8 Days Yangtze Century Legend Cruise in Spring with Shanghai Exploration

Hi, I’m Johnson, Peter and his family’s travel consultant! Shanghai is usually served as the best gateway to the Yangtze River for an upstream cruise from Yichang to Chongqing. To enjoy worry free service along the way, it is a better idea to cover airport drop-off and city transfer from/to the cruise ports throughout just as Mr. Peter and his family did.

Century Legend was launched in 2013, Catered specifically for western travelers and often chartered by river lines such as Uniworld and Avalon. The vessel is much larger than European riverboats, offering scaled down facilities similar to an ocean ship. It was designed by Yran & Storbrraton, the Norwegian navel architectural firm that has worked with lines including Seabourn, Disney Cruises, Holland America and Viking.

8 Days Private Tour (Shanghai-Yichang-Yangtze-Chongqing)

After our Celebrity Millennium cruise from Hong Kong to Shanghai, we booked a 8 days private tour with Johnson Wang at yangtze-river-cruises.com with 2 nights in Shanghai, bullet train to Yichang, 1 night in Yichang (and tour), 5 night Yangtze River cruise on Century Legend from Yichang to Chongqing, Chongqing tour and airport drop-off + transfers throughout.

In China, it is advisable to pre-book transfers with reliable local agents (ship transfers and western websites are expensive). Johnson is exceptionally helpful in every respect, emails were answered promptly, local guides were punctual and good and he even called us on two occasions to make sure everything went well.

In Shanghai, followed Johnson’s suggestions and our likes, we tried to explore on our own. After arrival in Yichang, we enjoyed visits to Yichang Museum, Yiling Square, Three Travelers’ Cave before we boarded the Century Legend cruise. In Chongqing, we saw Eling Park, Ciqikou Ancient Town and Three Gorges Museum after the cruise.

Century Legend Cruise Experience in Late March

As to the Yangtze River cruise it was generally good as it was beautiful and wonderful going thru the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam was an eye opener and one marveled at the scale of such construction.

We upgraded dining to the VIP dining room on Deck 6 after reading some reviews on TripAdvisor and glad we did. We were shocked at the Captain's Farewell dinner on the last night when everyone had to dine in the Main Dining room - it was extremely noisy and crowded, the lines at the buffet were long, food got cold quickly because of the lines and if you waited, you would go hungry!

Our deluxe cabin with balcony was nice and spacious. Other than the 3 excursions to Three Gorges Dam, Shennv Stream and Shibaozhai Pagoda (all good), we saw 2 movies in the theatre and there were 2 nights' entertainment by the crew (again rather high standard for amateurs). There is a swimming pool and spa on the lower deck which we didn't use.

Breakfast was from 6.45 am to 8.15 am with one shore excursion started as early at 8 am. The 2 Tai chi practice (which we would love to participate) were scheduled from 6.30-7.00 am and 7.00-7.30 am. We are not early risers so were not too happy about it.

Getting on and off the ship was quite hectic. Because of the changing water level, there were many steps. From Yichang, there was a trolley car that went down the slope to water level but at Chongqing Chaotianmen Port, you had to negotiate 4-5 sets of steep stairs after a long walkway on water. Both ways our local guide had arranged porters.

Overall, I am glad we ticked this off our bucket list but it is something you would do just once.

Johnson Wang

“Hi, I’m Johnson, Peter and his family’s travel consultant! Are you interested in Peter's 8 Days Private Tour (Shanghai-Yichang-Yangtze-Chongqing)? Want to know his detailed trip itinerary, accommodation, transportation or other arrangements? Feel free to contact me, and I will be glad to tell you more stunning stories about the places he visited. Or, if you want to customize a China Yangtze tour on your own, I'm always ready to help at any time.”