Our experience on Explorer of the seas . Was a fantastic vacation for a family from the cold Midwest!!! A little background... We were a group of 7ppl - ages 5 to 59, I myself am a 34 year old female. This was my 16th cruise, first on Explorer of the seas for my whole family. Previously tried Carnival, Disney, Princess and a diamond RCCL member. I love food, I love good shows and I love good service. This is why I/we cruise! Our van driver picked us up at 11am from the hotel, only 15 minute ride to port. We were greeted by porters immediately and were thru the terminal and check in quickly. Waited for a short while in the holding area for our number to be called. Total from drop off outside about 40 minutes. The main pool is very small. I'd be tempted to say tiny in fact. While there are an abundance of pool chairs all over the deck above the pool, the space by the actual pool is either covered or wasted space. It was disappointing for a ship that size. Most of the typical "pool space" gets hogged up by the Haven (super suite members) or the ginormous water slides. Yes my family thought the slides were fun but after the few minutes of fun on the slides, there was no space for them in the packed-in-like-sardines pool. The kids area is nice, also small, with no chairs in the sun. The Nickelodeon splash pool was packed all week. I did see several children in swim diapers in that pool, pretty sure that wasn't supposed to be allowed. The Garden Cafe was very typical cruise ship buffet. Go way to the back and it's less busy!!! We never had a problem finding seating. I will mention, the salad bar was always very fresh and my brother said the Indian food was fantastic Morning omelet/egg station is great too. Side note-- One of the first things I noticed was the hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE. Crew has spray bottles and there are standing dispensers all over. I appreciated that as I personally know people that have fallen to the masses of norovirus passengers on a cruise ship before. The sanitizer continued to be everywhere the whole week . FOOD Illusionarium food was a set menu. App was a procuttio caprese salad, dinner a surf and turf with steak fries and a mini dessert trio. The app was my favorite of the week and the surf and turf was very good and piping hot also. Kids get chicken fingers and fries. I heard some other passengers requesting a fish only option and received a garden greens salad and salmon main dish. Explorer of the seas is clean and new looking still, coming upon her 1st anniversary sailing. Public areas are well appointed and each area unique. Savor and Taste are the 2 main dining areas, nearly identical, one blue tones, the other red. Theater is beautiful although rather small for a ship this size. No balcony seating at all in the theater. Shows fill up early, be there 40 minutes early for the good seats. Legally Blonde and Burn the Floor are both held in this theater. A side note about the casino-- on the last night, we were playing our usual machines, were done for the night and hit the button to cash out. Nothing happened. Long story short, right after we hit "cash out" all the machines went crazy and you couldn't cash out. They kept saying on the intercom "Machines all have a glitch, we are working on a fix. Please do not cash out. Keep playing if you can." Nice one NCL. We got an eye roll from a casino staffer when we said we had cashed out before the announcement. 15 minutes later and 2 forms completed, we had our cash out. My sister-in-law had another issue - she hit cash out approx 2 min before we did. She took her little $7 ticket to an automatic payment machine, stuck it in and nadda. A technician opened up the machine and said, "sorry there is not a $7 ticket stuck in here" and walked away. So she got a manager. He just gave her $15 of free slot play since he didn't know what else to do. Problem was -- with the machines all in a glitch, she couldn't use the free slot play until things were fixed. Pain in the rear. So she went back an hour later, and machines still were down. Being 10:30pm by now and the night before debarkation, she just said forget it. Thumbs down for casino service. There are many other little venues with treats for a fee or specialty restaurants that we never visited so I cannot comment on-- a coffee shop, gelato, bake shop, or Cagneys steakhouse, a Brazilian steakhouse, Le Bistro French restaurant, Teppaniyaki hibachi and more. Even an ice bar- which to just step foot inside you pay a $20 fee (that does include 2 drinks). Many offerings for that extra charge!! EXCURSIONS We booked 1 excursion online , we advice everyone to do the same , more cheap , and the experience will be geat , we booked only 1 shore excursion in Agadir Morocco , Ecolodge Adventures was our local company , the excursion was a walking tour from agadir To the Paradise Valley (high atlas mountains , nature, berber villages , rivers , the really beauty) , about 30 km maximum of walking , the tour was amazing , and we did not imagine that a city like Agadir will have such an amazing tour like that , many Thanks to Ecolodge Adventures staff , we were happy about your service . CONCLUSION As a pretty seasoned cruiser, we know the things we like and don't like by now. Would I sail Explorer of the seas again, yes. We did enjoy it. And the ship was lovely. i also recommend Ecolodge Adventures services if your shp dock in Agadir Morocco . Read Less