An EPIC question & answer ~ A teenagers pov

[Dawns_Princess]

As one of the first teenagers (I am 17 years old) to have sailed on the epic, not only will i eventually do a review of the TA from Southampton to NYC but I will answer any question people may have about the teen club, activities onboard or the ship in general as I did much exploring throughout the week.

[sdmike]

Great! Thanks! Can you tell us your overall impression? Your favorite things to do? How you liked the teen club? My son is 15 and he's dying to plan out the things he wants to do.

[sully108]

As one of the first teenagers (I am 17 years old) to have sailed on the epic, not only will i eventually do a review of the TA from Southampton to NYC but I will answer any question people may have about the teen club, activities onboard or the ship in general as I did much exploring throughout the week.

 

my nieces and nephews (13, 13, 15, 15. 16, 16, 17, 18) are sailing with us .. and to say they are excited is quite an understatement ... can you provide some tips about what they should not miss .. and things that may have been not too great. Looking forward to your posts .. :)

[Quincella]

My 14 yo daughter is also looking forward to your review and your general impressions of the ship. She loved Jewel and Pearl but we're all looking so forward to Epic in September! Can't wait to read what you have to say.

[CaptData]

My 13 yr old granddaughter would like to see one of the Teen sheets of activities. Can you suggest things like a climbing change or bowling? When is the Teen Dance? Pizza party? Thank you in advance and hope you had fun.

[Dawns_Princess]

The epic deffinatly had something for everyone, inside and out and I did so much I'll try to answer all of you best I can. I'll also either scan or type up the teen club activity list -with comments- later on tonight.

Even though I wasn't able to do everything the ship had to offer outside (rock climbing, waterslides, etc) I went on the 2-story spider climb which was pretty cool, along with the bungee jump where passengers from 7 to 77 jumped and flipped and whatnot. Those were up on the sports deck, which is where the full-sized basketball court was that is also turned into an ice skating rink (they used greasey plastic instead of actual ice, though with the real ice skates it was totally similar) and the batting cages at certain times throughout the week. The freestyle daily posts what times these are open. There were also several pools all over the ship, with even more hottubs scattered around. Under some sort of covering by the pool deck on 15 is also the kids aqua park, with a few slides and a wadding pool.

There were a few less options indoors aside from the teen club, but that will come up later. There are 2 bowling allies on the Epic, with 3 lanes each. These are found inside of Bliss lounge and the Irish Pub. very interesting to watch on a rough day at sea. Also, in the atrium is the 2-story screen that was not only great for showing the World Cup (Along with the screen outside at Spice H2O), but also great for playing Wii on, which occured at the time posted in the freestyle daily.

TEEN CLUB! It pretty much lived up to its epicness, unless thats just my opinion. Even the most shy person can make friends there, and these friendships can last years if not forever. As for the club itself, it had: 4 playstations, a jukebox with totally current music, a free (and working!) airhockey table and a fooseball table, aside from all the board games, cards and comfy chairs around the room. The ages are from 13-17 so I was one of the oldest ones there but it really wasn't an issue. You must sign up with your parents, or atleast run back and find them so they can sign the papers and then after that you're free to come and go as you please, whether its for one activity the first night and never going again, or to all of them everyday. The teen club hours are from 10am til the 1am ship curfew (Though unless you're running around screaming it's really not that enforced). Most teens like me will never see their parents throughout the voyage, being too busy in the club so for all the worrying adults out there, the number to the teen club is pre-installed on all of your cabin phones ;)

[Dawns_Princess]

Here is a very rough teen club schedule, and remember that it changes slightly with each different sailing and teen club advisors (For this cruise, they were Remix, Erin, Marco & Amber, who were all amazing)

DAY 1:

Teen crew open house & registration 12-8pm

Family welcome social (didn't go) 4:30-5:30pm

What's the scoop? Teen orientation, Don't miss this! (I did miss it, unimportant I guess) 8pm

Breakin' ze ice (This is the main activity to go through, with silly and sometimes groan-worthy games you get to know other teens and it becomes much easier to talk to everyone afterwards 9pm

Assassin...Sign up for this week long event 10pm

Welcome aboard entourage hangout with smoothies & munchies! (This was the first of several dance parties, unfortunatly the music hadn't been working yet but it gave everyone a chance to get to know eachother better, while drinking our free smoothies ofcourse. These all lasted until either the last person left or the 1am curfew) 11pm

DAY 2:

I'm on a boat!!!!! With my flippy floppies!! 10am

Basketball with your cruise staff (I really liked how the counselors weren't the kind to just sit there and make sure we didn't get into trouble, but actually did stuff and play with us when wanted) 12pm

That's my jam right thurr! 1pm

Go green - officer snook service hours program (obviously not everyone will want to do everything that goes on, but the lounge is always open during the day for anyone who wants to just hang out in there) 2:30pm

L33T G4M1NG! (The playstations were very popular this trip) 4pm

Celebrity 6pm

Paparazzi photo hunt - Bring your digital cameras (I have never missed these on any of my 4 cruises as I never get tired of them, they may only be scavenger hunts but instead of collecting items you take pictures of your teams with them, even if i described it badly) 7pm

Teen jeopardy 9pm

Liar's club - Who is telling the truth? (Like a gameshow on other NCL cruises, no details as I didn't attend) 10:30pm

Sports under the stars (The sports deck opens specially for teens at midnight this night, it's pretty cool) 12am

DAY 3:

PS Triple!! 10am

Pop culture 11am

Freaks of nature hunt (Another scavenger hunt) 12pm

It's BINGO! 2pm

The clown is on the loose! 3pm

Batting cages are open 4pm

Autograph hunt (Scavenger hunt, looking for cruise employees instead this time) 7pm

Capture the flag 8pm

Ultimate couch potato 10pm

Let's dance...it'll be okay! 11pm

DAY 4:

Lazy morning games 10am

Art attack 11:30am

Air hockey elimination (A huge teen-run tournament, and we did similar with fooseball even though it wasn't on the schedule) 12:30pm

Banana split banana jam 2pm

Smuck the counselor - Don't miss this! 3pm

3 vs 3 with your cruise staff 5pm

Dinner with the gang (We also throughout the cruise dined together at the no-covercharge resturants, a nice thing to do with friends) 6pm

Ping pong tourny 8pm

White hot mummy wrap 9pm

White hot party on the pool deck (Because of weather and possibly bad planning, the shipwide white hot party was moved to the following night, and also moved indoors to the bliss ultra lounge. Apparently teenagers were also kicked out after a certain time, whether for behavioral or adult reasons I'm not sure of) 10pm

Exclusive teen only white hot after party (What was nice though is that we teenagers took the party back to the teen club afterwards so we could continue adult-free) 12pm

Day 5 and on to be continued :)

[CaliforniaDreamer]

I don't have any teenage kids but i am enjoying reading this positive thread.

[jarz85]

I wish I was a teenager still, that sounds like so much fun!

[AussieKathy]

My 13 year old is enjoying your review. Keep it coming!

[insidecabin]

Is it right there were 350 kids on the TA?

[bronxgirl33]

Thanks so much for your reviews, even though my kids are only 9,10 & 11 it is really the first information coming out about the kids activities. I know they will have activities geared more to there age, I am still happy to see what a good time you had. When I get back on 8/7/10 I will do a younger version of this review.

[IamOnVacation]

Great review! If we could now have an 8 year old write about kids club I would be thrilled, as my kids are too young and I am too old for teens club unless 34 is the new 14 :D

[samnewbie]

Thanks for your fab review and info.

 

My daughter will be 15 when we sail next August and it will be her first cruise. She is very apprehensive so I can't wait to show her what you have said about the teen club...I know she is going to have a fab time :D

 

Sam

[NYSoccerFamily]

Dawns Princess, Thanks for your detailed review! My 16, 15, and 13 year olds are enjoying it and appreciate any info you have. It is making them even more excited for our cruise on the Epic next month!

[fasted]

Thank you for the info!

[Dawns_Princess]

Yes it's true, there were 350 passengers aged 0-17 on this sailing, though I have no clue even a rough number of how many were signed up for teen club. Continuing with the schedule though! Notice how most days theres often a gap inbetween activities so if needed the kids can go to dinner with their families without being upset that they missed something.

 

DAY 5:

Morning stretches & amateur yoga with Erin! 10am

Let's grab some lunch (Again, even if it's not always organized by the counselors people from the club will get their own group and get food) 12pm

List-O-Rama 1pm

We <3 UNO 3pm

Gleek's unite 5pm

Madden madness 6pm

-(Notice how most days theres often a gap inbetween activities so if needed the kids can go to dinner with their families without being upset that they missed something)-

Teen choice 8pm

Pajama movie night 10:30pm

 

DAY 6:

Morning Trivia 10am

Brunchin' it 11am

Jazzercise 1pm

Friendly feud 3pm

Soccer tournament with your cruise staff 4pm

Vampire transformation 7pm

Thirst, the ultimate teen party (Like the white hot party, Thirst was also in the Bliss Ultra Lounge though this time the entire party was for teens only. The vapire transformation before included facepaint to go with the theme of Twilight, though it's all optional. The theme of the party may change with every sailing.) 8pm

Thirst after party (Back in the teen lounge) 11pm

 

DAY 7:

The last breakfast 10am

Blackout BINGO 11am

Mr. & Mrs. Norwegian Epic 1pm

Matrix hunt 3pm

Sardines...A teen version of Hide & Seek 5pm

Farewell dinner 7pm

Facebook & eail exchange 9pm

Farewell frat party 10pm

[muttley]

the teen club was suppossed to have pinball machines. did you see any? the ncl norway had one years ago[a alltime classic title in mint condition and an hour of arcade free play on embarkment day. yeehaw]. i'm going to very upset if they don't have any. i was already wondering how i'd get in there to play them since it seems o'sheehans doesn't have them either. you probably didn't notice but do you know the make and model of the foosball tables? if you didn't notice the make were the playfields flat or were there ramps in the corners of the box so the ball couldn't get stuck in the corners? both the air hockey and foosball were free? did you notice if the games in o'sheehans were free or how much they cost?

[sbwmail]

Dawns Princess, thanks so much for al this info. It REALLY helps!

[Dawns_Princess]

the teen club was suppossed to have pinball machines. did you see any? the ncl norway had one years ago[a alltime classic title in mint condition and an hour of arcade free play on embarkment day. yeehaw]. i'm going to very upset if they don't have any. i was already wondering how i'd get in there to play them since it seems o'sheehans doesn't have them either. you probably didn't notice but do you know the make and model of the foosball tables? if you didn't notice the make were the playfields flat or were there ramps in the corners of the box so the ball couldn't get stuck in the corners? both the air hockey and foosball were free? did you notice if the games in o'sheehans were free or how much they cost?

 

No, there were no pinball machines in there but perhaps they weren't ready in time for the TA? I know the ship wasn't 100% finished yet. I believe Bliss Lounge also had games in there, maybe they had some pinball machines? I don't know that about the fooseball tables but the corners are sloped so it doesn't get stuck. The two were free but I'm pretty sure it was only in the teen club that it's free. There are also additional games in the video arcade downstairs (deck 15)

[insidecabin]

On the TA I found the following on freeplay.

 

The hunting machine in O'sheehans all cruise.

The muti game machine at the bar in Bliss, (VIP party onlt ime I was there)

 

The arcade had a load on freeplay, on the 1st(never went there before then).

[jchitt]

What is there to do for 18-19 y/o's? Where can they hangout?

Are they allowed to play the video games in the teen club? Are there video games somewhere else on the ship. This is a big concern for my soon to be 18 y/o son.

[sdmike]

What is there to do for 18-19 y/o's? Where can they hangout?

Are they allowed to play the video games in the teen club? Are there video games somewhere else on the ship. This is a big concern for my soon to be 18 y/o son.

 

There's an arcade open to anyone, as well as sports courts, water slides, etc. :)

[dos equis]

Hi there,

 

Thanks for offering to answer questions from all of us. Please tell me.. did they have batting cages up on the sports deck? I've heard differing responses. I'd like a definitive answer from someone who's been on the ship! Thanks again!

[Dawns_Princess]

Hi there,

 

Thanks for offering to answer questions from all of us. Please tell me.. did they have batting cages up on the sports deck? I've heard differing responses. I'd like a definitive answer from someone who's been on the ship! Thanks again!

 

On certain days at whatever time specified in the freestyle daily, batting cages are set up in the basketball court on the sports deck