The HAL Amsterdam is a midsize ship carrying 1380 passengers and 615 crew. She is 62,735 gross tons, 760 feet in length and has a top speed of 22.5 knots. The CDC rated her 94 points in a recent inspection. She survived the long voyage without a case of Noro-virus which is amazing and rare with HAL ships.
This is our seond time to board the Amsterdam. What attracted us had been her unique itinerary. She offered ports like Manila Philippines,Rabaul, Papua, New Guinea,Guadalcanal,Solomon Islands, Vanuato and the Marquesas, new countries by sea for us.
The Americans and Japanese fought intensely for Henderson field in Guadalcanal during WW2. Part of the field is now occupied by the Honaira airport and the rest is rusty barbwire and razor grass. Vanuato is the source of prime kava root. The natives here still practice cargo cult where they create airplane replicas wth straw and worship them for material wealth. Paul Gaugin is buried in the Marqesas where Herman Melville and Thor Heyerdal wrote their their first book.