norwegian viva entourage entrance hallway

Norwegian Adding a Teen Club to Prima

September 19, 2024 Randy Young

In October, the Norwegian Prima will be getting a mid-voyage makeover, adding a new dedicated space for teenagers. It’ll replace the Speedway Bar on Deck 18. Norwegian made a similar change on the Viva in May of this year. Mid-cruise changes like this on a ship are very rare and and shows how important this initiative is for the ship.

Correcting a Gross Oversight

When the Prima first debuted, many parents were confused, looking all over the deck plans to find the Entourage Teen Club. They would never find it, though. Norwegian decided they didn’t need to dedicate any space to teenagers. Instead, they’d still offer programming for teenagers, but they’d meet around the ship or use the Splash Academy to meet up.

As you can imagine, that didn’t work well. Teenagers didn’t want to share a space with 5-year-olds, even if it was just for them to meet up and head somewhere else. Reports of teenagers roaming around halls and hanging out in stairwells became commonplace during the busy summer months.

Entourage Teen Club Replaces the Speedway Bar

Norwegian realized they had to set up a space for teens, but where? Since space is at a premium on the smaller Prima-class ships, Norwegian had to remove something in order to find space for the teen club. The best candidate was the Speedway Bar. Located towards the back of Deck 18, this open-air Speedway Bar was rarely used, according to Norwegian staff. The space was hard to find, hidden behind the entrance to the race track, and the “race track” theme didn’t really work with the high-end feel on the rest of the ship.

A Preview of the Entourage Teen Club on Prima

I had a chance to tour the Entourage Teen Club that they installed on the Viva this May. I was very impressed with how well they executed it. It didn’t feel added on; in fact, you couldn’t tell that this new space wasn’t originally there. The teen club is fully enclosed with floor to ceiling windows providing some of the best views on the ship. Bright colors and LED lighting give it a trendy feel, and teens will find big-screen TVs, video games, foosball, and more.

Entourage Construction Will Be In October

In an email sent to affected guests, the cruise line indicated that this change will start during the Prima’s 10-day sailing starting on October 28th and guests on the 11/7 transatlantic sailing have received a similar notification.