A few months ago, a longtime friend in the cruise industry let me know he was going to work for Century Cruises based in China. The first thing I thought was, “What the heck is he doing?” Well, clearly he knew what he was doing, as this previously unknown to me cruise line rolls out to the American market, who it is, and what its plans are. They are impressive.
Preface: I have been invited, along with a small number of chosen social media writers and travel advisors, to experience a Century cruise on the Yangtze River, visiting the famous Three Gorges and Chongqing, with pre- and post-cruise experiences in Beijing, Xi’an, Suzhou, and Shanghai starting September 7, 2025. While I visited these cities in early 2019 (you can search my website for the articles), I am looking forward not only to the river cruise I have wanted to experience for years, but going back to these cities to see how things have changed and, even though I did take some private tours and wandered on my own in 2019, how Century Cruises delivers its view of them. This trip is about far more than experiencing a Chinese river cruise. It is about understanding a whole lot more.
Now, let’s start at the beginning (which is usually the best place to start!). Before Covid-19, Century Cruises “white labeled” its Yangtze River cruise ships, booked as Uniworld, AmaWaterways, and Viking, as they chartered Century’s ships (50,000 to 70,000 passengers per year). After Covid-19, North American travel to China all but stopped, and Century had to do something, as while the Chinese guests continued to sail on its ships, demand dropped a bit, and it became more focused on international travelers and travel.
Century Cruises is owned by a conglomerate that also owns shipyards, which decided to engage in a multi-pronged strategy.
- The first prong was establishing a North American presence by opening an office in South Florida. That is the least impressive.
- The second prong is to develop river cruises in Egypt and the European rivers. More specifically, in Egypt, after acquiring a shipyard, it purchased 70% of Sunrise Resorts and Cruises, which already has luxury river cruise ships and, importantly, docking rights in important locations. Not waiting for its newbuilds, Century is chartering the Sunrise ships, Semiramis II and III, for 2026 with a split focus on the Chinese (30%), North American (45%), and European (25%) markets. On the European river cruise side of things, Century Cruises has been chartering Amadeus River Cruise ships for its Chinese clientele for years, now utilizing three ships (including the new Amadeus Amara). A fourth, newbuild will also be used in 2026. It has also entered a joint venture to build new river cruise ships and expects to expand its markets, also carrying North Americans.
- The third prong, for now, is to venture into the ocean cruise world…but that is not in the immediate future.
Unlike the rather audacious plans of another company that literally bankrupted Crystal Cruises, Century and its owner are seemingly undertaking a multinational approach of bringing North Americans to China and Chinese to Egypt and the European rivers with luxury, but not with outrageous plans for private jets and more. Also, while I am not a fan of shipyards being owned by the ship owners, due to my experience of there not being enough tension during the shipbuilding process, with these folks already having experience on the shipbuilding side of things, along with their dealings being joint ventures (so there is some tension), I am optimistic.
Now, for my (and hopefully your) immediate interest: I will be sailing on the 2024-built Century Voyage. It holds up to 650 guests, as river cruises on the Yangtze River are on larger ships, unlike those in Europe (where the ship sizes and amenities are limited due to the shallow rivers and complex lock systems). The Century Voyage was built in 2024 and is all veranda except for thirteen inside staterooms, and it has significantly larger staterooms (averaging 347 square feet) than one would have expected.
