There's at least either 4 or 6 holodecks on the Enterprise D (I can't remember the highest one mentioned).Sea Skimmer wrote:I'd also wonder how they actually allot time to people. 1000 crew and only 2 of the things means each person could get just slightly over 1 hour of use per 21 days. But that allows no time for anything else like maintenance or training so 1 hour per 30 days is probably a more realistic ration. Competition would be might high at that point.
They also have places like the arboretum, fencing area, parices squares court, phaser range, calesthetics area etc. There's also the fact that some people can't access the holodeck alone (kids maybe) and some crew like Vulcans etc most likely don't use it very much.
There's also the shift rotation to think about - at any given point about a third of the people aren't up and about.
Curious how there's always one free for the main characters, eh?
Plus, I would imagine, yes, there is "rationing" even on the Enterprise D. Some people will have to wait days to book a slot. That's what it means living on a starship.
On Voyager, which has two holodecks, there is demand for them and they have a tight schedule with 30 minute blocks they trade around the crew. Paris and the Doc have had more than one fight over "holodeck time slots".