Arriving by cruise

Yes, your itinerary:

Japan - Shanghai - US

Is definitely eligible for visa free transit in Shanghai area. Anyway, there is one conditions and it says that your flight from Shanghai to New York is not allowed to have any additional landing within mainland China and in Japan.

Whether you will be eligible for 24 or 144 hour visa free transit is directly related to your entire transit time in Shanghai. If your entire transit time, calculated from your scheduled arrival in Shanghai by a cruise, until your scheduled departure by plane is less than 24 hours, you will be eligible for 24 hour visa free transit and if your entire transit time is longer than 24 hours for just a minute, you will be eligible for 144 hour visa free transit. In any case, you will travel visa free and you don't need any kind of visa.

72 hour visa free transit has been replaced in Shanghai by more generous 144 hour visa free transit a couple of years ago.