Chongqing, September 28, 2026 -- Century Vision, the new Yangtze flagship of Century Cruises, held its maiden-voyage ceremony at Chongqing Chaotianmen. The vessel officially joins the Century Premier fleet and begins its maiden-voyage season. At the same ceremony, Century Cruises unveiled its new Century Premier Brand Experience, offering global guests a river-cruise holiday built around "Culinary Excellence & Bespoke Service." The experience will be rolled out across the Century Premier fleet, covering the classic Three Gorges Chongqing–Yichang itinerary (4 days / 3 nights) and the reverse Yichang–Chongqing route (5 days / 4 nights).

At the press conference for the Century Premier Brand and the Century Vision maiden voyage, Century Cruises announced several brand-level changes. Its Yangtze inland fleet will adopt a three-tier product portfolio: Century Select, Century Premier and Century Ultra-Luxury. The three tiers are positioned differently and offer distinct holiday experiences, intended to meet the varied travel needs of guests from around the world.

Global Gastronomy Star-Chef Advisory Panel and Three Brand Offerings

In the global launch segment, the Global Gastronomy Star-Chef Advisory Panel — composed of six Chinese and international celebrity chefs — appeared on stage with the Century Concierge team and, together with distinguished guests, unveiled the Century Premier Brand Experience. Three brand offerings made their debut: Global Gastronomy, Dedicated Concierge Service and Hassle-Free Travel. The combination brings international culinary experience together with Eastern hospitality traditions in the context of a Yangtze River cruise holiday.

During the maiden-voyage celebration, the 100,000th inbound visitor to Yangtze River cruises in 2026 (verified by the Chongqing Shipping Exchange) and Century Cruises' Premier Brand Honored Guest No. 001 took part in the opening ceremony to witness the departure of Century Vision. Overseas guests choosing Century Cruises to experience the Yangtze's natural scenery and Chinese-style service reflect the brand's continued progress in developing international source markets. Honored Guest No. 001 is a repeat patron who is familiar with the brand and its service standards and has long witnessed the brand's product and service upgrades. Their joint appearance brought together the brand's international-market expansion and long-term guest trust at the maiden voyage of its new flagship.

New Flagship and Brand Upgrade

Century Vision is Century Cruises' new flagship, a key milestone in the brand's plan to upgrade the Yangtze inland-cruise market and part of its global-development journey. The vessel's successful maiden voyage reflects the brand's development approach: "Rooted in China, Connected to the World." The newly launched Century Premier Brand Experience draws on more than 30 years of the brand's service and culinary experience, re-interpreted through a global perspective to deliver inland-cruise holiday experiences for guests. The launch signals Century Cruises' intention to build a differentiated premier brand experience on the Yangtze and to continue raising its holiday offerings and hospitality standards.

As a flagship vessel of the Century Premier series, Century Vision measures 149.99 metres in length and 21.2 metres in beam, with a gross tonnage of 15,000 tonnes. Spread across seven decks, the ship houses 236 guest cabins for a maximum passenger capacity of 650 guests. Public amenities include the Century Grand Theatre, a top-deck observation terrace, the Jinmeng Court Lounge and the Riverside Library. The overall design follows the brand-refresh concept of "Peony as Emblem," drawing inspiration from light-luxury slow-travel aesthetics and motifs of natural river landscapes. Its dining and leisure concepts blend internationally popular flavours with innovative ideas. An original roaming-stage immersive show, Tales of the Yangtze, features NPC-style interactive performances. Passengers may take part in live-action exchanges with historical characters and immerse themselves in dramatic stories from the Yangtze River.

Exclusive Premier Dining Experience: Celebrity Chefs Present a Feast of East-West Cuisine

As a core part of the brand's product-portfolio adjustment, the Century Premier fleet, led by Century Vision, will be the first to roll out the Century Premier Brand Experience for global guests. Rooted in Century Cruises' refreshed international brand identity and its existing reputation for food and hospitality, this experience delivers an East-meets-West offering for visitors worldwide. At its core sit East-West Culinary Mastery and dedicated concierge service. Under the culinary theme "Tastes of the World, for Chinese Palates," the brand has created a signature dining proposition built around the Century Star-Chef Team, three signature dining themes and 50 premier signature dishes.

For its cross-cultural culinary programme, Century Cruises has assembled the Global Gastronomy Star-Chef Advisory Panel, comprising six distinguished international culinary professionals. The panel curates signature dishes inspired by culinary traditions from Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong SAR, China, and the Sichuan-Chongqing region. Together they have developed an exclusive menu of 50 premier signature dishes, alongside three global-gastronomy dining concepts that bring together European flavours, Asian specialities and local Yangtze-region cuisine: Global Theme Nights, River-Sourced Fresh-Feast Banquets and the Local-Flavour Discovery Series. Guests can sample more than 50 signature star-chef creations, premium-grade ingredients and Sichuan-Chongqing delicacies shaped by intangible-cultural-heritage traditions within a single East-meets-West gastronomic journey.

For over three decades, Century Cruises has adhered to quality-and-safety standards. It consistently enforces an Open-Kitchen policy that allows guests to watch food preparation live. Backed by the SGS-certified FSSC 22000 international food-safety-management system, quality-control requirements apply end-to-end across ingredient sourcing, food preparation and dining-service workflows. Craftsmanship is on display, and safety information is available. Guests can savour both global cuisines and authentic Yangtze-region fare with the relevant assurances in place.

Century Cruises has also partnered with Austrian star-chef Alfred Pichler and Italian creative star-chef Ilario Turri to deliver the Star-Chef European Premier Collection. Working with premium-grade ingredients, the collaboration re-imagines traditional Bavarian recipes and classic Italian dishes to bring a European culinary journey onboard.

End-to-End Century Concierge Service: Honoring the Brand's Guest-First Promise

As one of the earlier Yangtze inland-cruise brands to introduce a standardized concierge-service system, Century Cruises formally unveils its Dedicated Concierge service brand. Grounded in the Oriental hospitality ethos of thoughtful attention and refined moderation, the full-cycle, end-to-end standardized Dedicated Concierge offering makes its debut aboard Century Voyage and Century Vision. The Century Dedicated Concierge programme covers five core modules: Premier Service, Dedicated Welcome, Concierge Escort, Hassle-Free Transfers and Smooth Embarkation & Disembarkation. Guests receive systematic concierge support throughout their full travel life-cycle: pre-trip, on-trip and post-trip; online and offline; onboard and onshore. Effective 14 September 2026, guests sailing the Chongqing–Yichang route with the Century Premier fleet will enjoy complimentary transfer services to and from major transport hubs in Chongqing and Yichang.

About Century Cruises

Owned by Chongqing Guanda Group, Century Cruises operates three core inland river cruise lines: China's Yangtze River, Europe's Rhine & Danube Rivers, and Egypt's Nile River. With more than 30 years of heritage on the Yangtze, Century Cruises adheres to its brand ethos, "Deliver Elegance and Joys of Life." Signature Eastern hospitality is embedded across all guest touch points and product offerings. The brand is dedicated to delivering great river destination exploration and inland river cruise holidays for global guests.

Contact Info:
Name: Dao Zhou
Email: zhou.dao@interlace.cn
Organization: Beijing Interlace cultural communication company limited
Website: https://www.centurytrip.com

Release ID: 89204189

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