Russia 2019 (5) ON BOARD - Our Home for 13 Days

There were five ships from different companies (including our Viking) docked on a wide spot on the Moscow Canal. We were not near the heart of the city, but next to a huge and lovely park...greenery, flowers, and varied shades of lilacs in full bloom. Lots of locals and children strolling the area. On the other side of the river were more humongous apartment buildings.

From the bus, we went through a security checkpoint in order to enter the docking area. It looked similar to those full-body 360 degree x-ray machines used at some international  airports, but it didn't appear to be turned on. Not encouraging. Another security person patrolled outside the ship and a third officer met us as we boarded. That was more reassuring, as I have been a bit nervous about the whole security thing since day one of booking.

The red-carpeted entrance was welcoming.

There are six "stories" to the Akun. The lower deck was crew housing and operations. The second or main deck was guest rooms (without balconies). We were on the middle deck along with the dining room at the opposite end. The upper deck had more guest rooms and a bar/sitting area. A big outside space and flexible-use lecture room were on the fifth level or sun deck. Above that was the wheel house for piloting and navigation.

Once on board we were directed to our cabin. Our luggage was waiting outside the door.

We moved our luggage inside and began unpacking and surveying the situation. Our cabin was similar to this.

Here was our entry door. Bathroom to the left behind the mirror. The closet to the right was ample size with near enough hangers. Had to double up on some hanging things. Under the TV was a safe which easily fit all our iPads, cameras, passports, etc. and under that was a bar-size fridge.

Looking the other way was our very comfortable king-size bed, door to the large balcony, and desk / dressing table area. Lots of drawers and shelves for clothes and sundries.

There were adequate 220v and 110v plugs for our electronics and camera batteries. We brought two new electrical adapters which also had two USB plug-ins each, so everything could be charged at one time. There were lots of combinations of lighting (overhead, desk, night), so never "in the dark."

Wi-Fi was a secure link but sketchy throughout the cruise. I could generally get mail, but could not respond. Some days no Wi-Fi at all in more rural areas. The one time I really needed it though, it came through. So can't complain. It was actually nice to get a way from it all.

The bathroom was not spacious, but bigger than the one we had in NYC at the Algonquin Hotel. I'm not complaining in the least, as it was bigger than I thought it would be.

There was plenty of storage with a medicine cabinet and long shelve under the sink. Nice body wash, soap, shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion were supplied. Also a sewing kit and shower cap. And we never ran out of hot water, which I wondered about. Towels and bed linens were very plush and luxurious.

We rarely watched, but there were 20 channels on the TV, some in Russian and some English. They featured news networks like BBC and CNN, "magazine" channels with fashion and food, sports channels, and the Jewelry Channel!!!

Two others showed a bow cam offering a view out of the wheel house and a sky cam showing the weather.

There were lectures throughout the cruise and if you did not want to go to them personally, you could watch the recording. There was also a feature movie each day. We didn't watch any (not enough time), but they were movies from 2018 like At Eternity's Gate (about Van Gogh) and The Favourite. The last day they showed the 1948 version of Anna Karenina.

Mike spent a lot of time reading on the private veranda. It was bigger than our balcony at home which is 5'x12'. There were two chairs and a little table. Plenty of room to watch the riverside slide by. Even if you weren't outside, it was fabulous having the nice big window view.

We were on the starboard side (right side if facing forward). Our view while we were in Moscow was the park. On the port side (left side) was the Moscow Canal. After getting settled, we headed to the dining room and saw the port side view.

 A "float" plane caught Mike's eye. Here's what he found: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-90_Orlyonok?wprov=sfla1

At 21:00 we attended a brief talk about the ship, how things would work, and shore excursions. When we returned to our cabin, there was a daily preview sheet providing a schedule and info on what would happen the next day. This came every evening and was most helpful.