Star Trek: The Cruise -- Day Four Recap

Stardate 2017.01.12… The Norwegian Pearl/U.S.S. Enterprise was back in cruising mode, with her captain steering her toward the next port of call. That, of course, meant everyone on Star Trek: The Cruise spent their day on the ship, partaking in a seemingly endless array of activities, from a technology talk, a visit with the Pearl’s captain and a Klingon Pub Krawl to a Joe Piscopo stand-up routine, a renewal of vows ceremony and a United Federation of Planets Intergalactic Gala & Awards Presentation. The StarTrek.com team spread out across the ship and is pleased to report back with photos and a recap of Day Four of Star Trek: The Cruise...

Action was theme of the morning, as fans gathered at 9:30 am for a session called Fights on the Bridge: Self Defense When Your Phasers Malfunction, featuring Steve Rankin. The actor crafted a story with a brave group of fans who volunteered to act out an entire scene, which involved the TOS bridge crew confronting angry Klingons. Rankin explained that pulling it off meant applying defense tactics, including the nerve pinch, learning how to fall properly, and using the emotions of the moment to convey one’s action convincingly… and safely.

Over in the Stardust Theater, fans got their laugh on with The Voyages of Voyager, a panel with Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo, hosted by Jordan Hoffman. The old friend and co-stars reminisced about their days on the show and happily teased each other.

“You were wardrobed to look like a sofa bed,” Picardo told Phillips.

“Before I tell a joke, I practice it on my wife,” Phillips explained, adding, “I practice on Bob.”

And, in a serious moment, Phillips addressed how he equipped Neelix to be a good morale officer when the show’s storyline made the situation on board so dire. “Don’t give in to despair,” he said. “Don’t keep your troubles and doubts secret. The more you keep your secrets to yourself, the more they will grow. Open up to the people who you care about, and who love you, and never give in to hopelessness and despair.”

Bringing Forth The Next Generation gave us the panel combo of Marina Sirtis, John de Lancie and Denise Crosby, with Jordan Hoffman moderating. De Lancie discussed having recently returned from a 15,000-mile sailing voyage.

Crosby told the crowd she's been enjoying her recurring role on Ray Donovan and the fact that she's slowly and steadily gotten to evolve the character over time.

Sirtis said that the best concert she ever attended was David Bowie and recounted how his drummer tossed a drumstick to her, but a male friend pushed her out of the way to catch it. Years later, Sirtis read an interview with Bowie in which he said he used to have his drummer throw drumsticks to the girls he thought were cute.

Science took center stage when astronaut Rick Searfoss and space enthusiast Robert Picardo joined forces for To Boldly Go: Real Spaceflight… Then, Now and Soon. “As Trek fans,” Searfoss noted, “we (astronauts) get the concept of boldly going.”

The Cruise’s biggest name, William Shatner, surprised the crowd during his poolside session. He decided to interview his grandchildren and have them interview him. “There’s something in our genes,” Shatner said. “They’ve never been on stage before.”

Shatner’s granddaughter informed her grandpa that she likes the new Star Trek films with “the cute guy,” referring to Chris Pine. Shatner playfully shouted, “I was the cute guy!!!!”

A definite highlight of Star Trek: The Cruise was the Klingon Pub Krawl with Chancellor Gowron, hosted by Jordan Hoffman. Robert O'Reilly went all out as Gowron, from wearing a full uniform to loudly krooning Klingon songs.

The Krawl started with Risa moonshine in 13 Forward, followed by Blood Wine at the Klingon Karnivoria. From there, it was on to Leeta's Bliss Ultra Lounge for some Star Trek 50th anniversary beer. The songs got louder and far more off-key as the Krawl karried on, and more and more Qapla’s kood be heard booming throughout the ship. Many a selfie was taken as well.

The Women’s View brought together Terry Farrell, Marina Sirtis, Denise Crosby and Chase Masterson for a spirited conversation. “There’s something wonderful,” said Farrell, who grew up with four sisters, “about women supporting women.”

“Women’s health,” Sirtis said, “we must fight for it.” She told the crowd that she’d been elected to her political group’s local board. “I decided to stop whining about it and go do something about it.”

A fan asked, What can we do to help the next generation? “Education,” Sirtis replied. Crosby said, “Listen to them. Encourage them and give them more of a voice.” And Masterson answered, “Everyone really does have a lot of power. You just need to use it.”

Over in 13 Forward, Ethan Phillips led The Ingredients to Cooking & Comedy, joined by Brigit Binns, who’s the wife of Casey Biggs and a real cookbook author best known for Eating Up the West Coast: The Best Road Trips, Recipes, and Restaurants from California to Washington.

Phillips and Binns told lots of food jokes, whipped together some Mool and shared anecdotes. Phillips, for example, recalled that when he wrote The Star Trek Cookbook, he beamed up recipes from friends, family and fellow Star Trek actors, and added Voyager-y names and descriptions.

As the sun set outside, Terry Farrell led the Renewal of Vows Ceremony in 13 Forward. There, 80+ couples renewed their vows tonight with Terry, who’s an ordained minister, and Dane Butcher. The ceremony was written specially for the Star Trek Cruise. Ten couples exchanged vows at a time.

You are the logic to my Vulcan,

You are the stun to my phaser,

You are the energize to my make it so,

You are the 7 to my 9,

You are the purr to my Tribble,

You are the fantasy to my Holodeck,

You are the guardian to my forever,

You are the great bird to my galaxy,

You are the bridge to my enterprise,

You are the captain to my starship,

I promise to contrive our journey...

where no one has gone before!

Wedding cake and individual couple photos with Terry followed.

Joe Piscopo took to the microphone at the Stardust Theater for Showtime: A Night at Charnock’s Comedy Club. Actually, Piscopo took to the microphone twice, as he performed the entertaining show back to back to accommodate all the fans who wanted to see him.

Piscopo performed numerous impressions, told jokes, shared anecdotes about his days on Saturday Night Live and sang several songs. Among the stories: creating the famous Stevie Wonder skit on SNL with Wonder and Eddie Murphy. And he sang songs by Johnny Cash (during which he strummed an electric guitar), Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter and Bruce Springsteen.

Trek After Twilight launched with the United Federation of Planets Intergalactic Gala & Awards Presentation, which was hosted by Casey Biggs and featured the Enterprise Blue Band (Biggs, Vaughn Armstrong, Steve Rankin and, for this night, Rankin’s wife, Susie Glaze). The poolside concert attracted tons of people in formal wear, Starfleet as well as normal, and the actors mingled and posed for photos with fans afterward.

As for the awards presentation portion of the event, John de Lancie and Denise Crosby presented…

Door Decorating Contest (2 winners)

Nadha Greer & Alan Shaw

Clyde & Deborah De Hart

Moneans Ship Building (2 winners)

Becky & Ali Fatash

Mike & Nancy Yee

Terry Farrell and Robert Picardo presented…

Blackjack Tournament

Allison Pauls

Bob O’Reilly and Ethan Phillips presented…

Proxima Centauri Bowling Competition

Jim Valera

Poker Tournament

1st place – Johnny Pettry

2nd place – Casey Biggs (who didn’t win a prize!)

3rd place – Stanley Baran

Marina Sirtis presented….

Crews Feud

To DS9 team captained by Terry Farrell. Sirtis, however, didn’t want to give Farrell the award; she’s too competitive!

And the fun continued late into the night, with DJ Needles spinning.

Visit StarTrek.com again tomorrow to read our recap of Star Trek: The Cruise, Day Four. And, in case you missed them, check out our Day One, Day Two and Day Three recaps.