Shanghai's North Bund Plays Host to Two Luxury Cruise Calls

Shanghai’s North Bund saw two high-end cruise ship visits last week, with most passengers taking advantage of China’s expanded visa-free entry policy.

The first arrival was Regent’s Seven Seas Explorer on March 6, which docked at the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal at the North Bund. According to port and immigration officials, around 99 percent of passengers qualified for and used the 15-day visa-free transit policy upon arrival.

The second visit followed on March 11, when Luminara made its first call to mainland China. Also docking at the North Bund terminal, early figures suggest that more than 80 percent of its international passengers entered under the same visa-free arrangement.

Together, these back-to-back calls marked the official start of Shanghai’s 2026 port-of-call cruise season.