We combined this cruise with 8 days of independent travel in the Yunnan province just before the tour. While we loved the independent experience, it was exhausting negotiating China on our own and the language barriers meant that we really missed a lot when we visited sites. This tour really made up for that. While we were less than impressed with Shanghai, the rest of the tour was spectacular. I would suggest starting in Shanghai, when you still may be a bit groggy from the time change, and then traveling the Yangtze, with the finish in Beijing. Be sure to sign up for the optional tour of Beijing Opera ( which was really four short acts) with Peking Duck dinner.
The cruise portion was outstanding. Good size rooms, even in the lowest price range. We actually liked the bottom floor which was the least expensive. We didn't experience any "rockiness" and it was convenient to be able to walk down the hall to the dining area. The shipboard lectures were outstanding. Normally we would skip the Crew production on the last night, but don't miss this one. One of the waiters is trained in Chinese Facemask changing... he is one of only several hundred in the entire country that can do it and it was a very special experience to see it.
Food on the ship was very good. Mostly Western food on ship and Chinese food when off the ship. All hotels had large buffets with a combination of Western and Chinese food.The dining room hours were a bit short, so everyone on the ship ate at once. That made it somewhat noisy. We could rarely hear the people who sat across our table of eights ( open seating), even though we purposely sat at the back, away from the crowd as much as possible.