Ports & cruises
Port and cruise transfers, timed to the ship rather than the clock
A cruise terminal has a boarding cut-off going out and an immigration queue coming in, and neither is the time printed on the ticket. The desk works back from the cut-off and forward from the queue, and the chauffeur is at the terminal gate for both.
How it works
Embarkation, disembarkation and the day in port
- Going out Tell us the ship and the sailing time. The pickup is timed to reach the terminal ninety minutes before the boarding cut-off, with the airport or hotel leg planned around it.
- Coming in Give us the ship and the docking time. Sixty minutes after docking are inside the fare; the chauffeur waits at the terminal exit with a name board while immigration and customs run at their own pace.
- The day in port Passengers on a port call book the hourly clock: Mumbai's Gateway of India and Elephanta jetty, Kochi's Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, Goa's churches and beaches, back at the gangway before all-aboard.
- Luggage Porters at the terminal where they operate, and a vehicle with room for cruise luggage behind the last row.
- One itinerary Flight, hotel night before the sailing, pier transfer and the return, on one confirmation through the travel desk.
Directory
Ports, cruise terminals and river-cruise jetties
27 listed India's coastal cruise terminals, the island and river-cruise embarkation points, and the overseas cruise hubs our clients sail from through the network.
West Coast 4
- Mumbai International Cruise Terminal, Ballard PierMumbai, IndiaOperations began April 2025 and the terminal was inaugurated in September 2025; designed for about 1 million passengers a year with berths for up to five ships at once.
- Mormugao PortVasco da Gama, IndiaGoa's cruise gateway; ocean liners berth at the Mormugao Port Authority docks at Vasco da Gama.
- New Mangalore PortMangaluru, IndiaThe New Mangalore Port Authority lists a dedicated Cruise Port facility for calls on the Karnataka coast.
- Sagarika International Cruise Terminal, Willingdon IslandKochi, IndiaInaugurated in 2021 at the Ernakulam Wharf of Cochin Port with customs and immigration under one roof; built to handle up to 5,000 cruise passengers.
East Coast 3
- Chennai Port International Cruise TerminalChennai, IndiaA 2,880 sq m terminal able to host 3,000 passengers at a time; India's first international cruise sailing to Sri Lanka was flagged off here in 2023.
- Visakhapatnam Port International Cruise TerminalVisakhapatnam, IndiaTwo-floor terminal of 4,580 sq m serving 2,000 passengers at a time, co-funded by the Ministry of Tourism and the port authority.
- Kolkata Dock System (Netaji Subhas Dock), Syama Prasad Mookerjee PortKolkata, IndiaRiver port on the Hooghly; the MV Ganga Vilas itinerary calls here between Patna and Dhaka.
Islands & river cruises 5
- Haddo Wharf passenger terminalPort Blair, IndiaMain passenger and cruise berth for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands with immigration and customs on site; Port Blair was officially renamed Sri Vijaya Puram in 2024.
- Punnamada Finishing Point houseboat jettyAlappuzha, IndiaPrincipal boarding point for Kerala backwater houseboats and the finishing line of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race on Punnamada Lake.
- Ravidas Ghat, Ganga river cruise terminalVaranasi, IndiaEmbarkation point for the MV Ganga Vilas, the 51-day, roughly 3,200 km river cruise from Varanasi to Dibrugarh via Bangladesh across 27 river systems.
- Nimati Ghat (Ganga Vilas eastern terminus)Jorhat, IndiaBrahmaputra embarkation and disembarkation ghat for the Ganga Vilas, reached by road from Dibrugarh or Jorhat airports.
- Santa Monica Jetty, Mandovi river cruisesPanaji, IndiaGoa Tourism Development Corporation runs hour-long sunset cruises and two-hour dinner cruises on the Mandovi from this jetty.
International cruise hubs via the network 15
- Dubai Harbour Cruise TerminalDubai, United Arab Emirates
- Mina Rashid Cruise TerminalDubai, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Port Cruise TerminalAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Doha Grand Cruise TerminalDoha, Qatar
- Port Sultan QaboosMuscat, Oman
- Marina Bay Cruise CentreSingapore, Singapore
- Port of ColomboColombo, Sri Lanka
- Port of MaleMale, Maldives
- Port Klang Cruise TerminalPort Klang, Malaysia
- Phuket Cruise PortPhuket, Thailand
- Laem Chabang PortBangkok, Thailand
- Kai Tak Cruise TerminalHong Kong, China
- Overseas Passenger TerminalSydney, Australia
- Port of SouthamptonSouthampton, United Kingdom
- PortMiamiMiami, United States
Backwaters and rivers
The jetty transfer is the part the cruise line does not sell
Kerala houseboats board at Alappuzha and Kumarakom, an hour and a half from Cochin airport. The Ganga river cruises embark at Varanasi and Kolkata. Each begins with a car from the airport or the hotel to a jetty that has no address a booking app recognises, at a time set by the tide and the operator. The desk knows the jetties and books the car to the operator's boarding time.
Primary sources
Port and shipping authorities
- Ministry of External Affairs: visa servicesRegular visas issued through Indian missions abroad, for nationalities and purposes the e-Visa does not cover.
- Mumbai Port AuthorityOperator of the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal at Ballard Pier.
- Cochin Port AuthorityCruise arrivals at Willingdon Island.
56 countries RUTZ.IN chauffeurs across India, Limousine Association International affiliates everywhere else
Book
Book a port transfer
Enter the terminal as the pickup or the drop and put the ship and sailing time in the notes. The desk confirms the timing before charging the card.
Weddings, film units, multi-day chauffeur hire, outstation journeys and anything with more than one vehicle are quoted by a person: call (877) 860-3388 or send the outline and a coordinator replies with a written quote.