<p><table border="0"><tbody></tbody></table>Envision the revolutionary Patrick Henry standing up and declaring, &ldquo;Give me liberty or give me death.&rdquo;</p><p>Or Peter Finch as anchorman Howard Beale in the 1976 movie &ldquo;Network&rdquo; bellowing, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m as mad as hell and I&rsquo;m not going to take this anymore.&rdquo;</p><p>Even little Oliver Twist, piping up, &ldquo;Please, sir. May I have some more?&rdquo;</p><p>Now imagine these rabble-rousers taking a cruise, together with 2,000 other make-me-happy passengers.</p><p>The 91.5 million people who have boarded cruise ships in the last 10 years, according to the Cruise Line Industry Association, have propelled an explosion in choices, activities and destinations that has redefined the industry. Ships are serving up enough creativity, passion and detail to please even the &ldquo;Odd Couple&rsquo;s&rdquo; finicky Felix Unger.</p><p>&ldquo;Twenty years ago most ships had little more to do onboard than eat, sunbathe and a modest show and dancing at night,&rdquo; said Paul Motter, editor of the online guide Cruisemates (www.cruisemates .com). &ldquo;Modern ships have attractions for every age group and almost every interest and have become a destination in themselves.&rdquo;</p><p>Consider these 10 things the industry has offered or developed in the last few years to keep passengers coming back &mdash; and bringing their friends and family.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">1. Expanded dining choices</span></strong></p><p>Norwegian Cruise Line is considered the pioneer in dealing with the Patrick Henrys on their passenger list.</p><p>By demanding liberty from regimented dining arrangements, Norwegian passengers set in motion an upheaval of services and amenities that continues to resonate throughout the industry, said Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of Cruise Critic, a Web site ( <a href="http://www.cruisecritic.com/">www.cruisecritic.com</a>) that reviews ships and reports on industry news.</p><p>&ldquo;The introduction of flexible dining in 2000 was like throwing a pebble in a lake,&rdquo; Spencer Brown said. &ldquo;The new NCL ships offer up to 13 dining rooms with seating anytime, and that significantly impacts when evening entertainment begins and really just about everything else on the ship.&rdquo;</p><p>At least six other lines have followed Norwegian&rsquo;s lead.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">2. Ports of call</span></strong></p><p>Cruise ports have materialized in almost every North American city that has access to a large body of water, including Miami; Charleston, S.C.; Boston; Tampa, Fla.; Galveston, Texas; San Diego; and Vancouver, British Columbia.</p><p>&ldquo;You can depart from anywhere anymore and disembark anywhere,&rdquo; said Susie VanderKamp, co-owner of the Cruise Connection travel agency in Kansas City, North.</p><p>VanderKamp recently worked with a couple who she thinks embody the power and possibilities of expanded ports of call. They drove to the Northeast to visit family and historic sites, then left from Boston on a cruise that will take them to one of the most popular new destinations &mdash; Iceland.</p><p>&ldquo;Three or four years ago, no one went to Iceland, and no one went to Alaska in the winter, but cruises are going to the most interesting places at the most interesting times of the year,&rdquo; VanderKamp said.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">3. Epic itineraries</span></strong></p><p>Although CLIA reports that the average length of a cruise is 7.1 days, the industry organization also notes a growing demand in round-the-world itineraries. Seven CLIA-member lines offer at least 10 voyages that circle the globe. At least half of those passengers stay the full length of the cruise, according to CLIA.</p><p>Cunard, the first line to offer world cruises, in 1922, now offers a 99-day &ldquo;Exploration of Distant Horizons&rdquo; cruise on the Queen Victoria. It is available in four segments, the most popular being a 31-day stretch from Singapore to New York.</p><p>Holland America will offer its first world cruise in 2009, a 114-day journey that will explore the east coast of Africa and cross the equator and international dateline simultaneously.</p><p>Other lines with world cruises include SilverSea, Crystal Cruises, Princess, Regent Seven Seas and Hurtigruten, whose longitudinal cruise departs Reykjavik, Iceland, and loops Antarctica in 67 days.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">4. Exotic excursions</span></strong></p><p>&ldquo;Shore excursions have become so much better over the years to appeal to all ages and activity levels,&rdquo; said Mimi Comfort, owner of Cruise Holidays in Kansas City, North. &ldquo;You can do <em>anything</em>.&rdquo;</p><p>Carnival Cruise Lines reports an average 16 percent growth in shore excursion participation in recent years. The company offers almost 2,000 excursion choices in 114 ports. One of its more popular excursions: training with the Jamaican bobsled team.</p><p>Seabourn passengers can dine above the Arctic Circle with the Lapp people; AMA Waterways guests can have dinner with families in Russia; Holland America offers sightseeing flights over Antarctica.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">5. Entertainment</span></strong></p><p>Laser effects, pyrotechnics, surround sound and computer-aided graphics are among advancements in technology that now fully immerse a shipboard audience.</p><p>&ldquo;Talent is still an important factor, but when you add in the technology, you get a level of entertainment that just wasn&rsquo;t possible on ships just 10 years ago,&rdquo; said Motter of Cruisemates.</p><p>Bigger ships allow for more authentic theater experiences. Scenery fly systems, trapdoors and turntables on stages are becoming more common. When Royal Caribbean launches its Oasis of the Seas in December 2009, its AquaTheater will have water-based productions shows reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil&rsquo;s &ldquo;O&rdquo; in Las Vegas.</p><p>&ldquo;Cruise lines are clearly gearing to younger people and more professional entertainers,&rdquo; Motter said, citing examples such as Norwegian&rsquo;s Second City theater and Royal Caribbean&rsquo;s &ldquo;Beatlemania.&rdquo;</p><p>He warns that cover charges may be implemented for entertainment options.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">6. Technology</span></strong></p><p>Advancements in technology also appeal to the road warrior, the workaholic and the computer nerd.</p><p>Nearly all cruise ships now are equipped with satellite services that allow passengers to use their personal cell phones, although the cost, determined by individual providers, often ranges from $4 to $10 a minute.</p><p>Internet cafes continue to evolve, and WiFi is also offered for computer users throughout many new ships. However, many cruise experts advise passengers to consider calling cards and Internet cafes in ports of call as more cost-effective.</p><p>On the Balmoral, one of five ships in the Fred Olsen line, passengers can use interactive TV to place orders for breakfast room service, wine with dinner or duty-free shopping and to order a film or book excursions.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">7. Enrichment</span></strong></p><p>Many cruisers want to learn more about where they are going, why other cultures do what they do or even how to do new things at home.</p><p>Cunard&rsquo;s response is Illuminations, the only planetarium at sea with programming by the Museum of Natural History, and Insights, a series of lectures by authors, scientists, artists and politicians.</p><p>Holland America, lauded for culinary programming through a partnership with <em>Food &amp; Wine </em>magazine, has partnered with Microsoft to offer workshops in digital photography, editing, blogging and digital scrapbooking.</p>