Being on a cruise ship on the Mumbai high seas made Arpika Bhosale see it a brand new light
The Empress Cruise ship
Standing on the deck overlooking the Mumbai coastline near the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal aka Alexandra Dock (renamed Indira Dock), the view of Mumbai’s coastline made me feel emotions that are too big for my heart to contain.
The boats, small and huge, play a nautical game, all dictated by the sea, which juxtaposed with the chaos of Mumbai, was one of the best views I had ever seen of my city — and the ship had not even left the dock yet. The husband and I boarded the Cordelia cruise ship, on which we had to spend one-and-a-half days, and boy, did we have a blast.
The upper deck bar, which faced the dance floor
We were at the terminal at around 8 am and boarded the ship with a welcome drink. Our room was on the second deck and after dumping our bags there, we made our way to the upper deck, and this is where the view I talked about earlier was laid out in front of me.
What I really loved was that after a long time, I had something much more interesting to look at then my mobile screen. Even though we had connectivity and later on Wi-Fi, the sea gave me a feeling of peace that made it easy for me to ditch the screen time, and just gaze out instead.
Since we had time to kill until lunch, and wanted to enjoy this uninterrupted time with each other away from the noise, we ditched the games that the staff had organised, and went back up to the deck. The ship honked at lunch hour and the anchor was finally lifted.
The club/lounge had great live music, which we enjoyed
Sitting at a table looking out, taking a few sips and bites amid conversation was the best part of this getaway. There’s always a lot to do in the city — hustling hard at your job, being ambitious, trying to get your steps in, updating the chore-chart on the fridge, and even the added pressure of deciding where to go on vacation — was all left behind. Moments like these with the person I share my life with are a luxury, as I grow older.
But even the lunch spread helped! I threw caution to the wind and filled up on cakes, gulab jamun, and ice cream, and the assortment of breads was to die for. Afterwards, we headed up to our quaint little balcony, munched and sipped, and watched the sunset as we drifted on the sea. It was after a long time that we had experienced a sunset without being in a rush. I felt like a kid when I stood at the railing and watched the prow of the ship cut through the water — the effect was hypnotic.
A climbing wall for those who want to get their step count in
Ideally, we would have liked to make friends on the cruise, but since we had only 36 hours, we kept to ourselves and just relaxed. On a longer cruise, I would recommend mingling with other guests. In the evening, we headed to the scheduled musical at the theatre, but compared to the rest of the cruise, it didn’t excite us much. The actors gave a great performance, but the story was the usual boy-meets-girl trope. There is scope for improvement.
We stuck it out for 20 minutes, but then rushed to the overcrowded bar on the upper deck. We were prepped to wait, but the pro bartender had our drinks in our hands before the music began. We loved dancing under the night sky. The wind never let the dance floor get stuffy which, for me as a claustrophobic person, was a godsend. Be gone overcrowded clubs where you feel the air being squeezed out of your lungs. The ideal conditions made us dance till we dropped. It had been a good day.
There was a decent theatre, but the musical felt it was like it was written in the ’90s
The ship finally docked the next morning, and our steps were heavy while de-boarding. For a bit, we had detached from the city without leaving it, and that is a worth-it experience. The next time you feel you need a breather, the sea breeze does really solve most woes.
PROS
This package included unlimited alcohol and food for the entire stay. So if you are into day drinking, like we were, go ahead and clink those glasses.
I loved their bathrooms. Very small, but extremely efficient and cute. For those who work near Fort or Fountain, they can head to office on a Monday morning, sans the blues that usually accompany the first day of the work week.
CON
The main thing we didn’t like was that you had to exchange your Rupees for Dollars.
COST: The package comes to a little over Rs 38,000. Other plans include two nights and two days and go upward of Rs 80,000. The cruise line has multiple cruises that sail to Southeast Asia, Lakshadweep, Vizag, Puducherry and Sri Lanka – ours was a mini trip in comparison (36 hours).
HOW TO GET THERE: From Chhatarapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) or Churchgate, take a taxi to Alexandra Dock
HOW TO BOOK: www.cordeliacruises.com
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