The casino was horribly smoky even in the half that was non-smoke. Everyone was complaining about it. I have gambled over 30 years and taken about 30 cruises and never have I've been in such a smoky casino. They did not have individual ashtrays and instead everybody was Using giant ashtrays that filled up with ashes, I don't know if that was part of the problem, but it was truly horrible.
Entertainment was excellent ranging from Broadway show Mama Mia, To a comedy club, to ice show, To great outdoor Cirque du Soleil type of show with high diving and trampoline work. Also they had jazz and a Latin band every night and other performers, and an excellent parade down the center of the promenade. Lots for kids to do with the kid program.
Unfortunately ship was quite crowded with about 5800 guests, And seemed somehow a lot more crowded than when I was on the even bigger symphony of the seas. The elevators were constantly full, but everybody was nice and helpful letting in people who are handicapped including me and my mobility scooter.
Unfortunately food quality and variety has gone down, especially in buffet. Ice cream is no longer served in the buffet, the dessert selection was pitiful for lunch and dinner there, variety very poor, lack of omelette station in the buffet during breakfast, poor lunch selections. On port days only buffet open for lunch if you stayed onboard -- unsatisfactory. Main dining room food was much better, but the new menu changes not so good in my opinion because of less variety. Also they have changed some of the recipes and some items that were classic are gone, such as delicious Apple tart we ate in June on Symphony is now a smaller apple cobbler (good but not great). Some items seem to be smaller in portion too, for example Shrimp cocktail with smaller shrimp. We had a bad meal in specialty restaurant chops, with food over cooked and little taste. Four people, four bad entrees. Giovannis Italian excellent, 150 restaurant very good. If they cut the buffet anymore they might as well not have it....
Service was excellent. Our room steward, Joel, on 12th floor was the happiest man I've ever met or the worlds greatest actor! He was terrific. Every crew member was so hard working and friendly.
Overall I preferred the symphony of the seas to the allure, but Allure does leave from Galveston. The new cruise terminal was good, but there is a shortage of Lyft and Uber and taxi if you are staying in Galveston overnight. Get a hotel that will actually give you a shuttle to the port. Some require that you park your car there or you cannot use their shuttle (for example Holiday Inn Galveston on the beach). It actually might be better to stay over in Houston the night before cruise and get your transportation from Royal Caribbean both ways to the port. That's what I would do next time.