Can crewmembers on a starship take vacation?

[Agenda]

Yes, I know you have shore leave. But what if somebody on the Enterprise wanted to go away for a while to some planet without the rest of the crew? Maybe for a couple weeks?

BTW, do you think shore leave itself could last for a couple weeks? How long is the max?

 

[Aaron McGuire]

You mean go on a holiday? A Captain's Holiday perhaps?

But in all seriousness, Trek has shown several instances of crew members taking leave from the ship. They hop on a shuttle, a runabout or on a civilian starfleet vessel thats heading where they want to go. Depending on how much leave time an officer or crew member has stored up and depending on the ship's mission and how badly they are needed they take as long as they like.

As for shore leave, I guess it all depends on how long the ship is going to be there.

Aaron McGuire

 

[Star Wolf]

If Enterprise was really out exploring new frontiers it would seem hard to find another ship to shuttle people out to her. By TNGs time it seemed as if she was not on the seek new worlds mission as shuttles and ships routinely made their way out to her.

In the case of a ship out on her own unable to turn back like Voyager I guess vacation time would be being excused from duty and being able to book the holodeck.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I remember Picard saying something about having a lot of time off saved up at the end of Insurrection, so I suppose it does indeed depend on how much time you've got, rank and the like.

 

[Colonel Midnight]

Not to mention, you can also 'take leave' while underway (at least in RL I did). Basically, I'd tell the CO that the LTJG would answer all the calls for Engineering, close the door, and not be bothered by the outside world.

(Obviously, to some degree I'd still be involved, like if we got a drug-bust or something similar, but for all other purposes, I was on vacation.)

Finally, it's really about the only way to get people's evals done...

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[Cuhl]

In "Amok Time," Spock requests "a leave of absence," and Kirk refers to "your request for shore leave" as if the terms are interchangeable. "A leave of absence sounds like it could easily be a couple of weeks or more.

Spock says, "Captain, surely I have enough leave time accumulated --" which implies that it's standard procedure to take leave once you've put in enough time.