Over 400 attendees of a vegan cruise on Sydney Harbour over the weekend were left fuming after their $60 ticket apparently bought them little more than finger food.
As the Daily Mail reports, the Sydney Vegan Club promised that Saturday night’s four-hour cruise would see guests provided with music and a nine-course dinner of canapés.
However, as the night progressed, guests complained that all they were given was glorified finger food that was far from sufficient, as well as wine that was not actually vegan.
“It felt like I was on the Hunger Games or vegan Survivor,” one attendee told news.com.au. “I hadn’t eaten properly the whole day and was saving my appetite for the cruise.”
“I didn’t have huge expectations, and knew food might not be abundant, but never to that extent.”
Others explained that they were told to expect a “feast”, but were instead left to hang around by the kitchen doors in hopes of catching food as it hit the floor.
‘If you didn’t descend like seagulls on the staff with trays as they came up the stairs, you got nothing,’ Sarah Freddie told the Daily Mail.
Organisers of the event reportedly thanked attendees for making the event a success, but also issued a public apology on Facebook. “One of the factors on the night that caused the food to run out and not be evenly distributed was that about 25% of the guests greedily ate 50% of the food which is unfortunate,” the Facebook post read.
“Another was that the kitchen was only on one level of the boat, so people on level one ate most of the food as it was brought out from the kitchen before it was able to be taken to level two or the rooftop.”
One person who attended the cruise, Jenna Seage, questioned how the funds from the ticket prices were spent, considering the staff working the event were supposedly volunteers.
“It was $49 (early bird pricing), for a Harbour cruise, with entertainment, vegan bar menu and a nine course meal (from the original advertisement),” Seage explained. “I got two out of the nine courses. Also, the white wine we got wasn’t vegan.”
“I have since learned that all the food was donated, people working at the cruise were volunteers. So our ticket price went to the boat hire, some of the entertainers and to Kym who is the admin for SVC.”
“We didn’t get what was promised,” Natalie Earl told news.com.au. “Definitely not a nine-course meal. A total lack of communication and no apologies whatsoever.”
