With no excursions booked, I decided to spend the day mostly napping. I took a tour of the ship that will become the basis for a couple of future posts on the ship and the art collection. The port facilities at Falmouth are all recently constructed and highly themed. If Disney or Universal were going to build a port in the Caribbean, what would it look like? Falmouth.

After many months of anticipation, and subsequent to Carnival Corporations' approval for Fathom, Royal Caribbean International, Azamara Club Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas have gained approval from the Cuban authorities to travel to Cuba.

Our first full cruise day was a Sea Day on our way to Cozumel. I should clarify that the itinerary I posted earlier was backwards, so the order for this cruise is: Sea Day, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Labadee, Sea Day.

I started the day with breakfast in the Oceanview Cafe. I was just before they opened the full buffet. Still plenty of options, but more to come. The last cruise ship I was on was Royal Caribbean’s Empress of the Seas, the smallest ship in the fleet, so when I see the amount of food put out for the much larger number of guests, it’s pretty impressive. I had a typical cruise breakfast for me of melon and a couple of sausage links. I also had some roasted potatoes and a brioche bun. I don't usually eat bread in the morning, but this roll looked interesting.

What's the main thing keeping you from taking more cruises?  Clearly it's not vacation time or money, it's a lack of beach gear!  Well your ship has come in because this time we're giving away a brand new set of canvas Royal Caribbean bags and a new Royal Caribbean towel (no, I did not steal this from the pool or my stateroom).

Just a reminder that we're on Independence of the Seas for the next few days.  Follow long on Twitter, Periscope, and Facebook for live broadcasts and updates.  Importantly, follow our daily summaries on the live blog we're posting to www.RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com, your resource for all information Royal Caribbean.  Have a question about Independence or cruising in general?  Tweet out and we'll find answers!