The Enterprise-D Size Question: was the TNG Enterprise too big?

I think a large part of the issue is that people forget that TNG was meant to showcase progression from TOS. Roddenberry wanted his own version of progress for Star Trek, moving away from militarized views of TMP era movies (that he personally opposed). This meant a ship that was larger , not just larger than the TOS/TMP Enterprise but also the Excelsior. The ship was not just meant to be more powerful than those ships, but also a lot more comfortable and secure. If the Star Trek universe was a post-scarcity utopia - then its flagship should reflect that. Officers had their families with them, activities and what we consider luxuries would be normal to all of them. This isn't a flaw, its part of the aspirational aspect of this future vision. The vision was so different that Captains had councelors on the bridge, to help them think emotionally and empathically.. not just tactically. This was Gene's vision, however inconsistent it may seem. However when Gene asked what the crew compliment of the new enterprise was going to be according to the designer, they stated it was around 5k.. but Gene then insisted they should say it was somewhere around 1.2k , because they could never fund the number extras needed to convey the 5k number. From this much backwards justification came into place. (Additional rooms for guests, diplomatic missions, crew could now have their own individual rooms and not the barracks seen in TMP.. ). From an in universe perspective the Galaxy class was meant to be an awe inspiring sight, demonstrating the acheivements of the federation.. the ship itself was a massive flex. In TNG you never get a sense that it was all too common, most of the ships we see are infact still from the TMP era.. aside from the few Nebulas. It's not until DS9 that because of their wartime storyline, that we see huge number of Galaxies, used as battleships or command ships. But that was never the idea behind the creation of the Enterprise and its class. This is why things seem inconsistent at times, TNG and later Trek would be different animals.. and no amount of in universe explanations will ever explain the choices made by producers with different views of the franchise. Still happens to this day, with the latest trek.

I remember seeing a clip of fan 3D recreation of the interior of the Enterprise D. It’s in a first person perspective and starts off in Shuttle Bay 1 before making its way to the bridge. While on the a small part of the Enterprise D had been completed it showed how huge the ship really was that the TV series never really did. Unfortunately Paramount got their lawyers involved and shutdown the project

The main shuttle bay was first shown in "The Best of Both Worlds" when Worf and Data leave the separated saucer in a shuttlecraft to rescue Captain Picard from the Borg cube. The second time was in "Cause and Effect" which showed the main bay in great detail looking from outside looking in since the bay doors are opened to release the air inside it, and move the Enterprise out of the way of the USS Bozeman.

I enjoyed this video. Yes, we could see that the E-D was a bit smaller as envisioned by Andrew Probert. He had the thought of decks 11 and 12 being a mall, like the promenade in DS9. It’s been described as having 8 times the volume of the Conny E. the length, width and height are important, but the actual volume is what really makes the ship. Technology changes and we saw that on TNG. The ship was faster, with powerful computers on board and included new types of sensors as well as more powerful versions of the ones we saw in TOS. Phasers had also changed. For me, the ship was made to be comfortable for ambassadors and other contact missions. Diplomatic missions, science missions of all sorts, exploration of dangerous regions and tactical missions. Long term missions and yup, transport missions and rescue missions. In a sense, the Conny E with 7 additional mission type ships plus carrying families. She was a big ship with a big series of mission profiles. Reality, it was a limited set with a limited budget that needed something big enough for it all to fit. Sadly that did not have the budget or ability to alter the sets for the different arcs of the corridors on the ship. Also, the heavy reuse of movie sets. Sigh.

I’ve always thought it was funny how much larger and easier to shoot in the Voyager engineering set was. They had so many more dynamic angles available to them. Though even TNG rarely shot things on the second level for some reason. Of course it used lessons learned from TNG’s set, but still. Even if we accept that Voyager did have only 2 or 3 decks of engineering space while the D had a dozen or so, I think it makes so much more sense to be able to see everyone working in the zone. It’s nice to be able to see more of the warp core too. I believe we see some dressings of the quarters that have the “saucer underside” slant to the windows to match the ones on top we normally see; but without checking I also may well have imagined that. Could’ve sworn one of the ensigns’ quarters in Lower Decks (the episode) had them flip around the wall for the window though.

I think TNG missed a trick when depicting the massive inner size of the Enterprise-D. All it would have taken was a few stock shots of suitably futuristic interior spaces to depict the malls, public spaces, theatres etc, similar to what was done in Voyager to depict the Ocampan city. Then splice those shots into the episodes alongside the smaller, more budget friendly sets. That way "ten forward" can be just a small section of a larger recreation area, instead of a modest lounge on a massive ship.

The masterpiece ship for me is the Sovereign, feels bad that we didn't get to see her in full detail 😞 She deserved a show just for her.

The arboretum was the biggest missed opportunity. It was so big you could see it from the rear shots, but all you got was a little tiny room!

I always thought that the Galaxy Class was designed and built for long range missions on it's own, something they never seemed to use it for in actual service

the main difference is that TOS is a military ship while the TNG is a cruise liner with families and support structures for those families that TOS ships did not have or need.

It's funny how I've long heard of the Ent-D being described as "city sized." But these comparisons definitely showcase that it would be closer to a village ship. Ultimately, the answer is: The Ent-D was too big compared to the sets we had.

The Enterprise-D is 2,108 feet long, according to Probert's own design drawings. They were supposed to use the Captain's Yacht in "Samaritan Snare", but it was outside the episode's budget. The main shuttlebay was used in "Cause and Effect" (and visible as a model shot), and it was also used in "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" (it's where Worf and Data launch their rescue mission from, and we see its wall move past the shuttle window as it takes flight).

Windows shaped like Ten Forward's go all around the saucer. That means some quarters, labs and classrooms should look a lot like Ten Forward. And sickbay should have a lot more beds. Most of these problems are justified by lack of space and budget.

The size of the D was to accommodate the amenities that would come with a deep-range exploration ship. Since the families of the crew were coming along as well, it had to essentially be an entire city with all the services and provisions needed by a civilian population that was larger than the crew complement itself.

The size of the Enterprise-D falls into the ' What if ? ' senario what if a colony has a disaster and needs large scale medical assistance for tens of thousands of people?, a total evacuation? or large scale transport to a new planet?

Well don't forget in the episode yesterday's Enterprise They said she's capable of transporting over 5,000 troops, Plus in the episode remember me where the crew was diminishing in the warp bubble and nobody remembered them, they said that it had a carrying capacity up to 3000 to 4,000 total people aboard and since it's practically a flying Embassy / Marriott Convention Center, it would stand a reason outside of crew complement that it would frequently have guests well in excess of its standard crew rotation plus depending on shift rotations based on the time with Captain Jellico, a three shift rotation might require more crew to manage all the positions especially in a crunch situation going into battle and of course everyone knows that during the Dominion War newer Galaxy class starships were considerably upgraded in terms of armament shielding and propulsion over the first generation glass cannons

The giant windows on the underside of the saucer drive me mad.

Would you consider a cruise ship too big compared to an Ocean Explorer science vessel? The Enterprise NCC-1701 was an exploration and science ship. The Enterprise NCC-1701D was a home for the scientists, crew, military and their families. Designed to provide amenities and living space to whole families similar to a small city. Quarters for multiple delegations of species in case of negotiations, diplomatic mission, emergency living space for thousands of people in evacuation scenarios and way more equipment the "old" Enterprise ever carried... I think they simply designed her for the tasks they had in mind and added options for flexibility/refits. 😊

IMO the show should have leaned into the idea that the Galaxy class was a mobile starbase. People coming and going, deploying the battle section for hazardous missions. It probably would have been a nightmare to write an episodic show with that format though.

My theory was always that they just made it twice as long as the original, not realizing that this meant 8 times the volume