Mumbai

Mumbai, India’s economic powerhouse, has taken a remarkable step toward becoming a global hub for cruise tourism with the inauguration of the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal (MICT) on September 2025. The terminal is designed to enhance Mumbai’s tourism while keeping India as a top destination for international cruise liners. This is part of India’s larger vision to boost cruise tourism and create world-class infrastructure at key ports along its vast coastline.

A Cutting-Edge Facility for Global Cruise Lines The MICT spans over an impressive 415,000 square feet and is equipped to handle up to one million passengers annually, with a daily capacity of 15,000 passengers. With 72 check-in and immigration counters, the terminal is designed to provide a seamless and efficient experience for tourists arriving in Mumbai. The terminal’s state-of-the-art facilities include a dedicated pier that can accommodate up to five large cruise ships of 300 meters each, ensuring smooth operations for both international and domestic cruises.

Taxis are generally available at the port entrance. Be sure to agree on the fare before starting out. Outside the terminal they are cheaper. A short trip to the Gateway of India should only cost around 30 rupees but as a foreigner, you should be happy to pay around 50 rupees. The blue/silver taxis are a little more expensive, but have airconditioning.

The Cruise Terminal has check- in baggage handling facilities, a lounge, duty free shop, curios and handicraft stalls and toilets etc.

Printable map to take along.

Mumbai (Bombay) is a colorful, vibrant, energetic and friendly city, with a varied and fascinating history. It boasts the finest collection of Victorian buildings anywhere in Asia and a myriad of temples and mosques.

Some examples of High Victorian architecture include Mumbai University, Standard Chartered Bank Building and Municipal Corporation Building, while other sites worth a visit are: the Shrine of Haji Ali (a Muslim saint who died while on pilgrimage to Mecca), which overlooks the sea; Jehangir Art Gallery; the neo-classical Town Hall, built between 1821 and 1833 to designs by Colonel Thomas Cowper; St Thomas's Anglican Cathedral; Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, comparable to New York's Grand Central Station or London's St Pancras; and the Gateway of India, built by the British to commemorate the visit to India in 1911 of King George…

Mumbai is different from the rest of India in pretty much the same way that New York is different from the United States. The pace of life is more hurried; time is money and money is important. The idea that in this city one can always make a living one way or another is pervasive.

To really see anything you'll need to take a ship's excursion.

Taxis (Yellow and Black) are cheap and plentiful. Taxis in Mumbai are small-medium sized cars with no A/C. A 3 hour shopping trip is about $30 per taxi.

Cool Cabs are Blue/Silver in colour and have electronic meters and have A/C, but are about 40% more expensive.

Follow the queue system to board a taxi. Quite frequently, tourists and new visitors are mobbed by unscrupulous taxi drivers. Most taximen are honest, but the dishonest ones tend to cluster around railway stations and airports where they can more easily find suckers. Unless you are taking a prepaid taxi, always ask taxis to go by the meter. At the start of the journey, ensure that the meter is visible and shows the flag-down fare/meter reading. Traffic can be very chaotic so watch the time.

Elephanta Island. This island is a popular tourist destination because of the island's cave temples, the Elephanta Caves, that have been carved out of rock.

The island is easily accessible by ferry from Mumbai, being about 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) from the south east coast of the island city. Boats leave daily from the Gateway of India, taking about an hour each way. The tickets for these can be bought at the Gateway itself. The first ferry leaves at 9 am and the last at 2 pm.

From the boat landing stage on the island, a walkway leads to steps that go up to the famous caves. There is also a narrow-gauge toy train from the boat area on the dock to the base of the steps leading up to the caves (about 600 meters). Along the path, hawkers sell souvenirs like necklaces, anklets, showpieces and keychains. There are also stalls to buy food and drinks. Small monkeys play along the sides of the path, occasionally thieving items from the hawkers, trashcans and tourists.

Spices, silks, electrical goods, diamonds, Indian furniture and tailor-made clothes.

The currency in India is the Indian rupee.

In the big cities, credit cards are accepted at retail chain stores and other westernized restaurants and stores. Small businesses and family-run stores almost never accept credit cards, so it is useful to keep a moderate amount of cash on hand.

Hindi, English and 21 other official languages

Internet kiosks are everywhere nowadays and they charge as low as as Rs. 10 per hour. Beware of using your credit cards online as many cases have come forward regarding credit cards thefts using key loggers.

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