Was there ever an official explanation in Nemesis...

[Skywalker]

And Picard and Riker probably had a fair amount of currency (not that sort of currency) with Starfleet Command, to be able to say "Do you mind if we use the E-E as a wedding car..." Riker's father's pretty well connected as well so it might have been his wedding present!

Something tells me the U.S. Navy wouldn't allow the captain and XO of an aircraft carrier to take it from their home port to an island in the Caribbean just so the XO could get married, no matter how famous or well connected either of them were.

 

[Worf'sParmach]

And Picard and Riker probably had a fair amount of currency (not that sort of currency) with Starfleet Command, to be able to say "Do you mind if we use the E-E as a wedding car..." Riker's father's pretty well connected as well so it might have been his wedding present!

Something tells me the U.S. Navy wouldn't allow the captain and XO of an aircraft carrier to take it from their home port to an island in the Caribbean just so the XO could get married, no matter how famous or well connected either of them were.

That's exactly my point! (I was even going to post that same analogy, though I was going to have the carrier go to Bora Bora )

 

[AviTrek]

And Picard and Riker probably had a fair amount of currency (not that sort of currency) with Starfleet Command, to be able to say "Do you mind if we use the E-E as a wedding car..." Riker's father's pretty well connected as well so it might have been his wedding present!

Something tells me the U.S. Navy wouldn't allow the captain and XO of an aircraft carrier to take it from their home port to an island in the Caribbean just so the XO could get married, no matter how famous or well connected either of them were.

We regularly saw Picard tweak the ships course/schedule. An extra stop here, a delayed departure there. Increase the warp speed to compensate and you only lose hours or a day. How do we know that the next mission of the Ent-E wasn't in the direction of Betazed?

 

[JB2005]

The US Navy isn't an accurate comparison, think more along the lines of the Royal Navy during the Age of Sail...

 

[Timo]

Kirk wasn't allowed to divert to Vulcan in "Amok Time" because there was a scheduling conflict. He was allowed to divert to any number of other places as long as he met his scheduled commitments, though. Apparently, Starfleet didn't charge him for the fuel or the lightyearage. Or keep close watch on where he had actually been, for that matter (else e.g. his marooning of Khan could not have remained a secret).

Admittedly, when Kirk arrived at SB 11 on "The Menagerie", his seeming impromptu course change raised lots of eyebrows. But that was only natural for the people at the receiving end of Kirk's surprise visit - we don't learn whether anybody else would have been concerned.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tiberius]

And Picard and Riker probably had a fair amount of currency (not that sort of currency) with Starfleet Command, to be able to say "Do you mind if we use the E-E as a wedding car..." Riker's father's pretty well connected as well so it might have been his wedding present!

Something tells me the U.S. Navy wouldn't allow the captain and XO of an aircraft carrier to take it from their home port to an island in the Caribbean just so the XO could get married, no matter how famous or well connected either of them were.

Of course, aircraft carriers aren't usually used to ferry important diplomats or conduct exploratory missions...

 

[Skywalker]

And Picard and Riker probably had a fair amount of currency (not that sort of currency) with Starfleet Command, to be able to say "Do you mind if we use the E-E as a wedding car..." Riker's father's pretty well connected as well so it might have been his wedding present!

Something tells me the U.S. Navy wouldn't allow the captain and XO of an aircraft carrier to take it from their home port to an island in the Caribbean just so the XO could get married, no matter how famous or well connected either of them were.

Of course, aircraft carriers aren't usually used to ferry important diplomats or conduct exploratory missions...

Which has nothing to do with my point.

 

[Captain Robert April]

It does if you consider mission profiles.