Cruising out of Baoshan, Is visa required?

From Wusongkou in Baoshan? If you fly to Shanghai then go to take the cruise to Japan within 24 hours, then you are eligible for 24hr visa free transit.

Jess, you have offered just a portion of the information needed in order to determine your eligibility for 24 hour visa free transit or better to say we only know that you will depart from Shanghai - Baoshan (this is Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal) toward Japan.

We need an information what will be the immediate airport where you will depart to Shanghai from and how long will be your layover in Shanghai.

To simplify, if your immediate airport before Shanghai will be in a country different than both mainland China and Japan and if your entire transit time in Shanghai, based on your scheduled arrival and your scheduled departure is shorter than 24 hours, you are eligible for 24 hour visa free transit and you do not need any kind of visa. When I have mentioned different country, you can also use Chinese territories of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau as eligible departure points toward Shanghai.

I hope I have somewhat cleared your doubts.