What is the Enterprise

[JeffinOakland]

Geez, even the bookstore I work at takes AMEX and Discover.

 

[JesterFace]

Depending on the situation, the Enterprise can be many different things.

 

[Arpy]

Yes, the Enterprise-D is a five-star luxury hotel in space, with spacious suites offering top-of-the-line amenities for all officers and crew and their whole families, an upscale lounge with all kinds of exotic gourmet fine dining and beverages, and cutting-edge recreation rooms that can fulfill your every fantasy. Enlist in Starfleet for an unforgettable high-class resort experience in space.

But they don't take American Express.

Kor

By Federation civilian standards, it's not as luxurious as it seems to us. Our iPhones can do things Trek communicators can't. By the end of this century, they'll be building homes with moving walls, and floors and walls that act as giant screens. By the real 24th century there'll be lots of things we haven't even yet thought of.

Anyone looking at a contemporary warship then the D (or the A) and comparing amenities should also ask themselves where they'd like to disappear on for 15 years.

EDIT: in fact Kor, I wonder what long-mission Klingon ships look like. Certainly not like the tiny Birds-of-Prey we usually saw.

 

[woodstock]

The ship wasn't in danger in every episode, a lot, perhaps most, but even most of those events lasted from a few hours to a few days. Compare that to seven years of exploration and you could say most days were pretty uneventful, danger would be rare and having children on board would be quite acceptable. Unless you also consider the many novels that have been written filling those gaps, then it would be a terrible place to raise a family.

 

[Jedi Marso]

The Enterprise was whatever the writers needed it to be on any given episode. In my mind she was always a starship- with all that evokes in the mind and heart. The means to fulfill 'le'reve de'toiles': The Dream of Stars.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I rather fancy that description:
Enterprise-D ... Ship of Dreams!

 

[USS Triumphant]

A hat, a broach, a pterodactyl.

Or perhaps, the Enterprise is a red nose warmer for a purple nose.

 

[arch101]

To quote the author Christopher Bennett from his great novel The Buried Age, the Enterprise D is "a college town in space". An idea I'd never considered before I read that but now makes perfect sense.