Jonathan Archer has the most realistic Captain’s Quarters in Star Trek

A recent article from StarTrek.com graded Kathryn Janeway and Jean-Luc Picard as having the best Captain’s Quarters but they’re wrong.

More Jonathan Archer hate. Which will not stand on this site! Jokes aside, surely the other of this article doesn’t hate Captain Archer. Her analysis of Starfleet Captain’s quarters does, however, leave something to be desire. Sure, yes Captains Jean Luc-Picard and Kathryn Janeway have great quarters. Immaculate. Yet, they’re also total bullocks. They don’t capture the essence of a ship’s quarters at all. The Enterprise under Archer, now that was a ship that knew how to be a ship.

It’s authentic and real and that’s why it’s so good.

Ever been on a ship, a real one? A cruise liner, yacht, or frigate? Well if you have then you know these are tiny rooms. If you haven’t, well, they’re tiny rooms. The general feel for the Captain’s quarters on these ships is that they’re barely bigger than the bed, but it’s a room only for the Captain and the room has its own bathroom. That’s it. Maybe they have a closet.

Maybe.

That’s one thing that Star Trek never captured, the idea that you’re in an actual ship. More times than not you feel like it’s a cruise ship at worst, or a floating city at best. Very futuristic, very modern, very science fiction. Yet, in Star Trek: Enterprise, you got a glimpse of a cramped, real-life, version of space travel. No endless sweeping suites or unnecessarily large quarters for ensigns. Just tight, cramped, and real.

The authenticity of such a design should make it number one on any list. It’s wonderfully accurate to what a real ship’s captain personal space looks like. That’s just another reason why Star Trek: Enterprise was such a good show; you felt like it was a real ship. Not just another unfathomably big science fiction ship.