Now this is a great idea -- we think -- and it only costs $1,100 for room and board and $600 to $1,250 in conference fees: a seven-day cruise along Alaska's Inside Passage with up to 400 other Mac enthusiasts.

According to CNET News.com, Neil Baumann's Geek Cruises have been around for a whle but have experienced a drop-off in attendance recently. All that seems to have changed, however, now that Baumann has put together a cruise designed for Mac geeks. "They are absolutely full of enthusiasm that pales any other Geek Cruise theme I have put forth," says the Geek Cruises CEO. The May cruise may well turn out to be the best-attended one ever, says Baumann, who has also organized events like the XML Excursion, Database Discovery and Perl Whirl.

Comments: "MacMania" will be co-sponsored by Macworld Magazine. As near as we can tell, it isn't fully booked, yet so you may still have a chance to get on board. Geek Cruises doesn't sail its own ships, so space is booked on regular cruise lines. This means the passengers will include more than just geeks, which is probably a good thing. Your editor once sailed across the Atlantic on an ocean liner and heartily recommends the experience of living on a large ship. We're not sure we'd really want to sit inside talking about OS X when we could be watching the scenery, but there you have it.