What To Eat On The Majestic Princess – why the Majestic Princess cruise ship offers some of the most amazing food from Princess Cruises, our favorite cruise line for foodies!

Princess Cruises has long been our favorite choice for a truly relaxing vacation – a real trip where you can rest, rejuvenate, and let yourself find adventure, peace, and time with friends, family, or by yourself – but it’s also our pick for some of the best food you will find on a trip, near or far!

Princess’ culinary program is top-notch – with plenty of picks to please even the the most discerning diners. From fast-casual style grab and go grills, to five-star steakhouses and French bistros, to the only on Majestic Princess Five star Chinese food offering Harmony – there is something for everyone on the Majestic Princess!

For more on why we felt 100% safe on the Majestic Princess, visit my post about What It’s Really Like To Cruise After The Pandemic.

To see some of the ports we visited, please visit the following:

• Juneau Alaska Port Guide
• Skagway, Alaska Cruise Port Guide
• Ketchikan, Alaska Cruise Port Guide

First off, since it will be everyone’s question – we felt INCREDIBLY safe our entire cruise. Princess Cruises has implemented CDC protocols, as well as an exceptional commitment to cleanliness. You could eat off the floor, the tables, the chairs – it was all spotlessly clean and crew were sanitizing everything nonstop.

Cruising can be safe, incredibly clean, and just as relaxing and adventurous as ever. There is no better way to relax with friends and family, see gorgeous locations, eat amazing food – without the hassle and worry of many trips… so you can get right into vacation mode.

With upgraded HEPA filters and HVAC systems, increased cleaning protocols, and additional hand washing and sanitation stations for passengers – as well as mask, testing, and vaccination requirements – Princess Cruises has made a commitment to safety for their guests, and I can say I honestly felt safer on ship than in hotels, restaurants, and the few airports I have been in post pandemic – by far. I have cruised with Princess 9 times now, and can honestly say I have never been on a cruise where it wasn’t absolutely spotless – but the Majestic somehow felt even cleaner!

Disclaimer: Per CDC rules, my husband and I had to be fully vaccinated more than 14 days prior to embarkation and tested for coronavirus before boarding the ship, and my husband and I were negative 35 hours before boarding.

For my own curiosity for this review, we both tested, using lateral flow tests and PCR tests, to confirm we remained COVID free 14 days after sailing.

We were invited to sail with Princess Cruises for their relaunch back to Alaska as one of their very first cruises back in 2021 after over 500 days without sailing. This was my 9th Princess cruise – and the first time sailing on the Majestic Princess, a ship designed for the Asian market which will be sailing in the Western US (Mexico riviera from Los Angeles and Alaska routes) and Australia for the near future.

Bistro Sur La Mer is one of Princess’ newer offerings, with fresh takes on French Bistro classics that are oozing with romance.

Bistro Sur La Mer is my favorite pick for date night on a cruise – the location overlooking the piazza is lovely, so you can people watch, but still feel cozy – the lighting is a bit moodier, and the food is rich and comforting.

The French bistro is known for impeccable service, fresh, creative spins on French bistro classics, and a playful presentation.

I love the seabass – I order it everytime I am at Bistro Sur La Mer, and while the rest of the menu looks so fabulous, I can’t bring myself to stray from the seabass and it’s buttery perfection!

Our picks at Bistro Sur La Mer:

• Comme des Olives Vertes et Noires Chevre – Goat Cheese Stuffed Olives which are served as an amuse-bouche. Salty, briny, creamy, and soft – they are HEAVEN!
• Lobster Bisque en Croute – rich, velvety lobster bisque presented in a large bowl baked en croute – so you can break the puff pastry and dunk right into your bisque!
• Escargot – I love the way Princess chefs prepare escargot – and Bistro Sur La Mer is no different. Buttery, tender, garlicky, and oh so delicious!
• Ahi Tuna tartare – light, rich, and delicious – melts on your tongue and gorgeous to look at!
• Sea bass Filet with crispy bread and vegetables – this is one of my favorite dishes across all Princess ships, period. It is buttery, with a crisp top and perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth texture that pairs perfectly with a bright olive and tomato sauce. I wake up dreaming of Bistro Sur La Mer’s sea bass. I’ve never ordered another main – I make my husband or friends order so I can taste theirs – because I cannot take the idea of not having the sea bass! It is that good.
• Creme Anglaise Meringue dessert – the light, fluffy, airy dessert is lightly sweet, and the perfect way to end a meal without over-stuffing yourself – it is one of my favorites for that perfect not-too-sweet end to an evening!

Normally on Princess pool decks there is a burger bar, and on some ships like the Sky Princess, there is a Salty Dog burger bar combination across from Slices.

On the Majestic, however, because it was originally planned for the Asian market, it hosts a lobster and burger bar – with hands down my favorite item to order at sea, ever!

The burger bar’s chili dogs, burgers, and free items were delicious – but the up-charge lobster roll (around $12) was PHENOMENAL.

The lobster roll was perfect – light, fluffy roll that was perfectly toasted, sweet and flavorful lobster meat with just the perfect amount of slaw – it was refreshing, rich, buttery, and totally delicious! Well worth the splurge.

We also tried the hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, and chili dogs – they were all delicious, but the lobster roll is a MUST.

Harmony is a restaurant available only on the Majestic Princess- which is really a shame, because it is probably one of my favorite restaurants of all time on ship!

Harmony pays homage to Majestic Princess’ Asian inspired touches and serves fresh, from-scratch made to order Chinese food that is authentic and bursting with fresh flavors that honor Chinese cooking.

Our favorites were incredibly hard to nail down – because in truth, we loved literally everything we had at Harmony. Behind Bistro Sur La Mer, Harmony might be my next favorite specialty restaurant on Princess Cruises, because I loved the fresh, not overly-greasy (or too Americanized) takes on Chinese food.

Some of our standouts:

• Egg white fried rice – light and fluffy, with a different texture than most fried rice – it is softer, not greasy at all, but absolutely loaded with vegetable flavor. I could have made an entire meal from the fried rice. It was subtle, but rich – a perfect balance!
• Salt & pepper chicken – this semi spicy chicken appetizer is lightly breaded and fried to crispy perfection – the texture was perfect with a hint of heat from pepper instead of a rich sauce – so it wasn’t overpowering, but a nice way to heat up the palate for spicier dishes to come!
• Shrimp spring roll – the spring rolls at Harmony are super crispy, with perfectly cooked shrimp, a light finish, and perfect lightly sweet and salty dipping sauce.
• Lobster – the lobster was divine, with bok choy, scallions, and a delicious broth.
• Kung pao chicken –
• Braised belly ribs – ribs can be overly rich, but Harmony’s star anise and rock sugar treatment perfectly cut through the fattier dish to make it melt in your mouth delicious without feeling too heavy.
• Mongolian beef – perfectly seasoned with bell peppers, onion and garlic.
• General Tso’s chicken – a lightly spicy classic, balanced perfectly without being overly greasy.
• Wok fried prime beef cubes – rich, decadent, and sumptuous with tons of garlic and black pepper.

We absolutely loved the Yao family wines that our servers paired with our meals – the Majestic Princess has a partnership with Yao Ming’s winery in Napa, and spotlights lots of Yao wines throughout the ship – but in Harmony, Yao wines really get their time to shine! Be sure to try some paired with your dishes.

The Crown Grill is Princess’ star steakhouse – it personifies old-school glamour, and always is offering up delicious cooked-to-order steaks, seafood, and other steakhouse favorites.

Crown Grill has amazing martinis, a great wine list, and out of this world desserts – plus, they always give you sea salt samples when your steak comes, so you can pick smoked, lava, pink, or truffle salt to enjoy your steak with – such a fun gourmet touch!

While in Alaska, look for local favorites – my husband was lucky enough to snag some fresh oysters with the local catch program, that brings fresh catches from port back on ship!

I love the blue cheese French onion soup – which has a bit of a funkier kick than traditional onion soup, for those with an adventurous palate.

I always love ordering the surf and turf – nothing beats a classic!

Some of our standouts:

• Black Tiger Prawn appetizer – I cannot actually vouch for this dish since it comes in a mustard seed aioli (Im allergic to mustard seed) but my husband said it was light, crisp, and a great way to start the dinner.
• Beef tartare – I love tartare, and Princess always has an impeccable presentation of the melt in your mouth dish.
• Seared scallops – I often order scallops because they are one of my favorite dishes, and Crown Grill’s are always light, perfectly seared, and delicious!
• Black and blue onion soup – this spin on French onion soup has Jack Daniels, thyme, and roquefort – its a funkier flavor than French onion with a bit of a different texture thanks to chunks of blue cheese. You’ll taste it and wonder why all French onion soups don’t have blue cheese, it’s a fabulous touch.
• Surf anf Turf – my all time favorite, no explanation needed!

Princess does an amazing job in their main dining rooms – while I love their specialty restaurants, I don’t really need to ever visit one, because their main dining rooms are always serving up amazing breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.

The main dining room has a ton of options for any eater – and any diet. I’ve gone on cruises on diets, when not eating carbs, when going all-out, when with friends who were strictly gluten-free – and while navigating my own food allergy (the ever stupidest allergy to mustard seed, which is oddly omnipresent in just about everything on earth.)

Princess makes all of these challenges easy, especially in the Main Dining Rooms.

If you’re wondering what it’s like to cruise with an allergy like gluten, please check out my guide to Cruising With Celiac. I walk through the process of navigating the menu and how you work with the head waiter before you ever step foot in a restaurant to be sure you’re safe – which has only improved since Princess Cruises has implemented the MedallionClass technology where passenger information, like allergies, can be stored.

Be sure to keep an eye out for local catch items – we had salmon, halibut, prawns, oysters, and other Alaskan-caught seafood in the main dining room anytime we saw it on the menu.

Some of my favorites, from cruise to cruise, will always be the Princess Fettuccine Alfredo, the French onion soup, the Creme Brûlée, the escargot, and any salmon dish!

Hot tip: when dining in the MDR (main dining rooms), ask your waiters their opinions on dishes. They try the dishes they serve, and will give you very honest opinions. Listen to them. They will not steer you wrong! And if you ever have Filip (from Hungary) as your waiter, absolutely let him make you his amazing chocolate souffle topped with chocolate ice cream and berries dessert that is off-menu. You will thank me later :).

Alfredo’s was rated the best pizza at sea by USA Today – and for a reason!

Princess offers one of the best specialty restaurants with Alfredo’s – but it doesn’t come with an additional price.

Alfredo’s has classic Italian wood-fire oven flavor, along with antipasti classics, right off the main piazza, so you can grab a quick lunch or dinner and not be too far from the action.

Alfredo’s fill up fast, so you’ll want to grab a spot in line before it opens if you’re dying for a slice right away – but they move quickly, and are open all day, so head back around in a bit if you go and it is busy.

I love the caprese salad and the margerita pizza, my husband loves the mussles pizza, but our standouts really could be the entire restaurant.

We usually end up ordering:

• Salami Antipasti
• Vegetarian Antipasti
• Pizza Capricciosa – artichoke hearts, ham, black olives, basil.
• Pizza Romana – anchovies, capers, black olives, basil.
• Pizza Tarantina – muscles, shrimp, basil, capers, oregano.
• Pizza Regal Princess – my favorite at Alfredo’s – with buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, parma ham, and shaved parmesan.

Buon appetito!

One of the other restaurants that only the Majestic Princess offers is a small noodle bar on the pool deck instead of the Slices Pizza bar.

When sailing in Asia, the noodle bar also offered dum sum (which I was a bit sad to not see while we were in Alaska, I would have happily tested out plenty!), on our sailing they were serving up ramen that you could customize the way you like it with all sorts of fillings and toppings.

We loved being able to pop into the ramen bar for a quick warm soup or bowl of ramen, especially while sailing to Alaska! It was a great addition to the cruise.

There were tons of meat, seafood, and vegetarian options to load your noodles up with, courtesy chefs who perfectly assembled your dish for you in a quick-serve, grab and go fashion that is great for the pool deck on chilly Alaskan afternoons. I really, really loved the noodle bar, and would love items from it expanded on some cold-weather routes (though, I do love Slice and did miss it a bit, because Slice is SUCH amazing pizza as well as Alfredo’s!)

One of the reasons I LOVE the OceanMedallion program is how easy it makes ordering room service – or food anywhere you are on ship!

We ordered breakfast sandwiches everyday, as well as americanos directly to our room – so we could have breakfast in bed, everyday.

We had a case of the munchies one night and ordered hamburgers and chips, and ordered a plate of chips and salsa while sitting in a bar and needing something to nibble on.

Simply order whatever you’re craving, and your medallion will let the crewmember know where you’re sitting, so they can bring it right to you – no matter where you are on ship!

You can watch on your phone and it tells you when the order is accepted, when it is being made, and when it is being delivered – so you know when to expect your order. It’s just like a delivery tracker on land!

You can even deliver gifts, goods like Advil, Dramamine, jackets, or room service and extra pillows or hangers right from the app, too!

Make sure to order chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne for a romantic balcony send off, !

The International Cafe is one of my favorites on every cruise – it is the 24 hour spot serving up fresh pastries, sandwiches, baked goods, salads, fruits, and snacks right in the main Piazza – as well as gourmet coffee drinks.

We love the pistachio and almond croissant, ham and cheese croissant, watermelon and feta salad, walnut bread, nutella donuts, and caprese sandwiches!

The menus for International Cafe change often, so it is hard to give “favorite” dishes, but their sandwiches are always great, and can be requested heated or cold, and the grab-and-go service is great when you need a quick bite.

For the morning of Glacier Bay National Park, we had an Ultimate Balcony Breakfast sent to our stateroom, so we could take in the beauty of Marjorie Glacier right from our balcony, while we had breakfast.

We love the lox, the fruit salad, the pastries, the mini quiches, and cheesy tomatoes!

I’ve had the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast with Princess before – it is always luxurious and full of gorgeous dishes that are plated impeccably. It is an incredibly romantic treat I highly recommend – the food is great, but the service is lovely, and it’s so nice to relax and have a five-star brunch set up in your stateroom (or balcony) when cruising, so you can relax and take in the ocean air. A wonderful, romantic treat!

If you’re looking for more ways to make a cruise romantic, be sure to check my post The Top 13 Ways To Make A Cruise Romantic – there are TONs of great tips!

Don’t let buffet scare you off – Princess’ buffet has an amazing selection of fresh, delicious foods made fresh!

We love made-to-order breakfast items, grilled items at lunch (the grilled items are all delicious, light, and full of flavor without carbs!), International theme nights.

Princess offers lots of variety in their buffet – fresh fruits, salads, cheeses, antipasti, pastas, desserts, main dishes, meats, carvery stations – I could go on and on.

One of the programs I love most in the buffet is Princess’ commitment to local cuisine. In Alaska, the buffet offered halibut tacos, for example, as a part of the fresh catch program to spotlight fresh Alaskan seafood – bringing your shore experience back on the ship, so your adventure doesn’t have to stop when you step back on the Majestic.

Princess Cruises truly offers something for every foodie – it is our top pick for a stress free, relaxing vacation where you can eat just about anything and be happy.

If you’re planning your own cruise, please check out some of the amazing deals Princess Cruises is currently offering:

Princess is back — on the California Coast! Guests and crew together again starting October 6 aboard Majestic Princess! We will operate these cruises consistent with CDC guidelines for a vaccinated cruise. Book now!

Check Out Princess Cruises – Alaska 7-Day Voyage of the Glaciers (Northbound) – Interior from $899* per person. BOOK TODAY, TO SAIL LATER!

For more from Sweet C’s partnerships with Princess Cruises, visit our cruise index here – or see some of our recent favorite posts below: