Macaroni and Cruise: A totally different kind of family cruise featuring some of our favorite bands

If you're looking for a family gift this holiday that blows a lot of ideas out of the water, I've got one to float by you: a cruise. We did it a couple of years ago, and the kids were thrilled when they realized that the box full of sunscreen, snorkels, and travel brochures meant that they'd be hitting the high seas later in the year. Kristen and Liz have checked out the Disney Cruises with their families. But now there's one more and it's not like Disney at all. This year's gift vacation hit for me is the new Macaroni and Cruise family vacation, a four-night family cruise which combines the fun and sun of a regular cruise with awesome kindie concerts, super-cool family-friendly activities, and stops in such amazing places as Grand Bahama Island, Nassau, and Great Stirrup Cay. If you think your kids will like to dance and sing along with acts like Latin Grammy winners Lucky Diaz & the Family Jam Band, Grammy-nominee Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, and  Jonathan Coulton (who appears on Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti) then they will love this. Organized in part by Bill Childs of the Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child radio show and record label, you can be assured that the musical entertainment will be top-rate. Plus LEGO fanatics will get the incredible chance to meet, and build along with, LEGO artist extraordinaire Nathan Sawaya whose creations appear in museums all over the world. I'm pretty sure my 10 year old's head would explode with excitement to meet the man behind The Art of the Brick.     Aimed primarily at families with kids ages 3-12, Macaroni and Cruise will be making its maiden voyage from Miami in August 2015 aboard the Norwegian Sky. There will be daily activities for only those booking a Macaroni and Cruise package and many of the rooms booked for this package will be clustered in the same location on the ship. As anyone who has taken a cruise knows, it can be hard to get to know people on such a huge boat, with so many things to do. The families on Macaroni and Cruise will get to see each other regularly throughout the trip--and knowing some of the people involved with this, that's actually a good thing. Plus, you can bet the soundtrack to your vacation will be rocking. Get more details about Macaroni and Cruise on their website. And the first 50 cabins to book will receive $100 per person with their Early Booking Discount, meaning $400 off for a family of 4.