Advertiser travel editor Wanda Adams is on a Norwegian Star cruise around the Islands. This is the sixth of her daily diaries.

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Travel Editor

This morning, on the way to our second-to-last shore stop at Kahului, Maui, we witnessed easily the most dramatic daytime scenery of the voyage: the cliffs of Moloka'i. (The nighttime award goes to the Big Island lava flow, which we got to see Tuesday evening.)

Bouncing along through the slightly choppy seas, we saw deserted and deeply cut valleys, waterfalls like frothy white ribbons dropped carelessly down the precipices and the peninsula of Kalaupapa.

What a morning eye-opener! Better than coffee.

My day began before dawn, standing on the balcony with the wind whipping my hair around my head, looking east to where a glow of the sun not yet risen turned the horizon aqua while the rest of the sky was yet a dusky purple.

One, perfect, unblinking star — well, probably a planet — seemed placed straight ahead, just for me.

One thing the movie "Titanic" got just right is the beauty of the sea at night, with the lights of the ship picking out the white froth and the night like velvet above. We had a full moon on this voyage and it was mesmerizing.

Today, "Bunny" (the pseudonym my cabin-mate has adopted, as I am "Wendy") was so taken by the view of the Moloka'i coast that she got turned around and led me firmly forward in search of the dining room, which is very much aft.

"Bunny," I said, "unless they're driving the boat backwards, we're going the wrong way."

"Wendy," she said, taking a good look around, "the shore's on the wrong side of the ship."

It's been nice, actually, how the great views have occurred on different sides of the ship, so that one day you're sitting on your balcony looking at Hilo and another day the folks on the other side are getting an equally good peek at Lahaina.

Room with a view

I have not mentioned our cabin in any detail and, I have to say, after five days of sharing this tiny space, I am impressed by how comfortable and well-designed it is.

You walk in to find a very commodious closet and shelf space on the left, and a well-packed bathroom (shower, sink, toilet room with its own door) on the right.

Just inside the room are two single beds jammed together on the right, with a tiny sofa toward the sliding glass doors that form the fourth wall of the room.

There's a makeup table with the room's only electrical outlets (110 and 220 volts) and a well-lit mirror and stool. There are shelves outfitted with coffee service and drinking glasses, and there's a refrigerator large enough for a couple of bottles of wine or keeping your lei fresh. A little desk, a TV on a shelf, a small coffee table and a bookshelf above complete the furnishings.

On the balcony are two deck chairs and a small table. Several mirrors in the room give an illusion of space and make it easy to complete dressing while your companion uses the bath space. Suitcases fit snugly under the beds and there are good reading lights for each bed, too.

Altogether, although this is almost the smallest hotel room I've ever been in (there was one in England that was basically the dead-end of a hallway, but that's another story), it's got the most storage space.

Twice-daily housekeeping service is routine and amenities include shampoo and liquid soap in wall dispensers, moisturizer and a sewing kit.

You can get room service, although it's mostly cold food. One thing you DON'T get is an iron, and they don't have them to loan you, either (fire hazard, or possibly they want you to pay the $4-apiece ironing charge).

Bring your own, as we did. (My first act on any vacation is to haul everything out of the suitcase, iron it and then be done with it for the whole trip, Virgo that I am.)

We're off today to shop a little in Kahului. I've got an interview appointment (Advertiser Book Club members, this has to do with you — that's a hint about our next author). And we're having dinner with good old Mom at Manana Garage, the excellent Nuevo Latino spot in Kahului. I'll check in a final time tomorrow, from Kaua'i.