Shanghai Waigaoqiao delivers Adora Flora City, China's second home-built large cruise ship
The 141,900 gt ship was finished eight months faster than her sister and starts commercial sailings from Nansha on 22 November
Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS), a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, handed over Adora Flora City on 6 November, China's second domestically built large cruise ship. The 141,900 gt vessel completes a two-ship programme launched in 2013 and arrived almost two months ahead of her original delivery date.
The ship is 341 metres long, with 2,130 cabins and suites and room for up to 5,232 passengers. She is 17.4 metres longer and 6,400 gt larger than her sister Adora Magic City, delivered on 4 November 2023, with most of the extra space given over to public areas. She also carries two more exhaust gas scrubbers and five selective catalytic reduction systems.
How much faster was the second ship?
Her construction cycle was eight months shorter than the first ship's, and overall construction efficiency improved by about 20%. Installation work was more than 98% complete when the hull left the building dock, and system commissioning was already roughly where Adora Magic City had been at the start of her sea trials. The second ship needed one inclining test and one programme of sea trials.
The share of domestically sourced equipment and materials rose by about five percentage points, covering bulk and interior materials, balcony packages, entertainment lifting systems and some pumps and distribution boards. SWS describes its supply base as one assembly yard working with about 100 main contractors and some 1,500 suppliers.
Both ships trace back to contracts signed between CSSC, Carnival Corporation and Fincantieri at the first China International Import Expo on 6 November 2018, with Fincantieri's joint venture providing a platform technology licence and project management, supply chain and key systems support.
What comes next for Chinese cruise building?
Adora Cruises, part of China Tourism Group, will operate the ship. Passenger trial voyages leave Shanghai on 9 November and Guangzhou on 14 November, before the maiden commercial sailing from Guangzhou Nansha International Cruise Home Port on 22 November, a six-day, five-night round trip calling at Hong Kong and Chan May in Vietnam.
In March 2026 CSSC and China Tourism Group signed a memorandum covering two further cruise ships plus an option for one more, with the first independently designed and built vessel targeted by the end of 2030; firm contracts have yet to follow. SWS is also planning a dedicated cruise assembly base with proposed capacity of about 500,000 gt a year, equivalent to three or four ships of this size, and expects further shipbuilding contracts could be signed in 2027.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 12 November 2026.
