Specialty Restaurants on the Majestic Princess

[baliliving]

Does anyone who has eaten at La Mer, or Harmony, on the Majestic Princess have any feedback?

[GUT2407]

13 hours ago, baliliving said:

Does anyone who has eaten at La Mer, or Harmony, on the Majestic Princess have any feedback?

Yet to go on her sorry.

 

Havent been doing specialty dining much lately on any cruise always seems to be too many other options.

Edited January 12, 2019 by GUT2407

[boeckli]

Had dinner at Harmony on my Oct 2018 cruise and liked the food very much. I was dining on my own so did not have  a chance to try multiple dishes (as may be possible in a group).

The eggplant and duck casserole was one of the best duck dishes I have ever had - and a very generous portion.

 

Did not eat at La Mer as I did not like the location/layout of the place.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2019 by boeckli

[GUT2407]

That sure looks good.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We tried them both.

 

We loved Harmony, so much so we went back another night. It's not your standard Australian Chinese, it's much more interesting. We loved the duck salad, and the duck and eggplant casserole, the salty fish fried rice, and the soups. The main course dishes are very large. The appetisers varied in size - the duck salad was huge but the abalone was very small. The desserts were delicious and a refreshing finish to the meal.

 

We were very disappointed in La Mer. Firstly the restaurant space is cold and uninviting. We had a very snooty waiter who talked down to us all the time, and who spilled wine on the table and didn't wipe it up. He also didn't wipe up the pastry crumbs that were scatter over the table from the pastry topping on my soup. The appetisers and mains were some of the worst food I have ever had on a cruise ship. I tried the  lobster bisque which tasted like it had been watered down. I ordered the duck for main. It came as a long row of very thin slices of breast meat with chestnut puree piped down each side. It was cold, dry, and tough. I think the head waiter must have known there was a problem with it as I'd barely tasted it when she offer to change it for another dish. The replacement sacclops were nicely cooked but the artichoke puree had an unpleasant bitterness that didn't compliment the scallops in my opinion. The dishes DH tried were boring. However the desserts were excellent - the best Iles Flottante I have ever had.

 

However La Mer was a great place for coffee in the mornings. 

Edited January 12, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[baliliving]

Thanks boeckli. Will definitely give Harmony a try.

 

Shame about La Mer. I read somewhere else that the positioning of La Mer in the Atrium causes it to be in open view of all passers by and hence cops a  lot of the noise from whatever is happening in the Atrium itself. Makes you wonder why they decided to place it where it is, new ship and all.

 

Similar bad positioning is Share on the Sun Princess which is where an old pizzeria used to be. The food is excellent as you would expect but being positioned outside the casino and main access ways to bedrooms you get all manners of passers by walking through the restuarant. We even had a cleaner, bucket, mop, et al walking past us whilst we were eating 🤣

[OzKiwiJJ]

Remember Majestic was designed for the Chinese market, and the Chinese don't drink much in bars, so they utilized the space that is usually Crooners as a restaurant. Also Chinese restaurants are often large and noisy so having a restaurant in the Atrium wouldn't bother them. Plus nobody complains about the location of Alfredos, one deck lower and just as subject to noise from the Piazza - probably because Alfredos is an included restaurant.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the advice. Sounds like Harmony may be worth trying but La Mer worth missing.

[MargoK]

Just got back from Majestic Princess b2b. 

LOVED La Mer. Dined there twice. The first meal was amazing but I was a bit underwhelmed on the second.  Not sure why. 

Harmony is definitely worth the visit, especially with a group, we were four. Food was beautiful. 

 

Went to Crown Grill and wouldn't rush back. Everything was below par. 

[sewgood]

We enjoyed Le Mer, we just ignored the snootyness of the waiter (ours was male).

The openess of it didn't bother us (we were tucked against the window) but I was glad we went earlier in the night before the party band started up.

If you had to pick one over the other I would go to Harmony as that duck salad was unbelievable.

[sewgood]

For those people who have not seen the menu of Harmony.

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Looks nice.

[sewgood]

This is looking across to Le Mer. You can see how open it is and there is a walk way at the front of it.

 

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

Looks nice.

 

It was. I had everything that had duck in it. Duck salad, duck soup and duck casserole. All lovely.

I quacked the next day.

[baliliving]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Will try both and give our critiques following 😀

[MicCanberra]

35 minutes ago, sewgood said:

This is looking across to Le Mer. You can see how open it is and there is a walk way at the front of it.

 

 

It was. I had everything that had duck in it. Duck salad, duck soup and duck casserole. All lovely.

I quacked the next day.

LOl, better than being a goose I suppose.

[Kangakid]

Have to agree with Margo, we were not impressed with Chops really average meal and paying $35pp extra just not worth the money.  The kids went to Harmony and really enjoyed it.  So on averages if you had to only try one specialty Harmony would be the obvious choice.

[sewgood]

18 hours ago, MargoK said:

 

 

Went to Crown Grill and wouldn't rush back. Everything was below par. 

We did not go to the Crown Grill on Majestic, as like you last time (on the Golden) we went, we thought that the vegetables were the same as the MDR and we didn't think much of the steak.

We did not think that it was worth paying for a meal that we thought would be of the same quality as the MDR.

[losfp]

22 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

 

However La Mer was a great place for coffee in the mornings. 

 

Second this opinion.  La Mer operates as a sort of French cafe in the morning and early afternoon (they start kicking you out around 4pm to being preparing for the evening diners) and I found it a great place to have a cuppa, enjoy the nice view outside. The tables are large and well lit, and the large rectangular ones are perfect for card and board games - I brought a tub of small games on board and spent many a pleasant morning with a coffee and gaming with family and friends.

 

Also agree on the weird location and layout of La Mer. It's strangely open and noisy, plus lots of people walk through on the way to the shops or theatre. You're subjected to whatever they're doing in the atrium as well, so get ready to learn the rhumba while you're having your entree.

 

Did not eat at La Mer for dinner so cannot comment.

 

We did Harmony as a group of six (myself, wife, 2 small kids, my parents) and loved it. The food was excellent and we just got them to pop all the dishes in the middle to share.  Well worth a look and a bit different experience compared to other ships we've been on.

 

We also did the balcony dining for our anniversary and loved it.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 minutes ago, sewgood said:

We did not go to the Crown Grill on Majestic, as like you last time (on the Golden) we went, we thought that the vegetables were the same as the MDR and we didn't think much of the steak.

We did not think that it was worth paying for a meal that we thought would be of the same quality as the MDR.

There is only one reason to go to a Crown Grill or Sterling Steakhouse ... the Black and Blue onion soup! 😊

[GUT2407]

36 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

There is only one reason to go to a Crown Grill or Sterling Steakhouse ... the Black and Blue onion soup! 😊

Or the Lemon meringue with macadamia base and white chocolate drizzle.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

18 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Or the Lemon meringue with macadamia base and white chocolate drizzle.

 

I like the raspberry creme brulee although by that time I'm almost too stuffed to eat it.

[sewgood]

Lol everyone. I will have to try the black and blue onion soup next time.

Does this have blue cheese in it?

 

The lemon meringue does sound pretty good for the fattening course.

[MicCanberra]

Like a good lemon meringue.

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 1/14/2019 at 10:08 AM, sewgood said:

Lol everyone. I will have to try the black and blue onion soup next time.

Does this have blue cheese in it?

 

The lemon meringue does sound pretty good for the fattening course.

Yes, it has blue cheese in the topping although it's not overly strong - I think it's mixed in with another cheese. The "blue" is Jack Daniels in the soup. It's just that next notch up from the MDR French onion soup. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Our next Princess cruise is 35 nights on Sea Princess so I guess we'll go to the Sterling Steakhouse a few times in that time, even though I really hate the way it's set up in part of the buffet area on those ships. The setup on Diamond was much better as the part of the buffet that was used was almost a separate area anyway.