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I'm a newbie so please forgive me (and let me know) if this conversation happened already, but I am confused about something.

I just saw an early episode where children from Ireland were asking questions of the Enterprise Bridge staff (Trip's reaction to having to answer a "poop" question was hilarious). One of the questions was "Are cremembers allowed to date." Archer's answer was yes they are, but they might have trouble finding privacy.

In another episode Hoshi is asking Malcolm about his favorite meal, he misunderstands something she says, thinking she's asking him on a date of sorts, and says that dating is against regulations.

THEN, when Trip says Malcolm is teasing about his "Massage" time with T'Pol being something more, T'Pol tells him that it's not his business if there is something going on between them because they are both senior officers.

There are other examples of crewmen dating, I think, some involving Crewman Cutler.

So....is it okay for crewmembers to date or not?

There's the episode where T'Pol, Archer and Trip are eating and T'Pol expresses concerns over their lack of sexual activities... or something like that.

Its when she recommends Risa.

I think it pretty much boils down to not dating someone too far above or below your own rank so as to avoid disruption to the chain of command.

So the Commanders can date each other but no the crewmen.

The crewmen can date each other, but not the Captain.

Kinda sad really... the Captain has NO prospects on his own ship!

Guess that explains why Archer and Kirk were always chasing alien women!

I can think of two examples (one from Phlox and the one mjimeyg referred to) where there is a concern about wether or not the Captain and Trip are "getting some."

It seems the Vulcans in particular have a somewhat odd view of human sexuality. Sure it's (sex) good for lotsa reasons, but they seem more concerned abot the human's lack of sex than the human's do.

I loved that little scene between Kov and Trip about that. The latest Lerterian chapter also has fun with humans' reputation for requiring sex multiple times a day.

I don't think they ever came up with a consistent policy that was clearly articulated about this, which I would consider a continuity error. But that means you can pretty much push it in any direction you want. What mjmeyg said makes sense, except that personally I really doubt a real-world Starfleet would want two officers in the same chain of command messing around with each other, even if they technically hold the same rank.

The issue may not be so much "dating." For example, in researching my own story, I've been told that in the Navy (upon which Starfleet is basically based), married couples can't serve on the same ship, because of fear of things like nepotism, abuse of rank, etc. Anything else, as long as you stay within so many degrees of your rank and keep it on the down-low, you're cool.

As far as just "dating", a case could be made against Trip and T'Pol, since she is the second in command and a relationship could be considered a conflict of interest. They would definitely have to be verrrrrrry careful.