My cruise last month made a detour to outer space.
During a late-night deck party on a Royal Caribbean International ship, Star Trek: The Cruise took passengers to Risa, a “pleasure planet” seen in the franchise. A horga’hn statue – a fertility symbol – stood by the pool bathed in green light while a band played “Smooth” by Santana and Rob Thomas.
Roiann Nimis and her friend Denny Wagner were dressed as human-sized Tribbles, a troublesome alien species, in costumes Nimis and her mom made. They passed out toy versions of the creatures – which notoriously reproduce at a rapid rate – to fellow guests.
The Minnesota pair bonded over “Star Trek” after meeting at a mutual friend’s party. The late February sailing marked their sixth “Star Trek” cruise.
“After five cruises, you get assimilated into the Collective, is what they call it,” said Nimis, 43, a term that references the Borg alien group of “resistance is futile” fame.
“This is a unique experience,” said Wagner, 44. “We’ve each been to some conventions and they’re fun and all, but there’s something about this because we’re all on the ship together, it just feels a little bit safer or just more of a community.”
Trekkies set sail on the annual cruise to spend a week sailing alongside their favorite actors, participating in themed activities from cosplay to karaoke and reveling in their shared fandom. But it’s more than the stars and “Star Trek” screenings that keep them coming back.
Passenger Josh Kline has been on the cruise seven years in a row. He started watching shows from the franchise at 13 with his friend, who had VHS tapes of “Star Trek: The Original Series.” For the Colorado-based jeweler, now 50, the sailings are as much a social event as a convention at sea.
“When I’m on the cruise, I just feel like everybody’s my friend,” he said, sitting in a lounge on the ship’s top deck. He and his wife meet fellow passengers there each year, planning shore excursions together and hanging out on board. On the cruise, where most people have a shared interest, he can be himself.
“This is my tribe, so I feel really at home,” he said.
The guiding principles of Starfleet, the space exploration and defense service at the heart of the franchise, shaped Kline’s worldview.
“My morality is basically based on, ‘Is that a Starfleet thing to do?’ ” he said. “Like, if someone’s in trouble, I try and help them. You answer distress calls. You do what you can and be kind to everybody.”
“Star Trek” – originally created by Gene Roddenberry – is set in a future where humankind has generally left racial prejudices and bigotry behind but addresses those real-world issues through characters’ interactions with alien cultures. The franchise has historically embraced diversity, allowing many viewers to see themselves in the characters on screen.
Celia Rose Gooding, who plays Nyota Uhura on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” said that aspect of the franchise “reminds people that there is a place for them in the future.”
The character initially appeared in the original series played by Nichelle Nichols, one of the first Black women to be a lead in a TV show. “We can fight and put in the work and have that infinite diversity and infinite combinations because that is what is going to give us the utopia that we see in ‘Trek,’ ” Gooding said.
“Star Trek: Voyager” star Jeri Ryan has seen her character, Seven of Nine, resonate with members of the LGBTQ+ community and particularly neurodivergent people. Seven – a human captured by the Borg who has to relearn her individuality when she’s freed – was an “outsider,” according to Ryan.
“Her struggle resonates with (the fans), and they see themselves represented,” she said.
This year’s cruise marked the 30th anniversary of “Voyager,” which premiered in 1995 and ran for seven seasons. Kate Mulgrew, who played Captain Kathryn Janeway, said the fans onboard practice the Prime Directive, “which is to live and let live.” (In “Star Trek,” the Prime Directive prohibits Starfleet from interfering with a society or planet’s natural development.)
“People are here to celebrate what brings us together and what unites,” she told USA TODAY.
Compared to land-based conventions, Mulgrew said the cruise environment is like being in a capsule together and is “surprisingly very freeing.”
“So, I think the feeling is one of, ‘Let’s have a ball.’ No one’s going to tell our secrets. Let’s be as open and as honest and engaging as we possibly can be.”
That celebration is an immersive experience. If fans can’t spend their vacation on the Starship Enterprise, a cruise ship might be the next best thing. As a relative newcomer, I was struck by how many spaces were transformed.
The Crown & Kettle pub was renamed Bat’leth & Bloodwine, with heroic Klingons adorning the walls, while the Royal Promenade became the Delta Quadrant Promenade. Elevators bore a “turbolift” label.
One afternoon, while I browsed cabin door and hallway decorations – one adorned with a United Federation of Planets flag while another featured a transporter made of curtains that whooshed when guests walked by – the soundtrack from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” played through the speakers. Later, perched on a couch near an elevator bank, I saw a man in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt walk by – classic cruise attire – with spotted alien makeup in the style of “Voyager” character Neelix covering his arms and face.
Costumes of all kinds – including those not “Star Trek”-related – were a mainstay at nightly events. I saw a full-size T. rex dance down the promenade while holding a Foster’s beer at Gorn’s Pajama Party. The week culminated in Q’s Costume Party, with a contest judged by audience cheers. Q, played by John de Lancie, is from a race of godlike aliens of the same name.
Jen Usellis, 47, was among those dressed up in a red gown with faux-fur sleeves, silver studded bracers, and a red wig hand-stitched to a prosthetic forehead with ridges as seen on Klingon characters. The musician has performed as the Klingon Pop Warrior since 2014, singing translated versions of songs like TLC’s “No Scrubs” and Pat Benatar’s “Love Is a Battlefield.”
“Getting into a Klingon costume is a little bit like putting on a little bit of armor,” said Usellis, who has been on the cruise four times. “It allows me to live in the moment a little bit more. And then to also be surrounded by all of these people who are like, right there with me or love the same thing I love and are enthusiastic about it, it’s a very beautiful thing.”
The Chicago resident was even invited to perform in an opera with “Voyager” actor Robert Picardo and Mexican tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz during the sailing (Usellis also worked as a Klingon language adviser on the animated series “Star Trek: Prodigy.”)
The programming sets Star Trek: The Cruise apart from other themed events, according to Robb Pearlman, a guest author on board and writer of books like “Fun with Kirk and Spock” and “The Wit and Wisdom of Star Trek.” He pointed to game shows such as Voyager Family Feud, where guests faced off against cast members or mixology classes. One afternoon, actors Denise Crosby (plays Tasha Yar and Sela) and Nana Visitor (plays Kira Nerys) led a group in making tequila and mezcal cocktails.
“You know, it may not be immediately ‘Star Trek,’ but it brings you a little bit closer to the people who are involved in the thing that you love,” Pearlman said.
I was walking down the ship’s main promenade one evening when a group of fellow passengers raised their fists and shouted at me in unison: “Qapla’ ”
“Hello” or “hi” might have sufficed back on shore, but here the Klingon word for “success” was a standard greeting. I raised my fist and shouted back. When in the Delta Quadrant, right?
The reporter on this story received access to this event from Star Trek: The Cruise. USA TODAY maintains editorial control of content.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.

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