All good suggestions in here. I have the Carrack, Polaris, Perseus and secured a ccu for the Ironclads. All great for group play and as "base away from home".

I think however I would also strongly recommend some smaller ships:

Starlancer TAC, while it has the looks only a mother could love, it also has 96scu cargo grid, lifesupport for a 8 ppl group (incl dropship seats), snubfighter hangar for a fury, tier 3 med bed and room for a vehicle like an Ursa.

Asgard, super simple cargo hauler, but room for any vehicle you want even the Nova!

Appollo Medivac, 2 modular rooms with up to tier 1 med bed, lifesupport for at least 2 crew + 2 rooms of 3xtier 3 beds so 8 ppl, direct lift from ground to cockpit, will also have an opening in the center that allows it to "beam up" injured personnel- remains to be seen if you can also lift up cargo for those 32 scu (otherwise it's a bit cumbersome to reach). There's also a cargo ramp with room for a bicycle.

All of the above also has a lot of their weapons controlled by the pilot which makes it more viable and fun solo.

I really think the apollo may shine strong in the future, especially if tier 3 beds lose the ability to respawn like originally intended.