The Excalibur class was something of an experiment, and not an entirely  successful one.  The technological limits at the time of construction  meant that compromises had to be made both in terms of firepower and in  terms of basic onboard facilities.  The result was a powerful  battleship, with long range, high-damage capabilities and superb  shielding, but a ship which was near to spartan inside despite the  engineers cramming in as many crew facilties as they could in what they  later termed an extreme spatial design challenge.  Crews of Excalibur  class ships tend to grumble at the conditions in which they have to  work, but nobody can deny that the ship is a force to be reckoned with.