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WELCOME TO THE FREEWINDS

The Freewinds is a religious retreat that marks for Scientologists the pinnacle of their journey to total spiritual freedom. Its position at sea is designed to provide an aesthetic, distraction-free environment off the crossroads of everyday life. As a center of spiritual enlightenment, it is a place where lives are transformed.

Its calm and friendly atmosphere comes from within, from dedicated officers and crew whose work aboard the Freewinds provides an incomparable sailing experience. Amid its service and amenities that begin at the gangway, everyday challenges of life seem to vanish.

Scientologists not only progress upward on their spiritual journey upon the high seas, they contribute tens of thousands of volunteer hours to Church-supported humanitarian missions that are implemented by the Freewinds wherever it sails.

Civic and religious leaders from throughout the islands and Latin America recognize the Freewinds as a place of profound personal renewal, but also as a source of solutions to meet their needs through the Church’s humanitarian programs and interfaith initiatives. Drug education , human rights , literacy , learning and ethics are part of the broader social mission through which the Freewinds has spawned partnerships. With the help of island port and civic officials, national police and military services in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, the message of human rights and humanitarian action is coming to all.

To the maritime community, the Freewinds is a model of quality, service and safety. The highly trained and experienced Freewinds officers and crew have provided safety and security training for more than 100 Caribbean port authorities, coast guards and maritime organizations.

The beacon of the Freewinds shines with the promise of a better life, a better world and the accomplishment of dreams. It carries a signal of hope when seas are stormy and when the path is unclear, bringing a meaning to the spirituality that underlies its larger mission—to light the way toward an infinitely better existence.

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Inside stranded Scientology cruise ship MV Freewinds

Hundreds of Scientologists remain trapped on a mysterious luxury cruise ship after a measles outbreak. Here’s what it looks like inside.

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Hundreds of Scientologists remain stranded aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean after a measles outbreak forced authorities to board the vessel and jab unvaccinated crew and passengers.

More than 300 people have been trapped aboard the MV Freewinds, the only ship in operation from the church’s original flotilla, since a Danish crew member tested positive for the disease on April 29 .

Authorities had been hoping to disembark all passengers by Wednesday this week but Curacao’s chief health officer, Dr Marlene Fredericks-James, said the vessel would remain quarantined for the duration of the measles incubation period, which is up to 12 days.

The 216 crew and 102 passengers belong to Scientology’s most mysterious and dedicated branch — the Sea Organisation, which requires members to sign billion-year contracts and

work 365 days a year for little or no wages.

Scientologists aiming for the church’s spiritual climax, Operating Thetan Level 8 (or OT8 for short), are sent aboard the Freewinds.

The ship is the only place in the whole organisation that offers the OT8 course, which can set devotees back between $US500,000 ($A714,000) to $US2 million ($A2.86 million) and take years to complete.

At first glance, it might not seem a bad place to be stuck.

The 134 metre “religious retreat” is fitted out with five-star restaurants, luxury cabins, a cinema, panoramic sun deck and shiny, state-of-the-art control rooms.

Then there’s the glittering Starlight Lounge, where church mascot Tom Cruise famously belted out a rendition of Bob Seger‘s Old Time Rock and Roll with X Factor contestant Stacy Francis on his birthday.

The lounge features a stylised portrait of church founder, former sci fi writer L Ron Hubbard, wearing a captain’s hat behind the stage.

The Mission Impossible actor is not the only celebrity to have spent time on the Freewinds. Cruise’s former wife Katie Holmes, John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston have all celebrated birthdays on board.

Others known to have taken a sail include jazz great Chick Corea, Elvis’ daughter Lisa Marie Presley, actors Catherine Bell and Juliette Lewis, as well as longtime Australian devotee Kate Ceberano.

There are also whispers Scientology’s leader David Miscavige, whose wife mysteriously vanished from the public eye years ago amid an alleged mental health crisis, is on-board.

“Miscavige turned 59 on Tuesday,” former Scientologist Tony Ortega wrote on his cult-busting website The Underground Bunker last week .

“Was he aboard the Freewinds for a birthday party when it was quarantined in St Lucia on Monday morning? We think the chances are low that Miscavige is aboard, but we’d love to know one way or the other.”

Former Church executive Tom DeVocht said if the elusive leader was on the ship “he will be micromanaging the crisis, and Scientology will do its best to appear to be co-operating fully with (government officials).”

It’s not the first crisis to hit the Freewinds.

In 2006, a Sea Org member reportedly contracted chickenpox, passing it onto at least one other crew member before the infected pair were offloaded at a hotel ashore, according to bombshell claims by Sea Org whistleblower Valeska Paris.

“What I can say is that the Sea Org member who got measles will be in serious trouble,” Ms Paris told The Underground Bunker .

“When I was on the Freewinds in 2006, a Sea Org member named Angela got chickenpox. “She passed it to another Sea Org member named Isabel. All crew members were asked if they were vaccinated for chickenpox and if they had had it before.

“There were a handful of us who had never been vaccinated and had never had chickenpox, including myself. It was right before maiden voyage, and we should have been quarantined.

“We all had to have blood tests to confirm whether we were immune or not. I wasn’t immune, and there were about four other Sea Org members who were not. The ship’s doctor got vaccinations for us, and we were all vaccinated on the ship.

“Then Isabel, Angela and everyone who hadn’t had chickenpox were sent ashore to stay in a hotel. Isabel still had chickenpox when she was sent ashore. They were there the entire maiden voyage week and came back after (Scientology leader David) Miscavige left the ship.”

Authorities say the source of the latest outbreak, a Dutch woman, boarded the Freewinds in Curacao as a crew member on April 17. She went to the ship’s doctor complaining of cold symptoms on April 22 and was immediately isolated from others on board.

A blood sample was taken and sent to nearby Aruba, where officials confirmed it was measles on April 29. By that time the ship had already departed for St Lucia.

Curacao officials alerted their counterparts in St Lucia who quarantined the vessel upon arrival before turning it back to its home port

On May 4, a medical team led by Curacao’s chief epidemiologist Dr Izzy Gerstenbluth boarded the Freewinds and examined 216 crew members and 102 passengers — a process that took up most of the weekend.

At least 31 crew members and 10 passengers were able to provide proof of vaccination or immunity, but the remaining 277 were awaiting the results of blood tests being conducted in the Netherlands.

“There’s nobody on the boat that did anything wrong,” Dr Gerstenbluth told AFP.

“Somebody came from Europe, and after a couple of days had the sniffles and was isolated and turned out to have measles. We’re trying to contain.”

Dr Gerstenbluth said passengers would be allowed off the vessel once the samples had all come back negative. The outbreak has forced Freewinds officials to cancel scheduled trips to Dominica on Friday and Aruba on Sunday.

Measles has sickened more than 700 people in 22 US states this year, with federal officials saying the resurgence is driven by misinformation about vaccines. Symptoms include runny nose, fever and a red-spotted rash.

Most people recover, but measles can lead to pneumonia, brain swelling and even death in

some cases.

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• Infectious Disease

A Scientology Cruise Ship Has Been Quarantined for Measles. Here’s What to Know

T he Church of Scientology’s cruise ship Freewinds with 300 passengers aboard has been quarantined in port by the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia for measles after a female crew member was diagnosed with the highly contagious, preventable disease.

MarineTraffic.com lists the vessel in port at St. Lucia as the Freewinds. A ship with that name is owned by a Panamanian company linked to the Church of Scientology. NBC News also reported that a St. Lucia coast guard official confirmed that the quarantined vessel belonged to the church.

The Church of Scientology did not respond to TIME’s requests for comment.

St. Lucia is providing the ship with 100 doses of measles vaccine at the request of the ship’s doctor, St. Lucia’s Department of Health and Wellness said in a statement. The ship’s doctor is currently monitoring the condition of the ship’s crew and passengers.

“Given the highly infectious nature of Measles, along with the possibility that other persons onboard the vessel may have been in contact with and are now possibly infectious due to this disease, a decision was made not to allow persons to disembark. This decision to [quarantine] the ship is in keeping with the health laws of St. Lucia,” the St. Lucia health department said.

Neither the passengers nor the ship’s crew are permitted to disembark, officials say. St. Lucia learned about the crew member’s condition from a International Health Regulation focal point official in the Dutch Caribbean and then verified the diagnosis through other health agencies, the St. Lucia health department said.

The ship is permitted to leave the port if it chooses to, Merlene Fredericks-James, St. Lucia’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.

Scientology does not have an official position on vaccines, Rev. John Carmichael, the president of the Church of Scientology in New York, said in an interview with Beliefnet . However, the church emphasizes the “harmful effects of drugs, toxins and other chemicals that lodge in the body and create a biochemical barrier to spiritual well-being,” according to its website . Some prominent opponents of mandatory vaccinations, including Kirstie Alley and Jenna Elfman, are also Scientologists.

The Freewinds plays an important spiritual role for Scientologists, according to the church. Passengers receive training and the spiritual practice of “auditing.” The ship is staffed by members of the Sea Organization (Sea Org), an order of Scientologists who have agreed to “work long hours” and “live communally” for the church for life, in exchange for housing and other benefits, including an “allowance to purchase personal items.”

“To a Scientologist, boarding the Freewinds for New OT VIII is the pinnacle of a deeply spiritual journey. Years of training and auditing have brought him to this ultimate point. It is the most significant spiritual accomplishment of his lifetime and brings with it the full realization of his immortality,” the church’s website says .

St. Lucia, which became independent from the United Kingdom in the 1970s, can decide to either detain the ship or let the vessel go says John Paul Jones, a professor emeritus law at the University of Richmond School of Law who has taught maritime law. If the country asks the ship to leave, the vessel would then return to the nearest international port of the country where it is registered.

The vessel’s home port is Curaçao , a Dutch Caribbean island, but it sails under a Panamanian flag, according to MarineVessels.com .

“They’re subject to the sovereignty of St. Lucia,” Jones says of the ship. “To the extent that St. Lucia has the ordinary range of public health laws that everyone else in the Caribbean has, I’m sure that there is national legal authority for [quarantine] and no international objection to it.”

Although measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, there have been a number of outbreaks in recent years in part because growing numbers of children have not been vaccinated. This year has already broken infection records. As of April 26, 704 people have contracted measles in 22 states – the greatest number of measles cases reported in the U.S. since 1994.

Arthur Caplan, the head of the division of medical ethics at the New York University School of Medicine, told TIME that in a high-risk situation like a quarantine, officials can be be “more aggressive and compulsory” with vaccination.

“Measles is not only highly contagious, but people are asymptomatic for a few days and can still spread it,” Caplan says. “That’s what makes it so troubling in terms of trying to be aggressive once you have an outbreak. It’s partly due to this stealth factor. That weighs into the moral equation.”

Measles has an incubation period of about 10 to 12 days, according to the CDC.

Experts say that the anti-vaccination movement, which has often spread information that defies scientific consensus, has eroded public trust in vaccinating children. Anti-vaccination advocates have particularly campaigned against the MMR vaccine, which inoculates children against measles, mumps and rubella, arguing that the vaccine causes autism. Scientists have found no evidence that the vaccine causes autism.

–– With reporting by Jamie Ducharme

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Inside Freewinds, the luxurious Scientology cruise ship under quarantine

In case you missed it, a Church of Scientology cruise ship – Freewinds – has been quarantined following a measles outbreak, with authorities ordering 28 people to stay onboard.

The remaining 318 crew members have been given the all clear to leave the ship, which docked at the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao.

Curious to know what goes on inside a ship like this?

While not all ex-members have dished positive reviews of the MV Freewinds (according to one unhappy passenger, a two-week holiday turned into a  12-year sentence ), there's no denying the ship was built with luxury in mind.

The floating retreat features a slew of five-star restaurants, luxe cabins, state-of-the-art tech and resort-style spaces. Click through for a look inside.

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Freewinds began service as a Church of Scientology religious retreat in 1988.

The 134-metre-long motor vessel accomodates up to 540 passengers and “provides a distraction-free environment for Scientology worshippers to study and experience the highest level of spiritual counselling available in the Scientology religion,” according to the Church of Scientology website .

The ship welcomes thousands of Scientologists and guests from more than 100 nations around the world every year.

Onboard, the church hosts religious services, conventions and special events.

The ship’s bookstore is kitted out with Scientology books, lectures and other scriptural materials.

The Starlight Cabaret holds weekly graduation ceremonies and other programs for passengers, including the annual convocation known as the Maiden Voyage Anniversary of the Freewinds – a week-long celebration for leading Scientologists from around the world.

It also hosts special seminars for officials, military, police and interfaith groups from throughout the islands and across Central and South America.

In La Paloma Blanca — The White Dove — passengers and guests gather after graduations, concerts, recitals, seminars and other events held in the adjoining Starlight Cabaret.

La Paloma Blanca also serves passengers daily during breaks in their studies and spiritual counselling sessions, known as auditing.

Freewinds claims to be the “ultimate distraction-free environment” and is “devoted to seeing that every Scientologist attains their goal of spiritual freedom,” according to its website.

The Sky Lounge acts as in formal place for passengers to gather and eat.

It seems as though the days on Freewinds aren't entirely spent worshiping -- on the pool deck, passengers can drink from the bar and enjoy the sun.

For more information, visit the website .

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What Do You Do on a Scientology Cruise Ship?

Play shuffleboard, hang out in the starlight room, achieve operating thetan level viii, jump in the hot tub ….

Photograph by Steve Mason/Thinkstock Images.

An Australian woman claims that the leader of the Church of Scientology forced her to spend 12 years as a working prisoner  on a church cruise ship, after her stepfather committed suicide and her mother publicly blamed the church. What do guests do on a Scientology cruise?

They hang out in the Starlight Room, play shuffleboard, and achieve Operating Thetan Level VIII . To an outsider, the Freewinds looks just like any other cruise ship. In fact, it was an ordinary cruise ship called the MS Bohème before the Church of Scientology bought it from Commodore Cruise Line in 1985. It has a shuffleboard court on the top deck, a couple of restaurants, swimming pools, hot tubs, and a night club that features either the regular band or a local group from the ship’s current port. (Tom Cruise once took the microphone in the Starlight Room for a pitchy birthday rendition of “ Old Time Rock and Roll .”) But a trip on the Freewinds is nothing like a Carnival cruise. Scientologists board the ship to progress in their spiritual studies , and their activities are tightly scheduled. Most days, they are in lecture halls or counseling sessions from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m., with one-hour breaks for lunch and dinner. Playing hooky to bum around the pool is not an option. Supervisors take roll call at the beginning of each session, and tardy students are sent to ethics officers. The Freewinds ’ biggest draw is that it is the only place where an adherent can complete the coursework to achieve Operating Thetan Level VIII, the highest degree of spiritual achievement currently available in Scientology.

Coursework on the Freewinds is a combination of independent book study, cooperative activities, and personal counseling sessions. In lecture halls, students complete lists of assignments that include reading book chapters and using modeling clay to demonstrate their understanding. They also participate in “ training routines ” to improve their communication skills. Classic examples include staring another student in the face for hours without blinking, or reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to each other. In the counseling sessions, Scientology officers probe students for any psychological resistance to doctrine or ethical lapses, many of which include communication with or sympathy for the church’s enemies. (The organization counts among its enemies governments and reporters, whom they refer to as “ merchants of chaos .”) Students in counseling sessions are required to hold onto the famous e-meter , which is a lie detector, of sorts.

Cruise guests have a few opportunities for recreation. The cruise director might schedule workout sessions for the morning before classes start or a cabaret in the Starlight Room after 10 p.m. Saturday mornings are sometimes open for approved excursions like snorkeling or shopping on the island. (According to one former guest, the cruise director encourages on-shore excursions, because it looks strange when a cruise ship docks but no one gets off.) Students might also have a few hours to kill while waiting for a counselor to become available.

Getting to Operating Thetan Level VIII is neither fast nor cheap. Most guests spend two or three months onboard. Preparatory and onboard counseling each cost between $15,000 and $30,000. Accommodations run about $1,000 per week, including food. In addition, representatives from the International Association of Scientologists ask for donations on top of what guests have already paid. Movement on and off the ship is limited, in large part because guests surrender their passports to church officials when they embark.

The Freewinds is a private ship, and guests come aboard by invitation only. Scientologists have brought their non-believing friends and family aboard with the church’s approval—Penelope Cruz was on the ship with Tom Cruise—but the church tries to sell them services and seeks donations from them once on the ship.

In addition to the ordinary spiritual education cruises, each year the Freewinds hosts Scientology’s glitterati for a cruise commemorating the ship’s maiden voyage.

Got a question about today’s news? Ask the Explainer .

Explainer thanks documentarian Mark Bunker and former Scientologist Michael Pattinson.

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Woman Says She Was Kept on Scientology Cruise Ship Like a Prisoner

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The church of Scientology's vessel " Freewinds " is a beautiful oceanliner, but one woman says it's more like a slave ship.

Former scientologist Valeska Paris said she was order to join the ship's crew after her mother criticized the religion. 

"I felt like a prisoner," Paris told Inside Edition. "I was supposed to go for two weeks and I ended up being there for over 11 years."

She claimed the crew's comings and goings were closely monitored.

"When the ship is docked, you have to go via the gangway to get off the ship and there's a big security guard there, which will stop you from getting off if you're not allowed to get off," she said.

Paris added that the impending arrival of Scientology leader David Miscavige triggered frantic preparations onboard. She said crew members would be up "until 4 in the morning" cleans and painting.

Paris said she was eventually excommunicated from the church.

A representative for Scientology told us Valeska Paris is a “liar who peddles false stories to the media.” They say she “loved her time” on the ship “as evidenced by numerous photos.”  Adding she voluntarily “left the ship hundreds of times alone and with others to go shopping” and other outings. 

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Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast / Photo Shutterstock

The Scientology cruise ship Freewinds, whose passengers take advanced courses that can run an estimated $2 million, was quarantined in St. Lucia due to a measles outbreak.

Tarpley Hitt

O n Wednesday evening, news broke that a 300-person cruise ship had been quarantined at a port in St. Lucia. “The ministry of health is currently investigating a situation involving a cruise ship,” Merlene Fredericks-James, the island nation’s chief medical officer, said in a statement posted to YouTube. “We got information this morning from two sources that there was a confirmed case of measles on board a cruise ship that had visited our island.”

The 440-foot vessel bore the name Freewinds, identifying it as the floating headquarters of the Flag Ship Service Organization—a “religious retreat” that promises a “a safe, aesthetic, distraction-free environment”—owned and operated by the Church of Scientology .

“So yes, the story is true, the Freewinds is in St. Lucia and we’ve been quarantined because a passenger did get diagnosed with the measles,” Scientologist Bernard Bonner wrote in a statement on Facebook, first reported by watchdog website The Underground Bunker. The church did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Passengers aboard the ship had come to take high-level Scientology courses called OT VIII (“Operating Thetan Level 8”), the final step in a wildly expensive training program Scientologists call the “Bridge to Total Freedom” (The Underground Bunker estimated that completing the Bridge could cost members between $500,000 and $2 million). Instead of Total Freedom, passengers wound up with a ruling from the St. Lucia government that no one could disembark from the boat for 21 days.

The quarantine comes at a moment of intense panic surrounding measles outbreaks in the United States. According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 704 confirmed cases of measles in 22 states since the start of 2019—78 in the last week alone. “This is the greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since 1994 and since measles was declared eliminated in 2000,” the government agency declared on its website. The global situation is only more dire: As of March, the World Health Organization had tracked more than 112,000 cases internationally, a 300 percent increase from last year. The majority of the cases involved people who had not been vaccinated, despite scientific consensus that shots can easily prevent the spread of the highly infectious disease.

Relative to other outbreaks, the Scientology quarantine of likely far less than 300 is somewhat small—recently confirmed cases in Los Angeles, for example, resulted in the isolation of more than 1,000 students and employees at UCLA and CalState—but it captures the grim absurdity of the situation. That an anti-vaxx outbreak occurred on a cruise sanctioned by Scientology—another movement known to traffic in fringe pseudoscience fronted by high-profile celebrities, sometimes the same ones—highlights the parallels between the two movements, and the uncanniness of seeing the former gain ground on the national stage.

According to Bonner, the situation began when a U.K. passenger who boarded the vessel last week started experiencing cold symptoms and later, a rash. He claims an on-board doctor administered a blood test, which came back positive for measles, and immediately isolated the woman from the rest of the passengers. “As Scientologists, we follow every law. The woman is now OK and the measles has past [sic],” Bonner said. “We have not been given her identity or whereabouts and none of us care. People ‘Can’ come on the boat but St. Lucia law is not allowing anyone off [sic].”

The Church of Scientology has not officially embraced the anti-vaxx movement, but it has hardly eschewed it either. The church has a history of opposition to the medical field , dating back to the early writings of its founder, L. Ron. Hubbard. “The doctor is a handyman desperately valuable in the specific fields of emergency surgery and repair (as needed after accidents), in obstetrics, in orthopedics and as epidemic police. Further he ceases to be valuable,” Hubbard wrote in a 1954 essay called The Road Up . “The medical profession has prepared its own retreat into the fields where it belongs.”

Among the most visible anti-vaxx advocates is actress Jenna Elfman, a well-known Scientologist who came out against SB-77, a 2015 California bill requiring vaccinations before students enroll in school.

At an anti-vaxx rally in May 2015, Elfman told the crowd that when “You open up the door of taking away parents’ rights, you open the door to a constitutional slippery slope.” In a Facebook post from that year promoting a petition against the bill, Elfman asserted, “There is no health crisis (unless they care to create one— wait for it....).” Danny Masterson, another Scientologist (and one facing multiple accusations of sexual assault ; he denies them), circulated the same petition, calling the bill in a tweet “California fascism.” And both Juliette Lewis and Kirstie Alley, also prominent Scientologists, came out against the bill. “NO on SB277...no no no...protect your rights to CHOOSE the vaccines your kids and YOU have...they are NOT all HARMLESS…” Alley wrote . “Ur kids,Ur choice [sic].”

The Church of Scientology community center in South Los Angeles on June 5, 2013, in Los Angeles, California.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty

In 2015, the church also co-sponsored an event with the Nation of Islam , inviting environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to speak in protest of SB-77. Kennedy, who has lobbied against vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal on the (widely disproven) grounds that they are linked to autism, took heat that year for likening vaccine programs to a “holocaust.” (He later apologized for the comparison.) At the talk , Kennedy reprised his rant against vaccines, this time aligning them with the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.

The quarantine isn’t the first time the Freewinds has been shut down by harmful contaminants. The ship, which was purchased by the church in 1985, was forced to stop operations in 2008, when Dutch government health inspectors detected blue asbestos in the ventilation system. At the time, the church denied the findings. But in an interview with watchdog website The Scientology Money Project, former Scientologist Lawrence Woodcraft recalled discovering the asbestos with another member during a renovation.

“He grabs a hammer and he pounds it. He smashes into this wall. I see this blue powdery substance, particles flying. I go, ‘Steve! Stop!’ You know, ‘I’m pretty damn sure that’s asbestos,’” Woodcraft said. “And I’m, like, uh-oh! ’Cause I’ve learned all about asbestos in architecture school. And I go, ‘Uh-oh, you’re releasing it! Let’s do something! Let’s suit it up. Let’s get the hell out of here!’ Like, I’m freaking! A panic mode because I’ve been in factories in England with asbestos. If they find asbestos, they freak out! The whole thing is closed down.”

The ship also came under scrutiny in 2011, when former Scientologist Valeska Paris told The Village Voice that she was held against her will aboard the boat for 12 years in an effort to prevent her from leaving the religion. In the interview, Paris described a situation much like a medical quarantine: “I was put in this small room by myself with a camera monitoring my movements,” she said. “A security guard escorted me anywhere I went, I had to eat in the engine room and was not allowed to eat in the control room because it was air conditioned. I was not allowed to work with anyone so I was alone at all times... I was in the engine room for almost 3 months full time. I hated it and just wanted to get off the Ship, I was of course not allowed to call my family at all or talk to anyone.”

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DAVID MISCAVIGE: THE FREEWINDS SCIENTOLOGY’S RELIGIOUS RETREAT AT SEA

The Freewinds began service as a Church of Scientology religious retreat in 1988. The 440-foot motor vessel provided a distraction-free environment for parishioners to study and experience the highest level of spiritual counseling available in the Scientology religion.

After the ship's first 20 years of service, she underwent a full refit and restoration.

The refit was the largest in her history. Far more than a cosmetic upgrade, the ship was stripped from stem to stern, below the water line to the top of her stacks—all six decks. She emerged a fully redesigned, technologically advanced vessel—the ideal religious retreat for ministering religious services.

In June 2008, Mr. Miscavige was joined by the current and former Prime Ministers of the Netherlands Antilles in the Freewinds home port of Curacao to rechristen the Freewinds on her 20th anniversary and commemorate her Maiden Voyage as a wholly refit ship.

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She Escaped Scientology in the Trunk of a Car. Her Nightmare Is Far From Over

By Tony Ortega

Tony Ortega

“I’m literally shaking right now as I’m talking to you,” Valerie Haney says, speaking by phone from Florida.

Her 22 years in Scientology ’s hardcore elite unit, the Sea Organization, has left her with what her therapist has diagnosed as PTSD, she explains. And a court ruling on March 15 had left her trembling as those years of trauma were stirred up again.

“I was like, am I on another planet? Is this really correct? The court is OK with me having to go back to the place where I literally had to escape in the trunk of a car to get out?”

The episode explained that after Haney made it to Los Angeles, Remini hired her as an assistant, and once Scientology found out about it Haney was allegedly subjected to a frightening campaign of surveillance and stalking.

She also began talking to law enforcement.

“I went to the authorities three months after I got out. I went to the FBI. I was thinking, of course we’re going to court, because this is all illegal!”

No charges were filed, but Haney herself filed a lawsuit against Scientology in June 2019 alleging kidnapping, stalking, and libel, which turned into a legal nightmare that now has her facing the prospect of going to the church to submit herself to an internal “religious arbitration” proceeding.

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In her first interview since filing her lawsuit four years ago, Haney says she still can’t believe that a Los Angeles court granted Scientology’s arbitration motion, forcing her to take her case to Scientology itself, and without an attorney, or a court reporter, or even a friend by her side.

“Scientology literally abused me my entire life, I finally escaped, and I’m trying to use the U.S.  judicial system, and now they’re going, oh no, you need to go back and do everything that your abuser says.”

She’s fought back in interesting ways: Since the arbitration requires that she nominate an arbitrator, she’s suggested names like Tom Cruise , Elisabeth Moss , and Jenna Elfman — a total of 19 well-known and less well-known Scientology figures, drawing the ire of the church’s attorneys.

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Valerie Haney was born to Scientologist parents in 1979, and from ages six to 12 was raised in Scientology’s Cadet Org, a version of the Sea Org for children, at its “spiritual mecca,” the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida.

At 10, she alleges in her lawsuit, she was subjected to “bullbaiting,” a common Scientology procedure that requires a subject to sit without flinching while insults are being hurled at them by a “coach.” Some of the things shouted at her were, “I am going to fuck you and your mother,” and “You are going to suck my dick,” she alleges in the suit.

Haney graduated from the Cadet Org to the Sea Org and signed its billion-year contract, promising to serve Scientology lifetime after lifetime, at the age of 15. She caught the eye of Shelly Miscavige, wife of Scientology leader David Miscavige , who then had Haney moved to Gold Base in California in order to serve the couple directly. Before she could qualify for such sensitive work, she was interrogated about her sexual history.

After passing that ordeal, Haney became “steward” to the Miscaviges, working in their quarters and serving their meals. She was with them nearly 24 hours a day for three years.

“I gave [David] his meals. I made his bed. I woke him up in the morning. I knew everything about their private lives,” she explains. She claims their relationship deteriorated in 2004 as David Miscavige and actor Tom Cruise , a prominent Scientologist, grew closer.

In the summer of 2005, Haney and others working with Shelly Miscavige were “busted,” Scientology’s word for demoted, to lower positions as Shelly vanished from the base. (Shelly was seen at the funeral of her father in Los Angeles two years later in the presence of a Scientology handler, and has not been spotted in public since. Scientology claims that Shelly is simply working on a special project and is not “missing.”)

Haney says she endured four months of manual labor, doing maintenance of the base facilities and other menial and physical tasks, before eventually being moved to the “Cine Castle” where Scientology’s video productions were filmed at the base, and she was assigned to the job of casting director.

After emerging from the trunk, Haney immediately went to Burbank Airport and flew to Portland, Oregon, to be reunited with her father. But as a Scientologist, he was unhappy that his daughter had escaped the way she did (called a “blow” in Scientology parlance), and he encouraged her to return to “route out” properly, or following a prescribed set of steps before being allowed to leave.

She refused to go back to Gold Base, where she had escaped, but agreed to go through the routing-out process at Scientology’s headquarters in Los Angeles, which she was told would last three weeks.

Instead, it lasted three months, and she says that she was treated like a prisoner, with a 24-hour guard. She says she was not allowed to go to her grandmother’s funeral during this time.

Finally, she was asked to be videotaped signing an agreement in order to leave. In the video, she denied that she had been treated poorly as a Sea Org worker, and she said that David Miscavige had been an “amazing” boss.

In the Aftermath episode, she explained that she was nearly suicidal at that point, would have said or signed anything in order to be allowed to leave, and that an armed guard was present to make sure she followed directions.

After she took the job with Remini, she underwent what she characterized as a scary campaign of harassment by Scientology. It included statements made about Haney that are still on Scientology-owned websites today, accusing her of “rampant sexual promiscuity” and that she was a “paid liar.”

The Aftermath episode aired on Nov. 27, 2018, and by that time Haney was already talking to attorneys about filing a lawsuit against the church that would not only accuse Scientology of holding her against her will in the Sea Org, but also for libeling her online and stalking her with the use of private investigators after she had left the church.

In 2013, a California couple, Luis and Rocio Garcia, filed a federal fraud lawsuit against Scientology that was forced into religious arbitration, the first the church had ever held in its 60-year history. The Garcias described the proceeding as a farce, saying they were prevented from bringing an attorney or smartphones, that no transcript was created, and 90 percent of their evidence was disallowed. Despite their objections, their judge accepted the result and the Eleventh Circuit upheld that decision on appeal.

Since the Garcia case, the arbitration clause in Scientology’s service contracts has become a major impediment to former Scientologists trying to sue their former church.

Some of Haney’s allegations — the stalking and libel she says she was subjected to for going to work for Leah Remini — took place after she had signed her exit agreement and had left Scientology. But she has been unable to get the judges in her case to take that into consideration, as they’ve ruled that a contract is a contract.

In Tampa, a labor-trafficking lawsuit filed by three former Sea Org workers is awaiting a ruling in federal court about whether they, too, must take their case to religious arbitration because of contracts they signed while in the church.

Scientology leader David Miscavige was found to be evading service of the suit by a federal magistrate judge, who on Feb. 14 declared Miscavige an official defendant in the case. Miscavige is objecting to that ruling, and District Judge Thomas Barber will soon rule on whether Miscavige is still a defendant in the lawsuit, and also whether the lawsuit will be forced into Scientology arbitration.

Even though the Garcias had gone through their arbitration in 2017, Valerie Haney says she still didn’t think the same thing would happen in her case when she filed her lawsuit in 2019.

On Jan. 30, 2020, that’s exactly what did happen when Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Burdge ruled that the exit agreement Haney had signed while being videotaped that day at the Scientology headquarters obliged her not to sue Scientology in court, and that she would have to take her allegations to the church’s own internal court for arbitration.

Haney’s attorneys spent the next two years fighting the decision, asking Judge Burdge to reconsider his ruling — to no avail.

Then, the matter was reassigned to Judge Gail Killefer, who told Haney that she needed to get the arbitration process going or risked having her lawsuit thrown out altogether.

The first step in that process would require Haney to nominate a Scientologist in good standing to be an arbitrator.

So she nominated The Handmaid’s Tale actress and lifelong Scientologist Elisabeth Moss .

“I was thinking, OK, they’re trying to circumvent the judicial system and keep it all hush-hush, so I need to keep this in the public eye. Because otherwise they can do what they want and the law doesn’t apply to them,” Haney says.

She hadn’t met Moss in Scientology, but she had seen The Handmaid’s Tale and its portrayal of the dystopian world of Gilead. “It’s very similar to the Sea Org. I thought, OK, maybe she could sympathize with my situation. Maybe she has some decency as a human being and maybe she could see that my human rights were being violated. And she was a person I knew was in good standing.”

Moss had, after all, defended Scientology in a New Yorker profile just a few months before, in April 2022. But Scientology’s “International Justice Chief,” a Sea Org official named Mike Ellis, informed Haney that Moss was unavailable, and instructed her to nominate someone else.

This time she submitted two names, in case one of them was busy: Tom Cruise and Shelly Miscavige.

“I knew Tom was in good standing. He’s done a lot of things to support Scientology, and he spearheaded David Miscavige’s exploits,” Haney says.

“I knew him. He liked me. We were on a first-name basis. I knew Penelope [Cruz], and I knew Katie [Holmes]. I served Tom his meals,” she explains.

For Cruise’s 42nd birthday in 2004, Miscavige threw a party for him on Scientology’s cruise ship, the Freewinds , which sails the Caribbean, and Haney remembered seeing chefs being flown in from around the country.

“They probably spent $50,000 on it, minimally. All of it parishioner money. It was like a five-night extravagant private dinner. I was serving it. There was a sushi night, and the chefs came in from Nobu. There was an Italian night, and we had to wear costumes. And there was a French night,” she remembers.

“When Tom was first going out with Katie, Dave brought them to Las Vegas for an acknowledgment or celebration on church money, and he paid for the largest suite in Caesars Palace and had it for him and Shelly and me and Tom and Katie,” she continues. “That was the first time I met Katie. I just remember Tom bringing her in and introducing her to Dave and Shelly and me. I thought, oh my gosh, this is amazing. And then they left to go to dinner and I had to make sure the hotel rooms were spotless.” 

After Scientology told Haney that Elisabeth Moss wasn’t available, she nominated Cruise and Shelly, and not simply as a publicity stunt.

“After Elisabeth Moss, who I didn’t know, I was like, let me nominate people I was intimately connected to. Shelly was my dear friend and Tom was also a friend. And we were on a first-name basis. I was close with them,” she claims.

Again, however, Scientology said the two couldn’t act as arbitrators, and this time they complained to Judge Killefer that Haney was being “obstructionist” by nominating people who were so obviously unavailable.

Haney’s attorney, Graham Berry, responded that there was nothing in Scientology’s arbitration agreement that prevented Haney from nominating famous people.

And then Haney submitted another 15 names of Scientologists, many of them very well-known, others more familiar to the readers of Scientology news stories.

“I left years ago, and all the people I know, I don’t know if they’re in good standing. I don’t know if they’re still there,” she says.

She decided that figures like actors Jenna Elfman, Giovanni Ribisi, and Catherine Bell; designer Rebecca Minkoff; motivational speaker Grant Cardone; and prominent attorney and husband of Greta Van Susteren, John Coale, were more likely to be in the church’s good graces, based on her internet searches. Haney had also gone to school with Minkoff, and she’d had a conversation with Elfman.

Matthew Feshbach, a short-seller, was the first million-dollar donor in Scientology history. Haney says she added his name to the nomination list because she had known him and his son while she was in the Sea Org.

She had also known Matt’s niece Jessica Feshbach, who was known for being Katie Holmes ’’ aggressive media handler while the actress was with Cruise. “I knew Jessica when she was married to [former Scientology spokesman] Tommy Davis. I worked with her. We talked about the ridiculousness of the schedule, and the abuses going on,” Haney says.

Haney added Bob Duggan’s name because she saw him at Scientology events. By his own estimate , the pharmaceuticals investor has contributed more than $300 million to Scientology.

“Dave has a list of all the millionaires in Scientology,” Haney says, and she nominated Duggan and tech entrepreneur Craig Jensen, founder of Diskeeper, because they were both on Miscavige’s list.

She also included the names of Scientology officials who were spokespeople or members of the church’s notorious spy wing, the Office of Special Affairs.

“She was the one who did my retrieval after I escaped,” Haney says of one of the women she put on the list. “She harassed my entire family to have me come back to the cult to get interrogated for three months. She was the one there for my exit interview. She was a part of my abuse . She was doing everything she could to keep me there.”

And then, after Valerie Haney submitted her list of 15 names, Scientology came to court and informed Judge Killefer that one of the 15 had agreed to sit as an arbitrator.

The panel of three arbitrators is set, but Scientology isn’t releasing the names of any of them at this point, even to Haney, she claims.

At the hearing on March 15, Haney’s attorney Graham Berry asked the judge to order Scientology to allow Haney to bring a lawyer with her, a friend, and a court reporter who could also videotape the arbitration.

But Killefer refused. She set a hearing date six months out to consider the result of the arbitration. She admitted that she didn’t know what rules Scientology’s International Justice Chief Ellis had set up for it, but what mattered were “the rules of the arbitral forum.” In other words, Scientology sets all the rules.

It also became obvious that Haney wasn’t receiving notices about the arbitration because she’s now in Florida and Scientology is still mailing notices to a P.O. Box in California.

Judge Killefer told Berry to get Haney’s address to Scientology. “That’s an order,” she said.

“That was disgusting,” Haney says, reading an account of the hearing later and realizing that the judge couldn’t be bothered to make sure Haney had someone with her at the arbitration, but did order that she turn over her home address to the church she had escaped.

“So I sent a mailing address to Graham to give them,” she says.

Now, Valerie Haney is facing the idea of going, alone, into an arbitration set up by the Church of Scientology.

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For now, she awaits word from Scientology’s International Justice Chief about when and where the arbitration will take place.

“It’s the worst thing you could probably have a victim do,” she maintains. “Someone who has been abused her entire life, to go back into the abusive environment with the abusers. It’s appalling. And absolutely disgusting. It’s so crazy.” 

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Cruise ship linked to Church of Scientology amid measles scare heads to Curacao

A cruise ship in the Caribbean that had been quarantined in St. Lucia over a measles scare has set sail for Curacao, maritime tracking records showed.

The vessel, which St. Lucia Coast Guard Sgt. Victor Theodore said is named Freewinds, left St. Lucia at 11:18 p.m. Thursday and is expected to pull into Willemstad port in Curacao, almost 500 nautical miles west, at 6 a.m. local time Saturday, according to the site MarineTraffic .

The ship was quarantined on Monday when local health officials confirmed a female staffer on board contracted the highly infectious disease.

Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth, director of epidemiology at the University of Curacao, told NBC News that authorities would screen each passenger's health status before anyone is permitted to leave the ship.

"The ship doctor has been asked to take down a passenger's health history, whether or not they had measles and/or the vaccination before," Gerstenbluth said. "We have to verify whether the information is true, may need to consult vaccination records."

Curacao has a fairly high rate of vaccination and is not currently at risk for an outbreak, Gerstenbluth said. He also said that the ship's doctor has been advised to start vaccinating those on board who may be at risk. Gerstenbluth said some passengers may have to stay on the ship for 21 days, the full incubation period for the measles virus.

A 440-foot cruise ship owned and operated by the Church of Scientology is also named Freewinds. Officials with the St. Lucia Health Department declined to comment on the name of the quarantined cruise ship, but Sgt. Theodore with the St. Lucia Coast Guard identified it to NBC News as the same one listed on the church's website .

Actress Leah Remini, who has spoken out publicly against Scientology since leaving the church, on Friday called the Freewinds vessel a "ship of horrors" on Twitter .

Thank you @Newsweek @JenniFink_ for starting this conversation. This is just the tip of the iceberg for what staff members of The Freewinds, Scientology’s ship of horrors, have to endure while serving people like Tom Cruise & David Miscavige https://t.co/q8CBm9rAvw — Leah Remini (@LeahRemini) May 2, 2019

Scientology officials have not returned multiple messages left for the church this week by NBC News.

Before leaving St. Lucia, a doctor aboard the Freewinds requested 100 doses of the measles vaccine , an island health official said.

While St. Lucia ordered Freewinds passengers and crew to stay aboard, the island's government didn't have authority to keep the vessel from leaving, officials said earlier this week.

A representative for the health ministry in Curacao could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.

David K. Li is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Doha Madani is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News. Pronouns: she/her.

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Moscow (Russia)

Cruise port schedule, live map, terminals, news.

Region Russia Rivers

Local Time 2024-04-13 05:46

Moscow is a Volga River cruise port, Russia's capital and largest city (population over 12,2 million, metro 17 million). Moscow City covers a total area of approx 2610 km 2 (970 mi2). By population, the city is ranked the world's 14th largest. Moscow is one of the Russian Federation's all 3 federal cities - together with St Petersburg and Sevastopol .

Being Russian Federation's capital, Moscow is a major economic, political, scientific and cultural center, as well as Europe's biggest city.

According to Forbes 2013, Moscow has been ranked as the 9th most expensive city in the world by Mercer and has one of the largest urban economies, being ranked as an alpha global city according to Globalization and World Cities Research Network. It is also one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world according to MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index. Moscow is the northernmost and the coldest megacity and metropolis on the Earth. It's home to Ostankino Tower, the tallest free-standing European structure; the Federation Tower, the tallest European skyscraper; and the Moscow International Business Center. 

Moscow is situated on Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, which makes it the most populated inland city in the world. Moscow city is well known for architecture, particularly its historic buildings like Saint Basil's Cathedral. With over 40% of its territory covered by greenery, it's one of the greenest capitals and major cities in Europe and the world. Moscow is the seat of power of the Russian Government, being the site of Moscow Kremlin, a medieval city-fortress that is now the residence of the President of Russia. Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are among the several World Heritage Sites in the city. 

Moscow has 2 passenger terminals, North River Terminal (Rechnoy vokzal) and South River Terminal. The regular ship routes and cruises along Moskva and Oka rivers are used mostly for entertainment. North River Terminal (1937-built) is currently the main hub for long-range routes along the river. There are 3 freight ports that serve Moscow.

In late-July 2021 the city announced plans to incorporate a fleet (unspecified number) of fully electric passenger ferries into its public transportation network from summer 2022, the goal being to reduce the dependence on cars.

• The boats are designed with length ~22 m (72 ft), passenger capacity 42, modern amenities (Wi-Fi, USB charging points, tables for working commuters), spaces for storing scooters and bicycles.
• Moscow Transport confirmed that two routes (with max daily capacity ~16,000 passengers) have already been mapped out.
• Passengers will be able to pay via bank cards, the city’s Troika card (smart card for travel by any public transportation) or biometric payment cards. Those with monthly/yearly public transit tickets will use the boats at no extra cost.
• The new electric ferry service is up to 5 times faster (in comparison to other city public transports) and ~2 times faster than by car.

Moscow cruise terminal

Moscow's cruise terminal is called North River Terminal or River Station  ("Rechnoy Vokzal" / "речной вокзал").

The terminal was opened in 1937 and is one of 2 passenger terminals (the other being South River Terminal) of the city's river transport. North River Terminal is the main hub for long-range (including cruise) shipping routes. 

South River Terminal (above photo) was opened in 1985.

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25 Places to Visit in Moscow you Can’t Miss

25 Places to Visit in Moscow

Do you know what the most populous city in Europe is? Most people wouldn’t guess that it is actually Moscow. There are approximately 13 million people in the Moscow metro area, which amounts to approximately 1/10th of all Russians.

This former capitol of the Soviet Union is still the political and financial center of Russia. Just because it is a current business and government city, in no way means that it is boring and not worth a visit. Assuming the political tensions get solved, Moscow is a fascinating city you need to visit.

While lots of people can’t explain the nuances of Russian architecture, most can spot and appreciate it immediately. One of the best ways to see the historic sites is by taking a boat tour down the Moskva River that meanders through the city.

Overall, navigating the city isn’t difficult as there is phenomenal and cheap public transportation (roughly 30 rubles/35 cents per ride). You can also use a cheap Uber on the three ring roads that circle the city at various distances from the center.

Still wondering why you should visit this historic masterpiece of a city? Read on to see the top 25 things you need to see in Moscow.

The House with Animals

This former church is famous for the terracotta reliefs of animals that adorn the front of the building. It is a favorite of locals, and famous around the world. It was built in approximately 1900.

Resurrection Gate or Iberian Gate and Chapel

The Resurrection Gate is now one of the most common ways to enter Red Square. This gate is also the only standing part of the wall that was the entrance to to Kitai-Gorod, or Moscow’s historic central business district.

Book your tour: Moscow Kremlin Armory Chamber Entrance Ticket

St. Basils Cathedral

Probably the most famous of the Red Square attractions is St. Basil’s Cathedral. I don’t know if the legend is true or not, but supposedly Tsar Ivan IV poked the eyes of the architect out after completing it so nothing as pretty could be made again. What an awful boss!

Book your tour: Moscow: Saint Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square Private Tour

Book your tour: St.Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square: Private Tour and Ticket

The State Historical Museum

If you are like me then you can’t help but find all the twists and turns of Russian history fascinating. The State Historical Museum at Red Square is a fantastic place to learn and study the Russian Relics.

Book your tour: Kremlin, Red Square, and Metro Tour with Pick-Up

Moscow River Cruise

The Moskva River cuts directly through the heart of Moscow. Want to see it all but rest your feet? One of the best things to do in Moscow at night is float along on a dinner cruise . The lights of the city are so beautiful. Of course, dinner in included.

Book your tour: Night lights Moscow Cruise (with Dinner option)

Museum of Soviet Arcade Games

This is one of the most unique things to do in Moscow. If you know that many American video games paint the Russians as the bad guys, then it’s probably not surprising to learn that you can find an entirely different variety of video games in Russia. This isn’t a recent phenomenon; even historically the video games were different. If you are a video game buff then this stop is for you!

Main Church of the Armed Forces in Park Patriot near Kubinka

This church attempts to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ as well as Russian military leader. Yes, it’s an awkward amalgamation. It caused quite a controversy when there were plans to create murals of Vladimir Putin and Joseph Stalin to go along with the ones of Jesus Christ (those plans were scrapped).

Bunker 42 (Cold War Museum)

Tunnel at Bunker-42, anti-nuclear underground facility built in 1956 as command post of strategic nuclear forces of Soviet Union.

Americans weren’t the only ones afraid during the Cold War! You can now discover the most secret and secure Bunker of the USSR, Bunker 42. Also known as the Cold War Museum . This former military communication center is now a museum. I recommend this tour that will take you on a private two hour visit of Bunker 42.

If you aren’t interested in a guided tour you can book your tickets in advance here.

Get your tickets: Bunker 42 Admission Ticket and Cold War Tour

Tank Excursion and Bazooka Shooting in Moscow

For real – you can book this tour and actually ride in a tank and shoot off military grade weapons. While that’s not my cup of tea, I know tons of guys would absolutely love to shoot a bazooka!

Book your tour here .

Dormition Cathedral

This is another Russian Orthodox cathedral that is located inside the Moscow Kremlin. It is another famous landmark of Moscow. The inside is decorated with ancient frescoes.

The Cathedral of the icon of the Mother of God “Sign”

This cathedral is located in Zaryadye Park (adjacent to Red Square). It is also on the Moskva River. The Cathedral of the icon of the Mother of God “Sign” previously was a monastery.

Komsomolskaya Metro station 

So many of the metro stations are breathtaking works of art. The idea was to create something beautiful that all the regular people could enjoy, or if you are more cynical you could say it was to attempt to show off how well they were doing.

Book your tour: Moscow: Small Group Metro Tour

The Round houses at Dovzhenko Stree t

The Round houses at Dovzhenko Street look super cool and futuristic, except like many communist projects didn’t actually work that well. They were supposed to be something new and different from the standard “Soviet Blocks.”

There are a number of problems with this design. Supposedly the acoustics are awful making the apartments perpetually noisy. The inner circle becomes a wind chamber even when it’s not that windy. My favorite weakness is that the trapezoid shape of apartments is hard to decorate and even harder to do maintenance on.

Izmailovo District and Izmailovo Kremlin

This area has to be one of the coolest places to visit in Moscow. It features a park in the middle of Moscow that is over 3x the size of New York City’s Central Park. The Kremlin in Izmailovo is a complex located in the Eastern Administrative District of Moscow that is known as the center of culture and entertainment. The wooden buildings are in Russian architecture of the XVI-XVII centuries (not original).

Izmailovo Kremlin on Google Maps .

Tretyakov Gallery

For those that appreciate fine art this is where you have to go. The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow Russia is the best collection of Russian fine art in the world. The museum previously hosted worldwide chess tournaments (I can’t help be think of the Queen’s Gambit).

Book your tickets in advance here. Tickets cost about $13 per person.

Kolomenskoe Estate

This reconstruction of a former royal estate is just a few miles southeast of the Moscow city center. Supposedly really detailed historical plans survived, so the reconstruction and current museum is incredibly authentic. It was completed in 2010.

Old buildings of Arbat

Arbat is an old street, and was previously the “nicest place to live in Moscow. Even though it fell into disrepair, it’s location, it’s historical buildings, and the fact that it is a pedestrian street are quickly making it a top place to live again.

The Melnikov House

Located on Arbat street, the Famous house of architect Melnikov designed this house (and Lenin’s sarcophagus). Melnikov designed it at a time when private ownership was outlawed, but got around this restriction by saying it was an experimental design to maximize space. Even though others weren’t built, he was able to keep it.

The New Maiden Convent

The New Maiden Convent, built was built to resemble a mini-Kremlin. It stands out to me because this “convent” was the place where women who were no longer welcome in the royal court were banished to.

Monument to the Conquerors of Space at the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in the Cosmopark

The Americans may have made it to the moon first, but the Russian cosmonauts were first in a number of other achievements. This gigantic obelisk pays homage to their accomplishments.

Tsaritsyno Museum Reserve

This royal estate was founded by Catherine the Great. She was Russia’s longest serving female leader. It is now a gorgeous museum!

Stalinist Skyscraper tour

This group of seven skyscrapers are called the Seven Sisters. They were all made in the Stalinist style, and one was previously the tallest building in Europe. If you want to tour them all while learning about their history book here .

Cathedral of Christ the Savior

It’s ironic that a country that was so anti-religion for so long has so many great churches. The Cathedral for Christ the Savior was made to thank Jesus for saving Russia. If you are interested in visiting this and so many other cathedrals in Moscow I recommend this tour that will take you to The Cathedral of Christ the Savior many other popular churches in Moscow.

Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

This church on Red Square is reconstruction of what was previously there but ordered to be destroy by Joseph Stalin. It is a travesty thinking of all the beautiful things that Stalin destroyed to attempt to implement his vision.

Zaryade Park

Zaryadye Park is one of the main tourist attractions in Moscow. It is located directly next to the Kremlin, and offers truly amazing views. It is also famous for its “floating bridge” and the fact that there are so many unique features underneath it.

Church of Sign of Blessed Virgin in Dubrovitsy Znamenskaya

The Church of the Theotokos of the Sign (Dubrovitsy), or The Church of the Holy Sign of the Mother of God is located in a village amed Dubrovitsy about 20 miles south of Moscow. It is another Russian Orthodox church, but what makes this one unique is that we aren’t 100% sure who made it, or why is has a style that is completely different than other churches of the time.

The Church of Nicholas The Wonderworker

I love the unique style of the Russian Orthodox churches in Moscow. The golden onion domes stand out across the globe. This church dates back to 1657, though it has been partially destroyed a few times since then.

Moscow University

Moscow University is one of the Seven Sisters that are the “Stalin Skyscrapers.” Previously it was the tallest building in Europe. Though it has lost that title, it is still the tallest “educational building” in the world.

So what do you think? Next trip to Moscow?

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