I have only been on one cruise - a Carnival ship 27 years ago. My 17 year old daughter had never been on one. This was her graduation gift. We took the Explorer of the Seas from Port Canaveral to Cozumel and Nassau. What a great time! The ship is gorgeous, lots to do at all times. We did everything from play ping pong to rock climbing to karaoke to a digital scavenger hunt to enjoying all the shows onboard. The cruise director Leigh was EXCELLENT. Having not been on another cruise lately, I don't know if he's above average, but he certainly made the trip even more fun and entertaining. The cabins were nice and were clean (a must for me), we only had an interior but it was sufficient for the small amount of time we spent in there. Our cabin attendant was wonderful, he knew our names before we even met him, and he catered to our every need (which admittedly weren't many). The main dining room food was good, although the dress was a little more casual than I expected (perhaps because of it being a 5 night cruise?). The Windjammer Cafe was available for buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner, if you chose not to eat in the main dining room. The Promenade Cafe was a great place to grab a snack or a light lunch or dinner - they had sandwiches, pizza and sweets available around the clock. The only problem we had was some seasickness. 30 minutes after leaving Port Canaveral my daughter and I were both nauseous. We bought some of the wrist bands in the general store on board (note: bring your own! everything's very pricey on board!). Thank goodness they worked. But the ship rocked horribly every single night. Several nights I had to get up and take the hangers down out of the closet because they were banging against the wall. And one night I sat and watched my tube of chapstick roll back and forth on the desk between my daughter's hair straightener and my hair dryer. Back and forth, back and forth. The last night was the worst, I couldn't even sleep for the rocking. My daughter had taken her bands off while in port and forgot to put them back on when we got on the ship; we missed dinner that night because she was sick. Within an hour of putting the bands on, though, we were at the going away show. Let me say, though, that our room was at the very front of the ship, so that may have made a difference. Also, someone told me that the newer ships have better stabilizers. I believe the Explorer was built in 2000. Oh, and one final thing, debarkation was not a very pleasant experience. We chose to carry our own luggage off, in which case we were told to be at the Palace Theatre between 7:45am and 8:30am. We arrived at 7:45am, thinking we'd be off the ship in no time. When we arrived via elevator, we couldn't even exit the elevator because there were so many people lined up to get in. We ended up taking the elevator down an extra floor and carrying our luggage up the stairs, only to wait in the hallway with hundreds of other people for at least 30-40 minutes. It wouldn't have been so bad if they had made an announcement or explained to us why the delay, but nothing was said. People were getting very upset. We were finally filed through the Theatre and off the ship, then had to go through customs. We actually reached our car (we parked right at the port) at about 9:20. I think perhaps the delay was caused by us arriving back at Port Canaveral a little later than anticipated, but it would have been very nice of the ship to let us know that - or to have made an announcement about it before everyone crowded into the hallways at the pre-announced time. Other than that, what a great time!!! I think the debarkation fiasco is not a normal occurrence; I would definitely recommend this 5 night cruise.