The China programme vanished without a word
The Century Paragon worked the Yangtze, between Chongqing and the Three
Gorges. She no longer appears in this brand's catalogue, and no announcement
went with her withdrawal. No release, no note, no date: the China programme
simply stopped existing on the site.
The hull never belonged to the line. She is operated by a Chinese shipowner
established at Chongqing, who charters her to foreign tour operators season by
season. A charter that ends is not told as a sale: nothing changed owner, a
contract reached its term.
The largest ship in this set
One hundred and forty-two metres and 199 cabins for 398 travellers, in
service since 2013. That is a scale unrelated to European river cruising: four
times the capacity of a Douro hull, on a length barely greater than a Rhine
ship's. Sources also give four hundred and eight travellers and one hundred and
ninety-six cabins depending on the layout counted.
The Yangtze is sailed by large units because the river allows it: no narrow
locks, no low bridges, a comfortable draught. The Three Gorges Dam itself is
passed by ship lift or by a series of locks, and the transit takes several
hours.
The distant rivers still in the programme
The Mekong Jewel covers the Mekong. The Ganges Voyager II works the Ganges. The Aria Amazon runs the Peruvian
Amazon. The S.S. Sphinx sails the Nile.
Owned or chartered
Both, depending on the hull. This line owns part of its fleet and rents the
rest from shipowners who keep those vessels in their own catalogues. The sales
material does not draw the distinction, which is why some disappearances stay
unexplained.
A chartered ship can leave the programme overnight without being sold,
without being scrapped, without even changing name. It simply goes back to the
company that has always operated it.
The inclusions, unrounded
The fare covers onboard gratuities, drinks at meals and the excursions
listed in the itinerary. It also covers internet access, with no promise of
performance whatever: coverage varies enormously from one stretch of river to
the next.
It does not cover the air. Nor does it cover gratuities to coach drivers
during shore excursions, unlike those to the crew. And airport transfers are
included only provided the ticket comes from the line.
Reduced mobility: read this before booking
Able companion required. Folding wheelchair only. Mobility scooter refused.
Disembarkation possible mid-voyage, with no refund, if the crew judges the
traveller can no longer follow the programme.
The number of adapted cabins is published nowhere, on any ship, and the
site's accessibility statement covers only the site itself. Bathrooms are
fitted with grab bars, which does not make them accessible bathrooms. Your
advisor asks the questions case by case before confirming anything.
Three legal systems, none of them Quebec's
River transport is contracted under Swiss law, with venue at Rheinfelden;
the line's own documents name Rheinfelden in one place and Basel in another,
and that contradiction sits in its own conditions. On the Canadian side, it is
Ontario. On the American side, California.
No Quebec licence is established for this operator. It is the agency that
brings the protection from here: a licence from the Office de la protection du
consommateur, a trust account separate from the firm's own funds, and the
Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents. Those three follow a booking
made here, and only that one.
