We chose this cruise for the ship. I have never cruised the Allure or its sister ship the Oasis and wanted to see what they were like. The ship is magnificent, lots to do. I loved central park, the little bistros, restaurants and bars. There is always something to do if you want, even if its just sitting at a park cafe and people watching, or nothing if you choose. I would recommend the meal package. It was an additional $80 (we didnt do it and wished we had). We did get tired of the restaurant food. It seemed to be the same ole same ole every night. We always purchase the drink package, we're not big drinkers, but all your drinks are included, water, soda, wine at dinner, so for us, its worth not worrying about paying $10 every time you order a drink. The boardwalk is fun, there is a carousel, candy store, ice cream shop, hot dog shop, and a few others, it does give the feel of a boardwalk. We have cruised on Carnival, Princess, Norweigan and Royal Caribbean, I have to say, Royals ships are the prettiest, and offer the best shows. Most every show we saw was better than average. There was one piano player at Schrooners that we just didnt care for. It was supposed to be a sing a long which could have been fun, but when the piano player changes the songs so much, you cant join in, it ruins the party. The dislikes: No real place for cigar smokers. They have one small smoking area that cigar smokers and cigarette smokers share. My husband wasnt happy with this, as a lot of cigarette smokers have their kids hanging out screaming (probably justified as I would never force my toddlers to sit in a smokers section while I smoked cigarettes, im sure the kids were miserable) Cigar smoking is a social activity. Men like to kick, back, relax, have a smoke and a drink, the last thing they want is screaming kids there. The lines for the buffet at breakfast is another thing that we have never experienced before. The crew handles it well, and it doesnt take very long, but when you get off the elevator and see a long line, its not a great start to your day. My last negative was about some of the crew. We have taken about 12 cruises. NEVER ONCE, have we run in to so many rude employees. A lot of them just seem like they dont want to be there. Im sure they have to deal with a lot of negative, complaining people and they get tired of it, but we talked to at least four or five other people that felt the same way. This definitely needs to be addressed. People are on vacation, happy, trying to enjoy themselves. If you run in to one rude person, it can ruin your day.