Best Peking Duck Salad at Sea

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Cantonese Classics from Chef Richard Chen 

Harmony

Harmony is a specialty restaurant created in partnership with the former chef of Wing Lei – the first Chinese restaurant in North America awarded a Michelin star – Harmony, features Chef Richard Chen’s interpretation of classic Cantonese dishes. Chef Chen’s innovative plates demonstrate impeccable technique with a masterful balance of ingredients and flavors.

Princess Cruises' specialty restaurants always deliver an extraordinary experience. They are among the best at sea – or anywhere. Majestic Princess introduces Harmony to the fleet. We put this on our must-do list so that we could report about this culinary experience.

Our cruise package included one complimentary specialty dining for two up to $29 value each.  Since Harmony's cover charge was within those limits, that was a second reason for choosing it.

Tip: Always listen to wait staff's advice regarding menu selection


We'll Have the Peking Duck Salad

At dinner, a couple nights before we went to Harmony, we asked our Head Waiter how the food was at Harmony and if he had any recommendations.  You have to order the Peking Duck Salad.  We also spoke to our Waiter and told him we wouldn't be there because we were going to Harmony for dinner.  He too gave us an unsolicited recommendation for Peking Duck Salad.   When we arrived for dinner at Harmony, our Waiter explained the menu and offered his recommendations ... you guessed it.  So, we did order that for our starter.  It was amazing !!  We later learned that was the chef's specialty dish.

Our main entrees were Stir Fried Shrimp, sugar peas, and mushrooms and the Harmony Lightly Crisped Chicken, water chestnut, ginger and soy glaze.  The main meal was complimented with Egg White  Fried Rice, scallops and Cantonese Chow Mein. assorted vegetables.  Dessert was Red Bean Crème Brûlée.

We thoroughly enjoyed dining at Harmony.  The service was great, the food was fantastic, and the view out the window added to the ambiance.  It is well worth the cover charge if you like Cantonese food.  The waiter didn't steer us wrong with his recommendations, which he tailored to our tastes.

Additional photos can be found on our Australia & New Zealand Shutterfly page


Harmony

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87 Years and Counting

Sydney Harbour Bridge  

March 19 marks the 87th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the key landmarks in Sydney, Australia.  The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a heritage-listed steel through arch bridge across Sydney Harbour that carries rail, vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic between the Sydney central business district (CBD) and the North Shore.

In January, we sailed from Sydney, on Majestic Princess, to New Zealand. We got our first glimpse of Sydney Harbour Bridge, above,  from the Royal Botanical Garden, during our pre-cruise stay in Sydney. On this occasion of the 87th birthday of the bridge, we'll share some of our images from our Australia visit.

View from Majestic Princess - Before Sailing	View from Majestic Princess - Sailaway
View from Sydney Overseas Passenger Terminal	(click images to enlarge)  View from Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus

Additional photos can be found on our Australia & New Zealand Shutterfly page

Intercontinental Hotel Sydney
Sydney Opera House
The Royal Botanical Garden


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New Zealand Manuka Honey

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Mossop’s Honey

After leaving Hobbiton, our tour guide said that if we didn't have any delays, we could make a quick stop to view the local bees and taste New Zealand Manuka honey or try one of their delicious ice-creams before we headed back to Tauranga port. We got there shortly after 5 PM, thirty minutes before closing time.

We toured the live honey bee display, tasted some honey, and had an ice cream cone.

Mossop’s is a family business that has been producing and packaging top quality honeys for over 70 years. Mossop’s Honey is delicious liquid gold produced from the nectar of flowers within

the beautiful South Pacific setting of New Zealand’s native bush and pasture lands with its crystal clear lakes, rivers and oceans, and snow capped mountains often forming a clean, green picturesque back drop for the beehives.

Returning to Port

We headed back along the inner harbor past the local fishing boats, over the Harbor bridge to the Port of Tauranga.  Since it was after 6 PM when we returned, we didn't go to dinner in the main dining room, but decided to have pizza in Alfredo's Pizzeria.

Additional photos can be found on our Australia & New Zealand Shutterfly page

Tauranga
McLaren Falls Park
Hobbiton
New Zealand Honey



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Journey to Shire of Hobbiton

Lord of the Rings Filming Location

Journey with us from Tauranga and experience the real Middle-earth™ at the Hobbiton™ Movie Set, where, in the heart of the Waikato region, you can step into the lush pastures of the Shire™, as seen in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

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As we mentioned in our last post, we had pre-booked a six hour tour with Zealandier Tours to the Hobbiton™ Movie Set.  After departing McLaren Falls Park, we then climbed up to over 1000 feet to cross the Kaimai Mountain Range, which divides the Bay of Plenty coastal region from the Waikato district, the main dairy farming area of New Zealand.

We soon arrived at Hobbiton™; the movie set location for Lord of The Rings and associated films, near the town of Matamata.

Upon arriving at our destination, our guide told us that we had time for some lunch and a restroom break before meeting him at the ticket entrance before 2 PM. 

He went to purchase our tickets and we decided to eat at The Shire's Rest™ Cafe .  The lamb wrap was very good. You can eat inside or in the picnic area nearby.  There is also a gift shop and restroom facilities, which we highly recommend you visit before your two hour tour begins.

Movie Set Tour

The tour is very organized.  You line up by time and check in with the guides.  They then escort you to a waiting motor coach which will take you to the entrance of the Shire.  During the bus ride to the entrance, several short videos are played, the first of which is a welcome from Sir Peter Jackson, whose team discovered the Alexander farm in 1998 while scouting for a filming location.  They were looking for iconic rolling hills of New Zealand.  If you watch our short video above, approaching the movie set, you'll soon understand why he fell in love with this location.

Wonders of the Shire

For the next two hours, we wandered around the set, escorted by our guide, who showed us the intricate detailing, pointing out the most famous locations and explained how the movie magic was made.

We had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this iconic movie set in its full glory; from wandering the rambling paths of The Shire, to seeing the submerged Hobbit Holes™ that litter the rolling hillsides.

Green Dragon Inn Refreshments

After being taken around the 12 acre set, past Hobbit Holes and the Mill, the tour continues inside the world-famous Green Dragon™ Inn, where where we could sample their exclusive, specially brewed beverages (a local shire ale, cider or ginger beer) to conclude our own Middle-earth adventure.

These images are just a sampling from our visit to Hobbiton.  Be sure to view our entire album and bring back memories from your favorite Hobbit movie.  No visit to New Zealand would be complete without touring the movie set.  It is fun for young and old. 

Note: While the Movie Set is not very wheelchair friendly, they do have options available for those who may not be able to complete the walking tour. For more information visit the Hobbiton Movie Set website.

Additional photos can be found on our Australia & New Zealand Shutterfly page

Tauranga
Hobbiton



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