend sailing.
Our plan was to grab some seats near Oasis Lagoon and then explore the island.
First up was Harbor Beach, which I really liked the last time we were here.
Unfortunately, there were too many fish for my preference. Yes, I know the ocean is where fish live, but there lots of minnows and slightly larger fish that kept swimming around so we decided to hit up the beach later.
Next was to the 100% fish-free area of Oasis Lagoon. The DJ didn't get set up until later in the morning, so it was nice and relaxing to enjoy being in the water before the Spring Break vibes kicked up.
Our "early lunch" was a visit to the Snack Shack to enjoy my favorite "secret sandwich", which consists of the chicken sandwich combined with the mozzarella sticks.
The kids then explored the various outdoor games available near Breezy Bay. I was surprised how busy this area was.
My kids really enjoyed the soccer ball billiards game. I would have spent more time here had there been more shade.
To cool off, we went to Breezy Bay and the ocean here was the perfect temperature. While I'm sure there were just as many fish around as before, I didn't see them as much so I was able to cool down.
Since it had been 90 minutes, my kids were ready to eat again so we took another break over at Chill Grill to enjoy another lunch.
I really like the make-your-own taco bar so I can create my favorite type of taco salad.
After we ate, the kids wanted to go to Splashaway Bay. I didn't object when I found a comfortable Adirondack chair in the shade to catch a few zzz's.
By about 3pm, everyone started to feel a little tired too, so we got our stuff and went back to the ship to shower, change, and nap.
I had to decide if I was going to nap or power through it, and ultimately decided to get a coffee from Cafe Promenade and stayed awake while my kids napped.
Independence of the Seas set sail right around 4pm or so to start the very short journey to Nassau.
We had dinner reservations for Chops Grill, but since I decided to cut out red meat for health reasons, the menu doesn't excite me much. The family ate at Chops, while I took a detour to grab something to eat at the Windjammer.
It turned out to be Italian night in the Windjammer, and there were so many great choices, including a custom cooking pasta station.
It was a great decision for me, and everyone else got to enjoy a lovely meal at Chops.
After dinner, we went down to Playmakers. The Mets/Padres games was not being shown again, so we streamed the game on a phone. Tonight the internet worked better, with far less buffering than last night.
After a bit we moved up to the pub to enjoy some live music.
The pub singer's set was cut short due to the 80's dance party on the Royal Promenade, but he had one more set before he was done for the evening.
We wrapped up our evening with a few games in the casino.
Tomorrow is our final day, and we'll be in Nassau.
