Liu of the Royal Caribbean Group said the sailing of Spectrum of the Seas in April will represent the return of international standard cruise vacations, and also signal the arrival of the next golden decade in the industry's development.

"The Chinese government has clearly articulated its development goals, aiming to achieve a market size of 14 million cruise guests per year by 2035. With such strong government backing and a growing appetite for cruise travel among Chinese consumers, we anticipate the market will regain its strength," Liu said.

With Shanghai's strengths in cruise ship infrastructure and facilities and its attractiveness to major global cruise lines, it will only be a matter of time before the city returns to its peak, Qiu said.

The overall cruise ship capacity of Shanghai is approaching the 2019 level, but further efforts are needed to improve customer convenience and provide policy support for the market to reach 3 million passenger trips per year.

"Being the birthplace of the nation's first homegrown large cruise ship, Shanghai has the potential and capability to develop itself into the centerpiece of a new global cruise industrial chain," Zheng, from the CCYIA, said.

Major cruise liner shipyards in Europe have already formed several exclusive supply chains after decades of development.

China's industrial chain is still in its infancy, however, different from its European counterparts, the Chinese industrial chain will be inclusive and open to global suppliers, he said.

"It will be a long journey to accomplish such an ambitious goal, and I expect it will take at least a decade to see that come true," Zheng said.