Mumbai

India’s economic powerhouse, Mumbai, took a significant step towards becoming an international cruise hub with the September 2025 opening of Mumbai International Cruise Terminal (MICT). Intended to grow the city’s tourism and maintain India as a leading destination for overseas cruise lines, the development forms part of a wider national plan for cruise growth and world-class facilities at important ports along the extensive coastline.

Built as an advanced facility for global cruise operators, MICT covers 415,000 square feet. It can process one million passengers a year and 15,000 per day. Its 72 immigration and check-in desks are intended to make arrivals smooth and efficient. A dedicated pier forms part of the modern complex and can berth five large cruise vessels, each measuring 300 meters, supporting both domestic and international operations.

Taxis are usually waiting at the port entrance, and fares should be settled before setting off; those outside the terminal cost less. A brief journey to the Gateway of India should be around 30 rupees, though foreign passengers can reasonably pay about 50 rupees. Blue-and-silver taxis are slightly dearer but include airconditioning.

Facilities at the Cruise Terminal include check-in baggage handling, a lounge, duty-free store, curios and handicraft stalls, toilets and more.

Bring a printable map.

Mumbai, formerly Bombay, is friendly, energetic, colourful and vibrant, with a varied, absorbing past. It contains Asia’s finest collection of Victorian buildings, alongside countless mosques and temples.

High Victorian examples include Mumbai University, the Standard Chartered Bank Building and the Municipal Corporation Building. Other notable places are the seafront Shrine of Haji Ali, a Muslim saint who died while travelling to Mecca; Jehangir Art Gallery; Colonel Thomas Cowper’s neo-classical Town Hall, constructed between 1821 and 1833; St Thomas’s Anglican Cathedral; Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, comparable with New York’s Grand Central Station or London’s St Pancras; and the Gateway of India, erected by the British to mark King George’s 1911 visit to India…

Mumbai differs from India much as New York differs from the United States. Life moves faster, with time treated as money and money carrying importance. A widespread belief holds that there is always some way to earn a living in the city.

A ship-organised excursion is needed to see anything properly.

Yellow-and-black taxis are inexpensive and abundant. They are small-to-medium cars without A/C, and a 3 hour shopping journey costs about $30 for each taxi.

Blue-and-silver Cool Cabs have A/C and electronic meters but cost approximately 40% more.

Join the taxi queue when boarding. Although most drivers are honest, disreputable ones often surround tourists and newcomers, especially at railway stations and airports where targets are easier to find. Unless the taxi is prepaid, insist on the meter; before moving, check that it is visible and displays the flag-down fare or initial reading. Allow for Mumbai’s chaotic traffic when watching the time.

Elephanta Island attracts many tourists because it contains the Elephanta Caves, a group of cave temples carved directly from the rock.

Ferries make the island readily accessible from Mumbai. It lies around 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) off the island city’s south-east coast, and boats from the Gateway of India take roughly an hour in each direction. Tickets are sold at the Gateway; the first sailing departs at 9 am and the last at 2 pm.

From the island’s landing stage, a path reaches the steps up to the renowned caves. A narrow-gauge toy railway also travels about 600 meters from the dockside boat area to the foot of those steps. Vendors along the route offer necklaces, anklets, ornaments and keyrings, and stalls sell refreshments. Small monkeys play beside the path and sometimes steal from visitors, bins and hawkers.

Possible purchases include spices, silk, electrical products, diamonds, Indian furniture and made-to-measure clothing.

India uses the Indian rupee as its currency.

Credit cards are taken by chain retailers and other westernised restaurants and shops in major cities. Small businesses and family-run stores rarely accept them, making it sensible to carry a moderate quantity of cash.

Hindi and English are joined by 21 other official languages.

Internet kiosks are now commonplace and may charge as little as Rs. 10 an hour. Use credit cards online cautiously because card theft involving key loggers has been reported in many cases.

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