The difference in TWOV processing at PEK and PVG is like chalk and cheese; simple, speedy, efficient in Beijing, and like an episode of Yes Minister with the best of bureaucratic incompetence in Shanghai.
In Beijing the signage is easy to follow and leads you to the right place, where you are then greeted with; a smile, a welcome, a stamp and then sent quickly on your way...
In Shanghai, arriving at PVG is far more of an "adventure". First up, the signage to the TWOV desk is pretty poor, not visible until you have just about stumbled upon the desk. So my best advise is - follow the herds arriving and heading for the standard immigration booths (the signs won't mention TWOV, just foreigners with visas, but you are heading in the right direction). Don't be tempted to side track when you see the Visa On Arrival desk sign, it is a red herring and will take you off in the wrong direction... Eventually, as you approach the foreigners-with-visa processing area, you will finally see a TWOV visa sign, pointing you way off to the side, away from all the masses, at the very end of the row of processing desks - so head there.
Now the next issue is, there are two types of TWOV in Shanghai; 24hrs and 144hrs, and for the latter you need to fill out a blue form (you were given the standard yellow form on the plane, still fill this in and hold onto it). The problem is that blue forms are only available from the person at the immigration counter: so you line up and get asked where your blue form is (which you obviously don't have, as the immigration official is the only person who can give it to you). So you take the form from them, and go back to fill it out, then re-join the end of the queue, and return to the same official who will now process you. This is a slow and labourious process, you will need to present your hotel and outbound ticket information, and the official will enter all this into the immigration computer before moving over to their separate laptop, where they will use that to look up and confirm your departure flight using your PNR and the booking engine or airline manage my booking website*. (Then they will give you a nice little sticker in your passport for all your troubles, not just a stamp like Beijing, and you are on your way.)
* I have no idea how they will do this with a cruise ship departure.
Final Note: even though the immigration official will not keep any of your inbound yellow arrivals card, and you get to keep the whole thing as if it wasn't necessary to fill out (having been usurped by the blue card)... don't throw it away, because even though your entry was not processed using it, you will still need the yellow card's exit portion when you leave Shanghai!
