Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Tuesday we were on Kangaroo Island. It was billed as “foodie heaven”. Since we were both getting blood in our alcohol stream, and literally were bloated due to our anniversary party, visiting many wineries and otherwise eating and drinking far more than normal, we stayed on the ship. Barbara had maybe 500 calories and I, maybe 800 or 900.
Instead of having a grand old time continuing to live a Bacchanalian life, we celebrated by watching our friend Steve Goldenberg’s funeral service on Zoom. Reminds me of the bumper sticker which read “I traded this car for my Wife—-what a deal!"
Today and tomorrow are both sea days so we will have a chance to rest up from our cruise.
The ship’s internet is not really working. Some people, including, apparently, the corporate honchos are making it a priority to replace an outdated system. Some passengers are outraged to the extent that they are cancelling future Seaborn cruises. One man trades in options and lost a fortune in the last few days. Some day trade and are besides themselves and others cannot get their bills paid online because their banks want to confirm instructions and cannot because the telephone system stinks.
The crew on ship is doing everything possible but corporate headquarters is cutting corners and trying to save money and doing it the wrong way. It is one thing to cut unnecessary costs but another to stop giving the service their customers paid for and rightfully expect.
It is like a baseball team with great players, but they do not have the equipment they need to win. The crews on this cruise is filled with superstars, but they are not being given the resources to perform up to their capabilities.
We will never have a nicer accommodation nor will we have a cruise director who is probably the best in the business, a greater or more accommodating manager or a better staff at guest services but my Wife said “never again until we get what we need”.
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Yesterday I told you about our tasting of non drinkable wines at Penfolds, but I did not tell you about our really successful tasting at Molly Dooker where we tasted the following wines:
21 Gigglepot. $60
21 Bblue Eyed Boy. $60. We bought four bottles of this very tasty Shiraz
21 Enchanted Path $90
21 Carnival of Love $90
19 Velvet Glove $220. Their best Shiraz. Bought two bottles.
This is a great place to visit and I recommend it to anyone with any interest in wine who is in the Adelaide area.
The wines at Penfolds, all but the first two not drinkable for many years, which we were charged $240 to taste before I made my little “ripoff” argument were as follows:
2018 Reserve Bin A Chardonnay from Adelaide Hills $125. Bought two bottles
2006 Yattarna Chardonnay Multi Regional $200. Not nearly as good as first wine. When I asked why they charged $75 more for this wine, the response was “because we can”. They did not allege it was better.
2018 Bin 150 Shiraz Marananga $140
2020 RWT Shiraz Barossa Valley $200
2019 Bin 149 Cabernet California/South Australia $225. Could not touch other Cabs from California at half the price.
2018 Grange Shiraz Multi Regional $1000 per bottle which is $600 U.S dollars. Way too young and not as good as dozens of other wines half the price or cheaper.
Draw your own conclusions.
Found the menu from the great dim sum I mentioned. There were 49 different dumplings plus a whole bunch of other great looking dishes. There were more Asians than others eating there with a line outside when we left.
See you tomorrow. At least that is my plan.
Go Ukraine