Ports
After eight years of construction, Mumbai opened the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal in April 2025: 415,000 square feet, five ships at once, a million passengers a year — the flagship of India’s cruise mission.
The Mumbai International Cruise Terminal at Ballard Pier spreads 72 check-in and immigration counters over two floors, with two commercial floors above and parking for 300 vehicles. Ships up to 300 metres with an 11-metre draft berth five at a time. A 30-year concession runs the terminal under Ballard Pier Port Private and J M Baxi; Cordelia Cruises is the first operator, sailing the 1,840-passenger Empress twice weekly, with two ex-Norwegian ships joining in 2026–27.
The terminal is the showpiece of the national Cruise Bharat Mission: ten international sea terminals, 100 river terminals, and targets of one million sea-cruise and 1.5 million river-cruise passengers by 2029. Cruise passengers nationally have already grown 454% since 2014, to 471,000.
Mumbai’s sea life long predates cruising: the port is one of India’s dozen major ports, and the harbour ferries are the city’s best bargain — Gateway of India launches to Elephanta Island’s cave temples all day, and RoRo ferries to Mandwa cut the Alibaug road trip from three hours to one. For cruise visitors, the terminal’s location is the gift: Colaba, the Gateway and the Taj are ten minutes away by cab.
THE TIO READ
MICT changes the Mumbai math: this is now an embarkation port, not just a stopover. If sailing on Cordelia, treat it like a flight — online check-in, arrive two hours early, and book the Fort/Colaba hotel for the night before rather than risking Mumbai traffic on embarkation morning. In port, do Elephanta in the morning and the Colaba Causeway after; both are closer than the guidebooks imply.
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