We had been on the Allure not long after it was first launched and we were curious to see how it has fared in the meantime. We like this ship better than some of the newer Oasis class ships. First of all it has the Broadway show Mama Mia! Un fortunately the cast was not up to the standard of the first time we saw it on this ship. That cast and production was every bit up to the quality level of when we saw it in London when it first came out. Some of the voices were poor in the cast. Maybe there was a bug going around the cast so future shows may be better. The ice show is one of the better ones as is the Aqua Show.

We found the food in the dining room with the new menu to be still very good although we didn't like the fact that some choices only appeared once and there was no way to tell which ones would be repeated. So, too often if you missed it you had no second chance. Not good. The Windjammer was good as was the Sorento's pizza and the Mexican extra pay restaurant was worth the surcharge. The Mexican included cafe outside on the top deck made for a good snack as well.

The show put on by the ship's orchestra called the High Seas Horns was some good R&B in one of the lounges. The ports of call were standard western ones like Costa Maya, Roatan and Cozumel. The only real drawback to cruising from Galveston and flying in from the international airport IAH is that it is a long way for the transfer and pretty expensive. The ship's transfer is pretty much the only option so extra days in the area don't really work.