As with any cruise, I always look at the culinary offerings with a more critical eye than most people. Before our most recent cruise with Royal Caribbean on Harmony of the Seas, I wrote last week about how a few strategies can make sailing on such a ship more enjoyable. In this post, I’ll review the food RAS and I had onboard.

Before we boarded the ship, I knew we would have to pay extra for our drinks and some of our meals. I purchased a limited specialty dining package, which allowed us to eat at any of Harmony’s more elevated eateries for three meals. However, we didn’t get a drink package, which was my husband’s way to limit his alcoholic consumption during the cruise. It worked, and we both probably felt better for it.

Having the package helped, as we didn’t anticipate the difficulty of My Time seating for the main dining room, or the sub-par dinners we tolerated. I will detail those in a bit, but I will start off with the best food on the ship. 

Specialty dining - 150 Central Park

This restaurant served the best meal all week. 150 Central Park’s defining feature is its seasonal menu, so when we visited last week, it still featured winter fare. RAS ordered seared honey-glazed scallops with chorizo, red peppers and orange sauce and a roasted beef tenderloin with truffled potatoes and vegetables, while I chose roasted spiced pumpkin bisque with crème fraiche and applewood bacon and pan-seared halibut with warm potato salad. We finished with fried cheesecake and a hazelnut passion fruit bar. It was a peak culinary experience.

Jamie’s Italian

I dined at this eatery aboard Navigator of the Seas three years ago when Royal began sailing from Los Angeles. I remember having the penne carbonara pasta, seasonal greens salad, tiramisu and the most pillowy-soft garlic rolls ever. This time, I chose something more standard, baked lasagna, while RAS dined on eggplant parmesan. But we struggled to finish everything because of the outsized portions and couldn’t even order dessert, much as we wanted to

Izumi

Royal Caribbean’s Japanese restaurant has two sections—a sushi and izakaya section and a teppanyaki section. We went to the latter, essentially like a Benihana, where you’re mostly there for the chef's showmanship and rapid-fire chopping, slicing and serving. The food was simply average, with those typical generous servings and nothing outstanding. At least we enjoyed the company at our table, a couple from Galveston and a family from Houston.

Included dining – main dining room

Harmony of the Seas has three rooms that serve sit-down breakfast, lunch, and dinner. RAS and I only went to two dinners here because of those massive portion entrees, which were substandard. I had the butter chicken the first night and the Caribbean chicken on the second, whereas he tried a very tough New York strip steak and the same jerk-like chicken I ordered. The My Time dining arrangement was also a mess, with wait times of almost 30 minutes. But the meals were saved by our servers, who couldn’t have been more accommodating and friendly. 

Windjammer

The buffet is our fallback place for breakfast and often lunch. The food here was also just serviceable and satisfied our hunger, which wasn’t that keen on most of this cruise. I switched my morning meals between eggs and bacon, muesli, oatmeal and pancakes, along with some fresh fruit. A note: expect to pay extra for fresh-squeezed orange juice unless you have a drink package. Otherwise, you’ll have to tolerate the watered version and sludgy coffee (I recommend going to Starbucks instead).

Sorrento’s Pizza

Would you believe that one of the best things for a snack on a Royal ship is pizza? The slices they serve at this popular place in the Royal Promenade are ideal when none of the other places are open, and you don’t want to shell out extra money for room service. While only three varieties are available at one time (pepperoni and cheese are standard), they are quite tasty with soft-crisp crust, melty cheese and herby sauce.