Travel classes

IMTU, the three canon classes (low, middle, high) are replaced by a (slightly) more developed system:

Staterooms come in three flavors:

• First Class costs 3500 Cr per jump (regardless of jump number) and gets you 8 dTon of living space (about 4 of those are your actual stateroom, the rest being used for lounge, gangways...) This is a luxurious way of traveling, with matching service, used by noble, managers and wealthy people, roughly comparable to real world airplanes First Class.

• Business Class costs 1750 Cr per jump and gets you 4 dTon of living space (2dTon actual stateroom). It's the equivalent of a OTU stateroom and the way most people travel (e.g. businessmen, public servants and military people on a mission, tourists). It's roughly equivalent to real world airplanes Economy Class.

• Economy Class costs 875 Cr per jump and gets you 2 dTon of living space (1dTon actual stateroom). It gets really cramped and service is minimal (think disposable sheets and towels, reheated food and drinks in extra). This class (used by students, families on paid holidays and other people with just enough money to avoid cold sleep) is the equivalent of real world low cost carriers.

Note that all staterooms can be shared (effectively reducing the per person price by half) either with someone you know and travel with or with another random passenger (not all lines allow for the later).

Better staterooms are sometimes offered. This is usually only seen on large liners proposing a couple of prestigious suites in addition to their First Class staterooms. The exact size and configuration (and price) of those suites vary a lot from line to line (even a given ship can have several suites of various size and prices). One thing common to most  of those suits is a private lounge (although the guests of a suite usually retain access to the First Class lounge should they enjoy a bit of social interaction).

Unlike in the OTU, staterooms are build for a certain class and cannot be upgraded by providing better food and bigger smiles...  Upgrading (or downgrading) a stateroom is possible but require removing (adding) bulkhead and refurnishing the newly made space. Most small starships only have one type of stateroom, lacking the space needed to provide the different level of service matching each class. Larger starships generally have either both First and Business or Economy only, only a few line have experimented with three classes ships, with very moderate success.

Actual class designation vary a great deal between lines: Standard, Basic, Essential, Ivory, Silver, Gold, Noble, Premium, Elite, Prestige are some of the designations encountered. Note that a single designation can be used for different class depending on the line: a given line could provide Business and First under the names Silver and Gold while an other provide exactly the same under the names Gold and Platinum. To add to the confusion, low cost lines providing Economy only often give them impressing designation trying to avoid a low comfort reputation. In the same logic, cold sleep passages are often given idyllic names (e.g. Dream Class),  trying to make the prospect of being shipped in a freezer a bit less gritty.

Comments

[Hans]

Personally, for abandon ship drills, I favor some kind of chocolate (packed in a bin-liner) as symbolic food! That way I get to eat it on completion of the drill...

[Cdr Franssen]

Not to forget one loaf of bread and a blanket in a bin-liner.. :-)

[Hans]

If the modern sea/distant future space comparison is of any use, according to the International Life-Saving Appliance (LSA) Code:

4.1.5.1 The normal equipment of every liferaft shall consist of:

.1 one buoyant rescue quoit, attached to not less than 30 m of buoyant line;

.2 one knife of the non-folding type having a buoyant handle and lanyard attached and stowed in a pocket on the exterior of the canopy near the point at which the painter is attached to the liferaft. In addition, a liferaft which is permitted to accommodate 13 persons or more shall be provided with a second knife which need not be of the non-folding type;

.3 for a liferaft which is permitted to accommodate not more than 12 persons, one buoyant bailer. For a liferaft which is permitted to accommodate 13 persons or more, two buoyant bailers;

.4 two sponges;

.5 two sea-anchors each with a shock resistant hawser and tripping line if fitted, one being spare and the other permanently attached to the liferaft in such a way that when the liferaft inflates or is waterborne it will cause the liferaft to lie oriented to the wind in the most stable manner. The strength of each sea-anchor and its hawser and tripping line if fitted shall be adequate in all sea conditions. The sea-anchors shall have means to prevent twisting of the line and shall be of a type which is unlikely to turn inside out between its shroud lines. The sea-anchor permanently attached to davit-launched liferafts and liferafts fitted on passenger ships shall be arranged for manual deployment only. All other liferafts are to have the sea-anchor deployed automatically when the liferaft inflates;

.6 two buoyant paddles;

.7 three tin-openers and a pair of scissors. Safety knives containing special tin-opener blades are satisfactory for this requirement;

.8 one first-aid outfit in a waterproof case capable of being closed tightly after use;

.9 one whistle or equivalent sound signal;

.10 four rocket parachute flares complying with the requirements of section 3.1;

.11 six hand flares complying with the requirements of section 3.2;

.12 two buoyant smoke signals complying with the requirements of section 3.3;

.13 one waterproof electric torch suitable for Morse signalling together with one spare set of batteries and one spare bulb in a waterproof container;

.14 an efficient radar reflector, unless a survival craft radar transponder is stowed in the liferaft;

.15 one daylight signalling mirror with instructions on its use for signalling to ships and aircraft;

.16 one copy of the life-saving signals referred to in Regulation V/16 on a waterproof card or in a waterproof container;

.17 one set of fishing tackle;

.18 a food ration totalling not less than 10,000 kJ for each person the liferaft is permitted to accommodate. These rations should be palatable, edible throughout the recommended shelf life, and packed in a manner which can be readily divided and easily opened. The rations shall be kept in airtight packaging and be stowed in a watertight container;

.19 watertight receptacles containing a total of 1.5 l of fresh water for each person the liferaft is permitted to accommodate, of which either 0.5 l per person may be replaced by a de-salting apparatus capable of producing an equal amount of fresh water in 2 days or 1 l per person may be replaced by a manually powered reverse osmosis desalinator, as described in paragraph 4.4.7.5, capable of producing an equal amount of fresh water in 2 days;

.20 one rustproof graduated drinking vessel;

.21 anti-seasickness medicine sufficient for at least 48 h and one seasickness bag for each person the liferaft is permitted to accommodate;

.22 instructions on how to survive;

.23 instructions for immediate action; and

.24 thermal protective aids complying with the requirements of section 2.5 sufficient for 10% of the number of persons the liferaft is permitted to accommodate or two, whichever is the greater.

[Cdr Franssen]

It would be interesting to determine what exactly is required by imperial regulations.
Lifeboats ? E-Low berths ? Rescue balls ? Emergency vaccsuits ?
And how many of them ?

[Hans]

Quote: 'Survival rate is pretty good if you're going to a decent starport (passengers are not frozen/thawed by the ship's medic, but by the local hospital, then loaded aboard like cargo.) If they are traveling long distance they are simply transferred ship to ship without thawing, so only make make one survival roll per journey.'

Very interesting idea, I'm gonna snatch that one. Even if there is no significant risk to low berths IMTU, it make sense: by remaining frozen between jumps, you spare (that's all low berths are about, after all) on accommodation/food while waiting for your next jump; beside the freezing/thawing can be conducted much more comfortably (both for the personnel and the passenger) in a roomy land based facility than in a cramped ship.

However, it rise the question of the cost of the freezing/thawing procedure relative to that of pure transport. I'm gonna look into this.

Quote: 'That's an interesting view. I presume that all the cooling / health-monitor equipment is packaged in some sort of "packing-crate" with the passenger in it, so the fitting-out cost for the cold berths is essentially a storage rack? Maybe with some interfaces in it to supply power the crates and collect the readouts off the berths that have been filled. The crates could have independent power for transfer and for emergencies.'

Indeed, IMTU the low berths proper are integrated units including the berth proper, cooling and monitoring equipment and a battery, and a small trunk for passenger belongings. The low berths bay of a starship being no more than a collection of rack with power and data feeds, a 'crew station' (ranging from a simple screen in the wall, to a full fledged manned around the clock crew station, depending on the size of the bay), and a first aid station (ranging from a locker with some equipment to a full fledged infirmary).

Quote: 'If you follow that approach, then there's no freezing-gear for the crew to use in an emergency. Unless they keep a couple of spare empty crates around. Maybe the fitting-out cost for the low berth includes the crate? Then the rack would start by being full, and the crew would have to pull out an empty crate every time they load a full one aboard. Do they hand over the empty to the starport crew, or stick it in the hold? if they stick it in the hold, can they still use it in an emergency, or do they have to pull one out of the rack first? lots of lovely questions to hassle the players with....'

IMTU, emergency low berth are not standard on private ships: the GT rules make the prospect of misjump quite unlikely under normal circumstances. The fitting out cost of a low berth bay includes the racks and berth proper. 'Loading' passengers occurs with a 'change for change' procedure where each full berth is exchanged for a empty one.