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If you’re wondering how to make this holiday season the most memorable one ever, why not wrap up a cruise vacation and put it under the tree? With cruise fares starting as low as $50 per night, even Ebenezer Scrooge would be impressed.

As we’ve discovered in our house, the beauty of gifting a cruise is that a couple or family get to share it together and the memories last forever. And for families with children, traveling is a great way to supplement an education with some hands-on experience. In fact, the first time we took our teen-aged daughters on a Mediterranean cruise, they even did a little pre-trip studying about some of the historic places we would be visiting, and took lots of photos while we were there.

Another advantage of gifting a cruise is that it can help to defray the cost of the trip if given in place of other gifts.  For example, when our daughters asked if we do a family trip in the Mediterranean, we all agreed it would be our Christmas gift to each other. And when we added those savings to what we would normally spend on a family vacation, together they almost paid for our entire Mediterranean cruise.

While just about any type of cruise would make a welcome gift, there are some ships, destinations and times that work best for families. For example, kids in school will have certain periods such as Christmas, reading week, Easter and summer vacation that work best for travel. And since college students may need to work during the summer, they usually prefer to travel in early May or late August so that it doesn’t interfere with landing a job.

Parents with children under 17 may want to book on a ship with an organized program for kids. These programs, which group kids according to their age, offer everything from private play areas and pools to supervised games and activities. Most mainstream cruise lines offer these programs, although some cut back during periods when kids are still in school. For very young children, there’s nothing quite like being on a Disney Cruise, which serves up Disney characters and all the fun and imagination of visiting their theme parks.

Size also matters when it comes to family cruising. Larger ships have more facilities including skating rinks, rocking climbing walls, wave pools, mini-golf courses, and even a zip line on the new Oasis of the Seas. And larger ships also have more bars, show lounges, pools, events and activities, and more opportunity for kids to meet people their own age to hang out with.

Another thing to be aware of is the legal drinking age on ships, which is usually 21 years of age on cruise lines headquartered in the United States (e.g. Princess, RCI, Celebrity, Carnival, etc.). This age limit can cause an issue for families travelling with kids over 18 who are used to drinking at home in places like Canada, Australia, South America and Europe but suddenly can’t even have a glass of wine with dinner on the ship.

Fortunately, some cruise lines (e.g. RCI, Celebrity) will lower the drinking age to correspond with rules in various regions like Europe if a parent on board is willing to sign a waiver. However, Princess Cruises does not make exceptions – something that caused problems for us on a Mediterranean cruise a few years ago.

In terms of the best cruise itineraries for families, we’ve done three cruises with our kids since they became teenagers – one in the Caribbean during spring break in March, and the other two in the Med in early May – and they were all great.  We found the Caribbean best when our kids were younger and less interested in touring monuments, old churches and castles. In those days, tanning by the pool, snorkeling and going to the beach met their expectation for a fabulous vacation. However, as they got older and began learning more about history, architecture, and culture, they became more interested in seeing Europe and travelling farther afield.

So if you still haven’t decided on that special gift to put under the tree this holiday season, maybe it’s time you gave a family cruise some serious consideration. Not only will it make a great gift on Christmas day and keep everyone filled with anticipation for months, it will provide the entire family with memories that will last a lifetime.