When villagers want to get away, sometimes they take their neighbors along.
Neighborhood cruise vacations have taken their place among popular village social activities like pot-lucks and holiday parties.
More than 40 residents of the Village of Duval returned Sunday, for example, from a cruise to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica aboard the Celebrity Silhouette.
Last month, 84 Village of St. James residents cruised to the Panama Canal in the neighborhood’s second annual cruise vacation organized by former professional party planner Zam Blau. Last year, more than 140 St. James residents cruised the eastern Caribbean aboard the Celebrity Reflection, sister ship to the Silhouette.
In October, 42 Village of Hemingway women who are members of a group called Twisted Sisters took a four-night cruise to the Bahamas.
“They go every year,” travel agent Pat Coamey said. “This year, it was Halloween and they wore costumes.”
Coamey, president of Group Travel Specialists of Kissimmee and a travel agent for more than 30 years, organized the trips for the Duval, Hemingway and St. James neighborhoods. She got into The Villages travel business through her brother, Don Weber, a Village of Hemingway resident who organizes day trips to destinations such as the Tampa Bay Downs racetrack.
Although cruises can be booked easily these days on the Internet, Coamey and other travel agents keep track of the latest package offers and price changes. They also handle logistics such as charter buses to the port and prepaid tips for room stewards and waiters.
A cruise vacation includes meals and on-board activities such as shows, games, movies and musical entertainment. Shore excursions and drinks usually are extra. Some of the cruising Duval residents, however, received on-board credits and free drink packages, which entitled them to unlimited alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages up to a certain price level.
Coamey said convenience and flexibility are among the attractions of a cruise vacation.
“Once they get on a ship, they can do nothing or they can do almost anything,” she said.
For Duvall cruisers Bob and Ingrid Clark, a highlight of their first cruise on a Celebrity ship was a $90 excursion to a Hilton Hotel in Jamaica with a pristine beach, water slides, sailboat rides, a bar in the pool and other attractions. They also went snorkeling from a catamaran in Cozumel.
On the final night of the cruise, many of the Duval residents used their on-board credits to pay a $45 per person extra charge for dinner in Qsine, a specialty restaurant aboard the ship that features tapas from around the world.
Eunice Steimke, a retired nurse, and Michael Tendholder, a doctor, said the trip aboard the Celebrity Silhouette was their first ocean cruise, although they have done river cruises on smaller ships. Tendholder snorkeled in Jamaica while Steimke toured a sugar plantation mansion. They plan on taking an Alaskan cruise this summer.
“It’s nice because you can do anything you want to do,” Steimke said. “We came back one day and he said to me, ‘I really like this cruising thing.’”
Maria Lowe, who organized the Duval cruise and traveled with her husband, Al, former president of the Duval Social Club, said the trip was her 17th cruise.
“We like to cruise,” she said. “You unpack once and if you want to get off the ship, you get off of the ship.”
Lowe said the trip was the second annual neighborhood cruise she organized.
“Last year, we did a survey with the Duval Social Club to get ideas,” she said. “We decided to try another cruise and see if there was any interest.”
The idea generated enough interest for more than 40 people to sign up.