When I was surfing the Internet and browsing some posts without any purpose on tripadvisor.com this morning, I just found something interesting. It was about our Yangtze River Cruise visitor MBA from Chicago, America.
He posted some comments in different time on tripadvisor.com and highly recommended yangtze-river-cruises.com & Century Cruises to all of the Yangtze Cruisers. Let’s read his posts together and check out why he highly recommended Century Cruises.
The first post was written on Nov. 24, 2012 after cruising Century Diamond on Yangtze River.
“3 Day Yangtze River Cruise on Century Diamond – Highlight of our trip to China”
“We just returned from traveling in China. Our 3 day cruise Century Diamond from Chongqing to Yichang was probably the favorite part of our trip. While this is not luxury-style cruising, the accommodations were more than comfortable.
We booked into a standard size cabin, and resisted the efforts to upgrade us upon check in (our travel agent, Judy Chen of Chongqing Dahua Travel, had advised us that this was a standard practice so we were prepared). The cabin more than sufficient in size for 2 people — including closets and shelving where we could place clothes for the duration of the trip, and space under the beds where we slid our suitcases. The room was spotless, with 2 firm twin beds, and a small seating area with loveseat, as well as a balcony with 2 chairs. 4 complementary bottles (2 per person) of water were provided each day, with more available for purchase (we never needed any extras).
The mix of passengers was about 60% Chinese nationals, a group of about 40 Germans traveling as a group, with the balance a variety of passengers classed as “English-speaking” although this included a variety of Western Europeans for whom English was a second language. We were the only Americans on board, which was fine with us; we were assigned to a table in the dining room with 4 very convivial Australian couples.
Food was fine, but certainly not gourmet. With the exception of a “banquet style” dinner our last night, all food was served buffet style.
The staff on the cruise was professional and accommodating. On board narration was provided as we passed through each of the 3 gorges in Chinese and English by a single guide, Gary, with another guide providing German-language narrative on another deck to the German group. Gary was also available to assist with logistical questions, throughout the trip.
We had one problem that the staff solved immediately: Contrary to cruise regulations, which restrict smoking to outdoors spaces (including individual balconies), it was apparent to us that our next door neighbors were smoking in their cabin. We advised the front desk, and they evidently admonished our neighbors, as the problem never recurred.
Bottom line: We really enjoyed the pace of relaxing along the river, watching the Chinese countryside roll by, especially after several days rushing around crowded (and air-polluted) cities. Sure, the accommodations and food at each of the 5-start hotels that we stayed in the various Chinese cities exceeded the accommodations on the Century Diamond but if the goal were to just stay in nice hotels, we could have checked into the Peninsula in Chicago and saved ourselves the bother of traveling to China. This was a great opportunity to see a different face of China, and it was by no means “roughing it.”
Later on, he post another posts on yangtze-river-cruise.com page on Mar. 29, 2013 to recommend Century Cruises to other guests who want to visit Yangtze.
“We booked a cruise on the Century Diamond through them last November and were very satisfied. The tour operator was Judy Chen, who was highly responsive in answering questions via email in the weeks leading up to the cruise, as well as a telephone inquiry that we made while in China a few days before we boarded.
Not sure what you mean about the standard of the services on board. So far as I could determine all passengers on the ship received identical service, directly from the staff of the Century Diamond. (I’ve got a review posted elsewhere about our cruise, which I wrote up when it was fresher in my mind.)”
MBA, thank you very much. As for myself, I cruised Century Paragon and joined its maiden voyage on Mar. 19, 2013. I should say Century Cruises now is the most luxurious fleet offering the most personalized service & the best cruise experience on Yangtze. Whether you are a first-time cruiser or had dozens of time experience, Century Cruises will never fail to offer the “Best”.