UHM,that's good ideal,but since three gorges dam buided ,many famous scenery spots under the water level.

An acquaintance of mine has. She said it stinks. Literally. The river reeks of poo, so it's hard to be outside on the deck

Ive done the cruise from Chongqing through the Three Gorges and the dam to Yichang, Hubei.

I didnt notice the river stinking too bad. I mean, maybe im just used to the smells in china?

Anyway, i had flown into Chongqing to visit friends and someone there set me up with a travel agency about this cruise. It was something like 2400 RMB per person which i thought was ludicrous. We spent an entire day tracking down the actual company itself in an attempt to get cheaper tickets, we get there and they were trying to charge us more than the travel agency! We basically said "f*** you!" and crawled back to the travel agency.

It turns out that the costs depend on which country you are from, with americans paying the most, again, about 2400 RMB if i remember right.

The cruise itself was run by a company, i think, was called Victoria Cruises. Foreigners were segregated from Chinese in both living area and dining table. This kind of bothered me because i generally like to rub elbows with the chinese and I had to sit with a load of boring ass couples and their kids. I would give the food a 3 out of 10. A mix between the type of chinese food you would get in the US and shitty western food. The saving grace of these meals was that on two occasions you got to drink a ton of champagne for free.

Ship had 4 levels with the foreigners' rooms and a bar at the top. 1 floor with all rooms and the lobby floor that contained the dining room and a basement for the staff. The whole staff spoke english and for the most part were very friendly.

On the last night I was at the bar, which was, understandably being on a cruise ship, way over priced drinking and chatting with the bartender when one of the staff members, a manager of sorts, drunkenly yelled out that I was a 傻逼 because I asked for a free drink when he had just given the two chinese patrons next to me one. (Needless to say when there was an envelope left in every room gently suggesting that you leave a lump tip to be split up between all crew members, I didnt leave them sh*t.)

The excursions off the boat werent too exciting, the only memorable one was an island that represented a sort of underworld in daoism. It was nice because the buildings were actually old, not that prefabricated/refurbished b.s. that covers most of China. The gorges themselves were definitely beautiful and you did get to do a side trip into the Mini Three Gorges that was also pretty fun. The dam tour included a tour guide that makes sure to say,"I think the dam has made my life better and am proud for it to be here."

The beds arent long enough to accommodate a tall person.

Also, when my friends and I got to the dock we realized we should have bought some drinks in order to avoid the high cost of the bar. Luckily there were people on the dock selling bottles of liquor; unfortunately, it turned out to be some of the worst counterfeit liquor i have yet to drink. I literally couldnt drink more than one sip.

It wasnt the best, but if you are set on going on a cruise through the three gorges, or just on the yangtze, it is definitely the most comfortable that includes guided sight-seeing. Bring your own liquor if you are a drinker but definitely dont buy it at the dock. Go through a travel agent. And it would also probably be smart to bring a bunch of snacks as between meal times there isnt much to be had. You can only get room service which is just an extra expense and not remotely tasty.

Also, be sure to get off the boat as soon as you reach Yichang otherwise you will be had by the taxi drivers there. We took the time to sleep in on the boat and ended up paying about 200 kuai to get to a hotel.

In conclusion:

It satisfied the basic criteria for what a cruise actually is but the food was terrible, the staff while mostly friendly were very cheesy, and in my opinion it was grossly overpriced.

The three gorges were beautiful and it only makes me wonder how much better they looked prior to the dam.