Victoria Cruises (http://www.victoriacruises.com) has re-launched two of its five-star vessels for the 2012 season on China’s Yangtze River (pictured right). The Victoria Sophia and Victoria Grace – formerly known as Victoria Prince and Victoria Empress, respectively – set sail for the first time under their new monikers this month with a completely redesigned interior featuring an improved aesthetic Victoria Cruises’ executives have dubbed “modern elegance.” The cruise line has also added a second dining room to each ship which includes an Executive Lounge for passengers booking the company’s new “Executive Deck” VIP program.

The Executive Deck program has been hailed as a major success by several U.S. tour operators with whom Victoria Cruises partners to provide the Yangtze River cruise segment for packaged China vacations, particularly those catering to upscale passengers. The program features “white glove” concierge service, enhanced ship placement, access to exclusive VIP areas, exclusive shore excursions for groups of six or more, enhanced dining privileges, exclusive happy hour, complimentary Internet access and exclusive cultural demonstrations – and is now available on all of Victoria Cruises’ ships.

“Last year, we retired our last remaining classic-category ship and re-launched two of our older five-star vessels with massive structural renovations. This followed the previous year’s overhaul of two additional vessels as well as an entirely new five-star build, the Victoria Jenna,” noted Larry Greenman, manager of public relations and customer service for Victoria Cruises.

“Much like our previous renovations projects, the Victoria Sophia and Victoria Grace are entirely new ships on the interior, maximizing comfort for our passengers and surpassing expectations in terms of ambiance.

“With these ships coming back online, Victoria Cruises is poised to once again raise the bar on the Yangtze with a modern fleet of exclusively five-star vessels stocked with the most lavish amenities available on the river,” added Greenman.

Victoria Cruises actually began renovating the Victoria Sophia last winter, but with the bulk of its effort at that time going into the Victoria Lianna and Victoria Selina, Victoria Cruises decided to wait until this winter to complete its overhaul of the Victoria Sophia alongside that of the Victoria Grace.