China's second domestically built large cruise ship, Adora Flora City, departed from the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal in east China on Monday, starting its first trial voyage.
The ship is scheduled to arrive at the Nansha International Cruise Home Port in Guangzhou, south China, on Nov 12. This voyage is set to comprehensively test the cruise ship's operational capabilities, marking a key step toward its formal entry into commercial operation.
During the voyage, systematic tests and adjustments will be carried out in areas including maritime operations, navigation safety, products and services, ship-shore coordination, and ship-wide information systems, according to the operator.
Under simulated real operating conditions, stress tests will also be conducted on core guest experiences such as cabin service, dining and entertainment, and shopping and leisure, to further examine coordination and response capabilities among various departments.
A manager with Adora Cruises said the first trial voyage is an important part of the preparations for the ship's maiden voyage, and serves as a real-world test of operational support capabilities, product experience and service procedures.
"Today, the second large-scale, domestically-built cruise ship, Adora Flora City, embarked on its maiden trial voyage with nearly 3,000 guests on board. This voyage serves as a stress test for various aspects of the cruise experience—including customer service, dining, entertainment, and leisure—while also refining interdepartmental coordination and response times, all in preparation for the ship’s official inaugural voyage [from Shanghai] to Guangzhou," said Guo Jia, the cruise ship’s assistant vice president in the product and guest experience sector.
"This is my first time on a cruise ship. The decoration here is incredibly luxurious and beautiful, and there's a wealth of delicious food and artistic performances on board. I look forward to enjoying all of this over the next few days," said a tourist participating in the trial voyage.
After arriving in Guangzhou, the ship will proceed with preparations for home port berthing, port coordination and maiden voyage service procedures. A second trial voyage is planned for Nov. 14-16, and the ship will launch its inaugural season from Guangzhou on Nov. 22.
Adora Flora City was delivered in Shanghai last Friday, marking the successful completion of a major national engineering project after 13 years of research and development and eight years of shipbuilding.
The project, which involved the construction of two domestically built cruise ships, Adora Flora City and Adora Magic City — the nation's first domestically built cruise ship delivered on November 4, 2023 — represents a historic leap for China's shipbuilding industry toward series production and large-scale development, said senior executives.
China's second homegrown large cruise ship starts first trial voyage
