Mumbai, India
Mumbai: Full day south India shopping & city tour
6:00 AM
The ship arrives in Mumbai.
10:00 AM
Pick up from the jetty for a private guided tour of the city. Your first stop is the bustling Shopping Arcade at the Trident Nariman Point.
12:00 PM
Drive past some of the fine examples of colonial architecture including the Clock Tower - now called Rajabai Tower, the University Hall, the School of Art, built in the late 1800s, where Rudyard Kipling was born; Crawford Market which has bas-reliefs designed by Kipling's father; the massive Victoria Terminus, built of yellow sandstone and granite combined with polychromatic stones and blue-grey basalt and the Municipal Corporation building.
Continue on to the Fort area, where you see the buildings around this historic district - Elphinstone College, David Sasson Library, Army and Navy Building, Watson’s hotel and Keneseth Eilyahoo Synagogue.
Free time to check out the markets and stores in the Fort area.
The tour ends at the historical Gateway of India, conceived as a triumphal arch to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary for the Delhi Durbar in 1911.
Free time to explore the chic boutiques at the iconic Taj Mahal hotel.
You can also walk down to explore the colourful shops on Colaba Causeway.
6:00 PM
Return to the ship in time for dinner.
End of our services.
Mumbai: Full day north India shopping & city tour
The ship arrives in Mumbai.
Pick up from the jetty for a private guided tour of the city.
Marine Drive is a long gracefully curving road along the buttressed sea-coast.
Stop at the Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill, from where you get a magnificent panoramic view of the metropolis and the Arabian Sea.
At Dhobi Ghat, you can see a bewildering range of India’s contrasts. The dhobis (washermen) deal with staggeringly large washes every day. Through the apparent chaos, thousands of pieces of clothing, bed sheets and towels are collected from private houses, washed in the small cubicles rented out to several washer men each day and returned to the owners a week later. Virtually nothing seems to get lost and equally miraculously, most clothes survive the beating they receive on the stones, having spent a night soaking in soapy water.
Floating like a sacred mirage off the coast, the Indo-Islamic shrine of Haji Ali, located on an offshore inlet is a striking sight. Built in the 19th century, it contains the tomb of the Muslim saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari. Legend has it that Haji Ali died while on a pilgrimage to Mecca and his casket miraculously floated back to this spot. It’s only possible to visit the shrine at low tide, via a long causeway (check tide times locally). Thousands of pilgrims, especially on Thursday and Friday (when there may be qawwali, devotional singing), cross it daily, many donating to beggars who line the way.
Continue on to the Bandra-Juhu area, where you have free time for some retail therapy at the many shops and malls. You could also stop for refreshments at one of the hotels on Juhu Beach.
You could also drive by the lavish mansions of some of Bollywood’s most popular stars.
Return to the ship in time for dinner.
End of our services.
Mumbai: Full day Bollywood & shopping tour
Pick up from the jetty for a guided Bollywood Tour. Visit a film studio, where you will have an opportunity to watch a live shoot of a commercial movie or a television serial, and perhaps interact with the director or assistant director, choreographer and other technicians such as sound recordists, cameramen, makeup artists and set-designers.
Drive past the houses of famous movie stars as well as important locations where some of the more memorable films have been shot.
Stop for lunch at a popular restaurant in the Juhu/Bandra area.
Free time for shopping before returning to the cruise ship for dinner.
End of our services.