Day 15: On watch on the balcony

An idyllic day today in Kaua'i for the morning before an afternoon cruise around the dramatic Na Pali coastline.

Balcony boozing along Na Pali coast.

Made it a leisurely start to the day with a little extended rest in the morning. So late in fact that the breakfast venues were closed. As an aside have been privileged on this cruise to be guests at Cagney's each morning for breakfast. Very civilised sit down table service with hot and cold choices and the opportunity to engage in conversation with fellow guests and staff.  We are definite fans of this setting rather than the noise, bustle and sometimes frenetic madness of the buffet at Aloha.

Cadillac Diner - milkshake heaven

So many venues closed because ship is only operating at 50% capacity - staffing a definite issue for them and every other staff member is a "newbie" - only been in the job for 4 weeks. Mind you - can't compliment the staff enough - thoughtful, bright and breezy, helpful and so accommodating. We have on occasions felt very sorry for them when the odd "pushed to the limit" vacationer has been terse, loud and downright grumpy because they had to wait 10 minutes. This was rare though as well - vast majority of travellers taking the extra time to smile, thank, acknowledge and praise the staff.

What a life for the staff - their contract sees them signed up for 6 months - they work 7 days a week for that 6 months - never a day off - and for most it - it is in a split shift situation. We didn't see a single frown or grumpy face in all our interactions.  And very impressed with their "staff training" - we saw mixed crew groups every day gathered for "leadership" and "guest services" mentors hip.  And very high expectations - our butler Jo shared with us some of the transparency and accountability processes in place that his supervisors employed to ensure standards were being maintained. He positively beamed when he recounted his recent inte re action with t he "big bosses" who had given him his feedback. Made us want to keep everything ship-shape just to help him out! Wonder if that was part of the strategy.

So back to the missed breakfast. No worries - we were able to set ourselves up in the Cadillac Diner andctry a few new choices. Enjoyed it so much we even fronted up for a milkshake for a light lunch option. And back to the staff - yep, the Cagney's team had moved on in rotation into the Cadillac and greeted us as long lost clients.

The afternoon was all about the balcony. We set up with a bottle of champagne and tuned into the commentary as the ship rounded the northerntip of Kaua'i and Princeville and hugged in tight to Na Pali coastline. This is a 15 mile stretch of rugged (read here REALLY RUGGED) coastline with razor sharp ridges topping more ridges that plummet to the sea. The cliffs here are 4000 feet and meet the ocean in precipitous drops overlooking arched caves or land just as sharply onto secluded white sandy beaches. 

It was beautiful and fascinating and our amateur photos can't do it justice. The colours changed through browns to greens and constantly shifted as the setting sun was reflected in new angles. Apparently, a mecca for very serious (and appropriately geared up) hikers.

We were so caught up in it were a little late for our packing duties and subsequently missed the Icons stage show but true to form, we were not late for for our final late diner.

Our last hurrah. Booked in for Cagneys - the speciality steak restaurant. Yes, the usual before during and afters of our drink accompaniment and got to tick off the oysters here as our only missing seafood indulgence. Settled on a 5 oz and 16 oz choice for our carnivore fix (guess who took the 16) and freely admit to the 7 layer choc cake finale. Another waddle-worthy over-indulgence.

He may have been oversized in the steak, but I was the wine winner!

Know that it is swiftly coming to an end. Had to wheel our priority tagged bags outside for midnight collection. Back to Honolulu tomorrow.

Step count: 3674 .. need to improve to walk off dinner