Here's what's happening on the Freewinds Scientology cruise ship. Hint: These are not holidays.

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This is not exactly what is happening aboard Freewinds.

The Freewinds, a cruise ship owned by the Church of Scientology, was quarantined this week in the Caribbean with an apparent case of measles. This has led to a number of questions, including: Wait, why does Scientology have a cruise ship?

According to the church, the Freewinds are less a holiday than floating religious retreats. Some former Scientologists have described it in harsher terms, but we'll talk about it later.

Once upon a time, Scientology had a fleet of ships, which was run by its maritime organization. The ships and crew helped Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard conduct "research" and oversee church activities around the world, according to the church.

Scientologists liken the "Sea Org" to members of a religious order, such as monks and nuns, who dedicate their lives to the faith, often working long hours without pay and living in community. The Freewinds is run entirely by the Sea Org, said the church, wearing naval uniforms.

But there was another reason for Scientologists' methods of navigation, say scholars who studied the church. In the late 1960s, several countries, including the United States, began to scrutinize the new Hubbard movement. He had been chased out of England in 1968, according to Hugh Urban, author of "The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion".

"Thus, Hubbard's transition to a sea-based organization during those years was clearly a part of his inability to function freely in many countries," Urban writes.

CNN asked the Church of Scientology but did not hear from its communication service.

On the high seas, Scientologists were almost free to do what they wanted and the floating religious retreat centers eventually became an essential part of their practice.

In 1985, the church would have bought the Finnish-made Freewinds, which had already entertained tourists on the Commodore cruise line. Since then, the ship has become her flagship spiritually. His mission is rather ambitious: "The Freewinds is like no other place on Earth, it truly marks the beginning of a journey to all eternity," said the church.

So what is happening on the Freewinds?

Well, besides organizing a birthday party for Cruise, during which he caught the mic for a version, uh, energetic of "Old Time Rock n Roll", there was a lot of studying Intensive religious. A church website describes the ship as a "safe, aesthetic and distraction-free environment appropriate to the ministry of this deeply spiritual level of hearing".

The audit, for Scientologists, is a practice by which an individual can get rid of "spiritual handicaps". Holding a device called e-meter, which works as a kind of lie detector, the listener questions the auditee, looking for areas of "spiritual distress".

The church describes the Freewinds as a kind of moving Mount of Olives, the site of Jesus' ascension to heaven. This is the place where Scientologists can reach the highest level of spiritual achievement, OT VIII, which corresponds to Level 8 operating Thetan. What this exactly involves is the subject of a mystery (and a little suspicion) outside of Scientology, but the church describes it as "the summit of a deeply spiritual journey".

"Years of training and auditing allowed him to reach this ultimate point, which is the most important spiritual achievement of his life and gives him the full realization of his immortality." declared the church.

It should be noted, however, that some former members have much less positive opinions about what is happening on the Freewinds.

In 2011, an Australian said she was taken aboard the ship for what she thought was a two-week vacation. But this has turned into a form of bondage under a 12-year contract, the woman said.

This week, actress Leah Remini, a former Scientologist turned fierce critic of the church, has made similar accusations about Freewinds on Twitter. Responding to a Newsweek article on the ship, she said: "This is only the tip of the iceberg for what staff members of The Freewinds, the ship of Scientology's horrors, have to endure while he serves people like Tom Cruise and David Miscavige ". current leader.

Remini also said that the apparent outbreak of measles on board the Freewinds this week challenged Scientologists' beliefs about their supernatural powers.

"The Scientology ship, The Freewinds, is where they reach one of the highest levels of Scientology and are supposed to be insensitive to" Wog's disease, "Remini wrote." A Wog is a pejorative term used to describe you all, who are only average human beings compared to the senior Scientologist. "

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