Indian ports

We are cruising from Abu Dhabi to Singapore in January.

Our main concern is the Indian and Sri Lankan ports. We will be visiting Mumbai, Goa, New Mangalore and Cochin in India and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Never having been to any of these ports we are considering ships excursions. However, our favourite way to enjoy a port is simply to get off the ship and explore ourselves. We are fit and enjoy a good walk around. We just like to explore and get a feel for the place - not really bothered about ticking off every tourist attraction.

We don't know anything about these ports and cannot find much in the way of reviews. Our main questions are:

Which ports are easy to do as an independent traveller and which are best for an excursion (we do not want to arrange our own tours)? We really need to know which ones are easy to get from ship to main sights.

Where does the ship dock? Can it vary? We are on Celebrity Constellation.

Any other tips and advice from people who have been to these ports before? e.g. things you wish you'd known before you went.

Thank you for any help you can give. We booked this cruise recently so we are playing catch up on the planning (already have bookings for visas and vaccinations).

We will be visiting these same ports in November this year on NCL Star so we can update you after our visits. We do have private CC tours in all these locations.

You are in for a great experience but I would highly recommend doing a small group tour to get the most out of the day. India can be a riot of color and chaos with many memorable moments and an equal number of photo opportunities! It can also be overwhelming.

I used Mumbai Magic in Mumbai and we covered so much in one day. All arrangements were made online and we paid the day of the tour. There were a few specific things that we wanted to see and were able to tweak the listed tour to include these (Dabbawala lunch box delivery and the open air laundries.) Part of the tour was walking through neighborhoods but we also had the use of a driver to get around a few other places in the city (historic Khotachiwadi neighborhood, Gandhi's house, Hanging Gardens on Malabar Hill.) We would never have been able to cover so much ground or even find some of these places on our own. We were met at the port gate by our guide and joined by another couple from our CC roll call.

http://mumbaimagic.com/

In Goa we also used a sister company of the above, Goa Magic. In addition to the many churches that are popular sites, we also did a heritage walk through the Fontainhas neighborhood. Goan food is the best so we also requested a lunch stop that did not disappoint.

In Cochin we did a ship tour and did the Backwaters of Alley which should not be missed. The scenery is beautiful and it was a relaxing experience compared to the buzz of Mumbai. A lot of great photo opportunities.

Mangalore we joined a small group from our roll call and visited Kudroli Gokarnath Temple and the Jain temple Moodabidri. Mangalore Central Market was a hub of activity with people selling fruits, vegetable, and flowers. Attached to it were shops selling textiles made in India so a great bargaining shopping experience quite different than your usual trip to the mall!

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g297630-d3705055-r426016287-Kudroli_Gokarnath_Temple-Mangalore_Karnataka.html

Sri Lanka was very congested. We hired a driver and went to the Elephant Orphanage but it was a long drive for a short distance and would opt for doing something else in retrospect.

Hope this helps your planning:)

We will be in Colombo next March for a day and will disembark for a 9 night independent tour after that.

The port appears to be very near the historic part of the city (Fort) and the market area (Pettah) as well as some other places e.g. the historic Galle Face Hotel for a drink. Hence we hope to make the most of that day independently, probably on foot, or by using a local taxis for short distances here or there. As stated travelling out of town will apparently take a long time and there is not much else locally.

Looking at arranging our post cruise tour, we decided not to go to Pinnawala Elephant "Orphanage", as it has a bad reputation, with Elephants chained up etc. It seems it started as an orphanage, but there is no plans to let them free, animals are bred there and it is used as a money making venture. You will get plenty of opinions on that on the Sri Lanka forum on Trip Advisor. We are not great animal activists or anything like that, but felt there are better experiences to have in Sri Lanka. We were surprised to find our cruise company offers tours to there - our land based travel company, Kuoni, refuse to arrange visits to there.

Would be interesting to know what lilybob thought of Pinnawala from a first hand perspective.

We will be in Colombo next March for a day and will disembark for a 9 night independent tour after that.

 

I can confirm what you suspect about the elephant orphanage:mad:

 

Are you doing the Tea Trails and Kandy on your land trip? On my bucket list:)

We will be in Colombo next March for a day and will disembark for a 9 night independent tour after that.

 

I can confirm what you suspect about the elephant orphanage:mad:

 

Are you doing the Tea Trails and Kandy on your land trip? On my bucket list:)

 

We have booked 2 nights in Kandy, 4 in Habarana and 3 nights in a beach hotel near the airport (for a rest), with a car and driver who will leave us as we arrive at the beach hotel. What we do in that time can be decided as we go along, but we will not be going to tea country as it is off our route, and the climate at that time of year in the mountains, could be quite a shock to our systems, (we will have been in high temperatures for most the previous 29 night cruise). So we would likely feel quite cold (comparatively) and a high risk of mist could spoil the views as well.

 

We will visit temples, perhaps a national park etc. and plan to have some down time in pleasant hotels. Sri Lanka is not cheap and reviews of the cheaper hotels are somewhat dubious, so we have gone for the upmarket ones and our own car and driver, which is why we have used Kuoni. They are not the cheapest of holiday companies, but have an excellent reputation and could offer that package at a better price than we could have booked individually. Presumably because they are the hotels they offer so they will have good contracts with those companies. The overall price is only about 1.5 times the price that our cruise company is offering for a 4 night 'whirlwind' tour in lower standard hotels - whirlwind tours have never been our style either!

 

Thanks for the feedback on Pinnawala - we initially thought it could have been a stop off en route to Kandy, but then we may see Elephants in the wild on our inland travels.

we decided not to go to Pinnawala Elephant "Orphanage", as it has a bad reputation, with Elephants chained up etc. It seems it started as an orphanage, but there is no plans to let them free, animals are bred there and it is used as a money making venture. You will get plenty of opinions on that on the Sri Lanka forum on Trip Advisor. We are not great animal activists or anything like that, but felt there are better experiences to have in Sri Lanka. We were surprised to find our cruise company offers tours to there - our land based travel company, Kuoni, refuse to arrange visits to there.

 

Would be interesting to know what lilybob thought of Pinnawala from a first hand perspective.

It seems hubby and I are on the same cruise as the original poster (11th January?). I did a little research on the Pinnawala Elephant 'orphanage'. The Born Free organisation did a report on them in 2012. It does not make happy reading. Not only do they not repatriate animals to the wild, but they actually breed elephants to be sold into the tourist industry! And, as tring says they chain them up. They also use ankuses (the big stick with the metel hook) to control the elephants. Born free explain that the other elephant orphanage that they do recommend visiting (at the other end of the country), does not use chains or ankuses and does not breed, or allow their animals into the hands of private owners or into the tourist industry.

I have read many good reviews of Mombai and Goa Magic and will probably book tours with them, and perhaps some ships tours.

I am trying to compare the Mumbai Magic full day tour with the Celebrity 7 hour tour, which takes in the Railway Station, Laundry, Haji Ali shrine, Khotachiwadi, lunch at the Oberoi and Ghandi museum. We often use independant tour companies, but have found on recent cruises that some offered by the cruise ship are very good and not especially more expensive than some private ones. Mumbai Magic don't post prices on their website. This Celebrity tour is £97 each. Can anyone give me an idea of how that cost compares to Mumbai Magic?

I am trying to compare the Mumbai Magic full day tour with the Celebrity 7 hour tour, which takes in the Railway Station, Laundry, Haji Ali shrine, Khotachiwadi, lunch at the Oberoi and Ghandi museum. We often use independant tour companies, but have found on recent cruises that some offered by the cruise ship are very good and not especially more expensive than some private ones. Mumbai Magic don't post prices on their website. This Celebrity tour is £97 each. Can anyone give me an idea of how that cost compares to Mumbai Magic?

We have booked a tour with Mumbai Magic for six people it is Rs 4250 per person.

We have booked a tour with Mumbai Magic for six people it is Rs 4250 per person.

I am trying to compare the Mumbai Magic full day tour with the Celebrity 7 hour tour, which takes in the Railway Station, Laundry, Haji Ali shrine, Khotachiwadi, lunch at the Oberoi and Ghandi museum. We often use independant tour companies, but have found on recent cruises that some offered by the cruise ship are very good and not especially more expensive than some private ones. Mumbai Magic don't post prices on their website. This Celebrity tour is £97 each. Can anyone give me an idea of how that cost compares to Mumbai Magic?

I organized a great tour of Mumbai with about 12 persons. I don't remember the exact cost, but the prices were on their website.

It seems to me that the cost was $60-75 per person. It was definitely cheaper than any of the Celebrity excursions.

We had to buy our own lunch, but that was less than $10 pp.

We are cruising from Abu Dhabi to Singapore in January.

 

Our main concern is the Indian and Sri Lankan ports. We will be visiting Mumbai, Goa, New Mangalore and Cochin in India and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

 

Never having been to any of these ports we are considering ships excursions. However, our favourite way to enjoy a port is simply to get off the ship and explore ourselves. We are fit and enjoy a good walk around. We just like to explore and get a feel for the place - not really bothered about ticking off every tourist attraction.

 

We don't know anything about these ports and cannot find much in the way of reviews. Our main questions are:

 

Which ports are easy to do as an independent traveller and which are best for an excursion (we do not want to arrange our own tours)? We really need to know which ones are easy to get from ship to main sights.

 

Where does the ship dock? Can it vary? We are on Celebrity Constellation.

 

Any other tips and advice from people who have been to these ports before? e.g. things you wish you'd known before you went.

 

Thank you for any help you can give. We booked this cruise recently so we are playing catch up on the planning (already have bookings for visas and vaccinations).

I organized four tours for the SW India ports from the Celebrity Century in 2015.

Here is the India portion of my cruise review:

Cochin

Cochin was our first port in India, and we were excited to be there. After the tedious immigration process, we met our private tour guide with Cochin Day Tours-Muziris Heritage. Lijo Jose was my point of contact and may have been the owner of the company. We met Lijo while on this tour.

Our tour was the Cochin Backwater Tour that included a peaceful two hour ride on a houseboat. We had a nice Indian lunch on the houseboat. We cruised the waters of Alapuzha, and then drove back to Ft. Cochin. Back in Cochin, we had an opportunity to shop and visit the Paradesi Synagogue. It is the oldest active synagogue in the British Commonwealth of Nations. It was constructed in 1567. The tour was seven hours and cost $75 per person.

http://www.daytoursincochin.com/cochin-backwater-tour/

The two hour road trip out to Alapuzha introduced us to the Indian highways and white knuckle travel. Driving in India was very suspenseful. Many times our small bus would be passing a motor scooter (lots of them) and find ourselves in the middle of the two lane highway. Another vehicle would be approaching us, almost like we were playing “chicken.” At the last second either our bus or the other would slip back from the middle of the road, averting a collision. Not sure how the drivers seem to read each other’s intentions, but we saw no collisions. Still, the drive was a bit stressful. However, just going through the countryside, we were able to observe the state of the area. The road infrastructure in India was very poor and with 1.2 Billion people in the country, the roads always seem full.

However, our two hour houseboat cruise was very peaceful and refreshing. All on our tour very much enjoyed this experience.

Mangalore

Our next port was Mangalore. The tour was with the same company of Lijo Jose. Our guide was excellent on this tour. His name was Anup D’Almeida. This tour included a lot more to see, but we were out in the Indian heat for six hours. The cost was $85 per person.

The tour is described in this link. It included:

http://www.mangaloredaytours.com/mangalore-tours/a-day-in-the-life-of-mangalore-tour/

1. Pick up from the cruise terminal

2. Cashew factory visit

3. Kadri and Gogarnatha temple visit

4. Visit Central market

5. St. Aloysius Chapel visit

6. Orientation tour of Mangalore city

7. Drop you at the cruise terminal according to your schedule.

Anup took us to two Hindu temples and provided some background on the faith. Our guide in Cochin had provided us with some information as well. We were told that the Hindu faith has three main gods (a trinity) as well as many other gods. However, they all go back to god the creator. In this way the Hindu faith is not like the ancient Greek and Roman religions. First, we visited a cashew factory (and purchased some cashews). It was interesting to follow how cashews are processed. The process seems tedious, since there are several stages before you arrive at the edible nut.

Our first Hindu temple was the Gogarnatha temple. The temple was about 100 years old, but very elaborate and impressive. The second, temple, Kadri Manjunatha dates back to 1068 A.D. Both temples required us to take off our shoes. At the end of the day, the soles of our socks were black. Still, it was instructive to see the various shrines and understand their significance.

We visited the St. Aloysius Chapel at the site of a Catholic compound that included a large Catholic school. Our guide had graduated from that school and was familiar with the people there. The art work on the interior of the chapel was amazing.

The Central market was one of several markets that we visited in India. Warning, the fish market will overcome your olfactory senses. We saw a huge fish market with row after row of fish, first the dried fish, then the fresh fish. Apparently, fish is dried out if not eaten soon after the fish is caught, since proper refrigeration is not always available.

This tour exceeded our expectations for Mangalore, since I had assumed that this port would be the least interesting. However, we were out in the heat most of the tour and wiped out when we returned from the ship.

GOA

Our next port was a former Portuguese colony until annexed by India in 1961. There are a higher percentage of Catholics in the state than in the rest of India. Our tour in Goa was provided by Lijo Jose’s company, as in Cochin and Mangalore.

The tour was described as follows:

We start the day to a visit to the former capital of Goa “Old Goa where we visit Churches built by the Portuguese. Visit the Basilica of Bom Jesus where the relics of St Francis Xavier been kept, later visit the Se Cathedral this church is the second biggest in Asia.

The Shri Mangueshi Temple is set atop a hill at Priol, northwest of Ponda leading to Old Goa. The temple has a seven-story lamp tower (which is a unique trait of Hindu temples in Goa), a Nandi bull (Lord Shiva's conveyance), as well as shrines to Parvati and Lord Ganesha. During the festival of Mangesh Jatra, the rath (temple chariot) is pulled by several devotees.

The Mahalsa Narayani Temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu's consort Laxmi, though some people believe it is the Lord Vishnu's female form Mohini. A lamp tower, which is seven floors high, can also be found here. Garuda, the great bird that was Lord Vishnu's conveyance sits atop a pillar, which rests on the back of a turtle. There are intricately carved columns and painting of the 10 avatars or incarnations of Vishnu.

From here we drive to the spice plantation. Tour guide will then take you on a tour of the plantation which will last about one hour, the guide will explain about all the spices and plants you discover and tell you about their medicinal properties. Black pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, chillies, coriander and all spice are just some of the spice plants you will find in the plantation. Varieties of Cashew trees, betelnut palm trees and some tropical

fruits like Star fruit, Custard apples, Papaya, Bananas, Pineapples and the Citrus fruits are also found in the grounds.

After you turn round the plantation, you will be served lunch. The lunch is a very tasty local meal served on a banana leaf plates, accompanied by a sweet dish and a tipple of cashew feni (Goan specialty).

Then proceed to Margao City , which was once considered the Capital of Goa during its early centuries, left the job of capital to the river port of Chandrapur or now presently called as Chandor.

Our tour was $70 and included a wonderful lunch at the Spice Plantation. We visited the Churches described above, but only passed the temples mentioned. Also, we visited another market. It was very colorful, especially since some of our group saw three or four dead rats in the streets. The inside of the markets were clean. We would see more markets in Mumbai, but no rats.

The highlight of this tour was the spice plantation. It was shaded there and cooler. Our guide at the plantation pointed out many species of spice plants. There was an elephant in the creek on the plantation and some young people were riding the elephant.

After the Goa tour four of our party that were scheduled to go on my Mumbai Magic tour the next day indicated that after three days of touring in the heat, they were opting out for the Mumbai tour. I was able to find additional persons to replace them.

Mumbai

This city was the one that I had most anticipated visiting. The tour was with a company known as Mumbai Magic. It was a seven our tour of the city and markets at the cost of 3000 Indian Rupees (about $52US per person (lunch not included). It was two tours combined.

The tour was described as follows:

Mumbai By Day

This tour tells the story of the transformation of Mumbai from a mono-cultural sleepy fishing hamlet into a melting pot that is today the commercial capital of India. The tour will showcase all aspects of Mumbai – the narrow geographical layout, the coastline, the daily commuting, the various communities that make up the city, the old heritage district, the old commercial and residential districts and the upcoming districts.

The tour includes a short walk through the Heritage District and the Kala Ghoda Art Precinct.

The tour covers all the must-see places on any traveler's itinerary:

• The Gateway of India, and the area around it

• Regal Circle and the heritage buildings there, including the Prince of Wales Museum, NGMA, Police Headquarters, etc.

• The Kala Ghoda Art Precinct

• Bombay University and cricket at the Oval Maidan

• Flora Fountain

• Town Hall

• Victoria Terminus and the Municipal Building

• Crawford Market

• Marine Drive and Chowpatty Beach

• Mani Bhavan, home of Gandhi

• Malabar Hill

• The popular Dhobi Ghat

Mumbai Bazaar Walk

The tour covers Crawford Market, Jama Masjid (meet India’s oldest Muslim community, who came here in the 6th Century), Mirchi Galli (spices market), Mangaldas Cloth Market, Zaveri Bazaar (where everyone’s crazy about gold), Phool Galli (Flower Street), Mumbadevi Temple (where the city gets its name from), and the quaint Madhav Baug.

You’ll also get an inside look at the Jain community, visit a Panjra Pole (animal shelter) – and you’ll finally figure out what this ‘sacred cow’ thing is all about!

Sancia was our guide. She was intelligent and articulate and provided much information about the city. Our tour required the bus to travel a lot in heavy traffic, but we saw everything on the city tour and did visit markets, however, by the time we visited the markets, it was late in the day and we were tired and time was short. Still, the tour was excellent.

Our first stop was at the famous Gateway of India arch. The landmark Taj Mahal Hotel is nearby and we went through security to go inside the hotel. Ginny found an Indian cookbook at the hotel bookstore. The hotel appeared to be the model of luxury. We stopped at the Victoria Terminus rail station for a photo opportunity, but were unable to go inside the terminal. We drove on Marine Drive and saw Chowpatty Beach, then on to Malabar Hill and had time to walk around the hanging gardens park and take photos of the city. We had a brief visit at a Hare Krishna temple. It was elaborate and one lady there was trying to convert me.

Sancia took us to a nearby restaurant, which was very nice and we had a light lunch with a tasty yogurt drink and thin flat bread with a kind of potato spread. It was just what we wanted and only cost us 500 rupees for two.

After lunch, we visited Gandhi’s home (in Mumbai- he was from another city in Southern India. The home was interesting, but crowded. It did provide some history of the man’s life with photos and a nice diorama. At some point we went back to Victoria Terminus to see the men that deliver home cooked meals on their bicycles. They bring the food from homes and then transfer the containers (many on the bikes) to the assigned person for delivery, via bike.

Dhobi Ghat was our next stop, where we saw a large area with many concrete pools where laundry was hand washed and you could see many places were the laundry was drying in the sun. Apparently, about five thousand persons from outside the city come temporarily to launder for many clients, including some of the local hospitals and hotels. A shanty town has grown up in and around the area as well. There were hawkers selling other items as well in the area. It was a very interesting visual for us.

The market part of the trip took about an hour and our guide took us through different markets. Then on to the ship, which was to sail to Muscat, Oman that afternoon.

Sancia told us that the population of India is 55% male and 45% female. She explained an interesting policy instituted when Rajiv Gandhi was prime minister some years ago. In an effort to limit population growth and educate women more, the policy stated that if a family was limited to three children that the women were provided free education, including college. I cannot find this policy on an internet search, but I did find policies that reserved 30% of spaces for women.

India was fascinating, but I would advise not to go in March. Go in November-February, when it is cooler. Also, the rich culture, history and friendly people are worth the visit, but the country is generally poor (we were told that half the people in Mumbai live in slums and largely unemployed). The highways are not for the faint of heart. The food is fantastic and I wish we had an Indian restaurant in our community.

The first three ports tours were with

http://www.daytoursincochin.com/cochin-backwater-tour/

Great tours. Mumbai was with Mumbai Magic, also great.

4774Papa - We have a couple of questions regarding the Backwaters Tour near Cochin.

First, was the traditional houseboat easy to board for someone with limited mobility? I've read elsewhere on this board that the motor launches used for the ship tours can be difficult to climb onto.

Second, did you tip the crew on the boat, in addition to tipping your guide?

Thanks for the help.

4774Papa - We have a couple of questions regarding the Backwaters Tour near Cochin.

 

First, was the traditional houseboat easy to board for someone with limited mobility? I've read elsewhere on this board that the motor launches used for the ship tours can be difficult to climb onto.

 

Second, did you tip the crew on the boat, in addition to tipping your guide?

 

Thanks for the help.

The houseboat was moored to a small dock. It was little of a problem for us, but we had no-one with mobility problems. Clearly, there was no way to roll a wheelchair onto the boat. I suspect that if the person could stand up and just needed a cane or assistance, they could manage. I would recommend asking that question to the tour company, after explaining the individual's limitations.

I seem to remember giving a tip to the houseboat crew, but I don't remember how much. I did have some Rupees.

Thanks for your kind and prompt reply, Papa. We are using the same provider that you used; so I have contacted him regarding this question.

Hi,thanks Papa for all the info.I am new to this thread and am cruising India in feb and doing landtour also.If you want an Indian restaurant come and live in our town,we have 30 in a 3 mile radius,cheers,Brian.

We are cruising from Abu Dhabi to Singapore in January.

 

Our main concern is the Indian and Sri Lankan ports. We will be visiting Mumbai, Goa, New Mangalore and Cochin in India and Colombo in Sri Lanka.

 

Never having been to any of these ports we are considering ships excursions. However, our favourite way to enjoy a port is simply to get off the ship and explore ourselves. We are fit and enjoy a good walk around. We just like to explore and get a feel for the place - not really bothered about ticking off every tourist attraction.

 

We don't know anything about these ports and cannot find much in the way of reviews. Our main questions are:

 

Which ports are easy to do as an independent traveller and which are best for an excursion (we do not want to arrange our own tours)? We really need to know which ones are easy to get from ship to main sights.

 

Where does the ship dock? Can it vary? We are on Celebrity Constellation.

 

Any other tips and advice from people who have been to these ports before? e.g. things you wish you'd known before you went.

 

Thank you for any help you can give. We booked this cruise recently so we are playing catch up on the planning (already have bookings for visas and vaccinations).

I'm really interested to hear from you regarding your experiences. How did you get on with just wondering around. Was the much to do near the port? Did you end up doing a tour? Private or cruise ship? We also are struggling to find out more about each stop. Many thanks. Hope you had a great holiday!!

[emoji2]

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We did thus cruise in January. It was fabulous. We are generally independent travellers, and tend to frequently book excursions off cruise ships independantly. However, I felt (darling hubby tends to leave this stuff to me), after some research, that India and Sri Lanka are not very 'geared-up' up for private tours. There main tourist industry in the past has been backpackers. They are now working to encourage a wider range of tourists, but this is recent.

I expect there will be more independant tour companies in the coming years, but it seems patchy and uncertain at present. I might have considered Mumbai Magic, which also does tours in Goa, I believe. Other than that I couldn't find companies that had a proven track record. It's said that many general bus companies have poorly maintained vehicles. I didn't feel confident that wouldn't be the case with a privately organised tour. Since many of the roads are rough and have sharp bends, I decided that, on that trip, we would stick to the cruise ships organised tours. In the event, they were very good.

We will be in Colombo next March for a day and will disembark for a 9 night independent tour after that.

 

The port appears to be very near the historic part of the city (Fort) and the market area (Pettah) as well as some other places e.g. the historic Galle Face Hotel for a drink. Hence we hope to make the most of that day independently, probably on foot, or by using a local taxis for short distances here or there. As stated travelling out of town will apparently take a long time and there is not much else locally.

 

Looking at arranging our post cruise tour, we decided not to go to Pinnawala Elephant "Orphanage", as it has a bad reputation, with Elephants chained up etc. It seems it started as an orphanage, but there is no plans to let them free, animals are bred there and it is used as a money making venture. You will get plenty of opinions on that on the Sri Lanka forum on Trip Advisor. We are not great animal activists or anything like that, but felt there are better experiences to have in Sri Lanka. We were surprised to find our cruise company offers tours to there - our land based travel company, Kuoni, refuse to arrange visits to there.

 

Would be interesting to know what lilybob thought of Pinnawala from a first hand perspective.

I visited Pinnawala a couple of years ago. There were plenty of elephants roaming free let alone those being cared for by very attentive keepers.

Was a very long day but very worthwhile.

The blog of the cruise (Singapore - Dubai - Istanbul included 4 ports of call in India) was on Rhapsody of the Seas is here

I visited Pinnawala a couple of years ago. There were plenty of elephants roaming free let alone those being cared for by very attentive keepers.

Was a very long day but very worthwhile.

Incidentally, lillybob had posted immediately after my post, confirming what I had said and this is well known in the tourist trade in Sri Lanka. Each to their own though.

Our travel company (Kuoni) refuse to make arrangements to go there now, recommending the National Parks were Elephants can roam free (we did do that and it was a great experience). I am surprised that cruise companies still offer Pinnawala now as it has gone off many land tour itineraries in the last couple of years or so. I also do not see the point of travelling more than two hours each way on Sri Lanka's busy roads to go to anywhere when there are so many interesting experiences to be had right by the port of Colombo.

Our cruise was with VOD and did not happen as the company went bust at the beginning of January, but we extended our post cruise stay, re-booked flights and spent three weeks in Sri Lanka, which was wonderful. We spent four nights in Colombo and loved it - I made a post on another thread since we returned and have copied and pasted it below:-

We loved Colombo and suggest you can have a really good day in the city at very little cost. Highlights I would suggest include the peaceful South Biera Lake. You can walk around it and there is a Hindu temple in the lake and the impressive Gangaramaya Buddist temple is just a short way up a side road - you could get a tuk tuk from near the port to there. There is also a picturesque island protruding into the lake with lots of different species of ducks etc. Regards a hygienic location for a drink or snack, the Cinnamon Grand Hotel is by the north western corner of the lake and the Cinnamon Red Hotel (were we stayed) is not far away from where the temples are. The Cinnamon Red has a rooftop bar (26th Floor), with great views - you could do both hotels as they are on different sides of the lake. This is a link to a map of Colombo, but the "Biera Lake" marked is further north than "South Biera Lake", which I mentioned, but you can still see South Biera Lake, the Cinnamon Grand and Gangaramaya Temple on this map - so zoom in. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/...3!4d79.8565212

The Cinnamon Red Hotel is not located on this map, so you would need to search further for that - it is a little distance away from the south eastern corner of the lake and just to the west of the park.

Alternative recommendations I would make is the National Museum which is very interesting and cool at the height of the day (tourist cafe in grounds, but not easy to find so need to look carefully - we used the local cafe, which is perhaps best avoided). The museum is by Viharamahadevi Park, where you will find the Old Town Hall. Galle Face Green is great to stroll along at sunset to see local life and is near the port (with Galle Face Hotel to the far side - historic and recently refurbed). You could easily pick up tuk tuks between these places - the most we payed was 500 rupees from the far side of Pettah back to our hotel and half that for the shorter journeys - you will need to find an ATM for some local currency, (there is one in a shopping centre by the Cinnamon Grand and no doubt a number in Fort, where the port is and which is the business centre of the city). Try not to let them know you are from a ship, or I expect prices will rise as they do in many parts of the world, when from a cruise ship. Temples charge entrance. English is widely spoken, so no language problems.

If you really want to see local life, we strolled through Pettah - the market area as it was coming to life and as people were leaving the Fort Area (which is where the port is) at the end of their working day. Absolute bedlam and not recommended for the less travelled or faint hearted tourists, but from our perspective it was amazing - just keep away from those large wheelbarrows transporting goods as they cannot stop if you step in front of them!

Leave the beach to other ports and enjoy Colombo for what it is, but beware traffic builds up badly at peak times, so do not "miss the boat". You do need to do a bit of homework, regards where you want to go, I would not suggest just walking aimlessly out of the port as that area is somewhat run down and is just near the business area, which was not particularly of interest to us, though there are a number of colonial buildings to be seen there. There is a Hilton in the Fort area if you want a pit stop before returning to the ship.

Those who do not want to walk could get a tuk tuk to take them around to see "the sights", or could easily just pick up tuk tuks from place to place.

We did thus cruise in January. It was fabulous. We are generally independent travellers, and tend to frequently book excursions off cruise ships independently. However, I felt (darling hubby tends to leave this stuff to me), after some research, that India and Sri Lanka are not very 'geared-up' up for private tours. There main tourist industry in the past has been backpackers. They are now working to encourage a wider range of tourists, but this is recent.

 

I expect there will be more independant tour companies in the coming years, but it seems patchy and uncertain at present. I might have considered Mumbai Magic, which also does tours in Goa, I believe. Other than that I couldn't find companies that had a proven track record. It's said that many general bus companies have poorly maintained vehicles. I didn't feel confident that wouldn't be the case with a privately organised tour. Since many of the roads are rough and have sharp bends, I decided that, on that trip, we would stick to the cruise ships organised tours. In the event, they were very good.

I can see that some people will prefer ship's tours and, as cruise ships have not been calling at Sri Lanka regularly it may not be easy to pick up details of companies who offers private tours to cruise passengers, though you will find local operators of tours (including day tours) in Colombo on cc's sister site Trip Advisor.

However the picture of Sri Lanka having been only a "backpackers base" is totally wrong. The tourist trade is extremely well developed in Sri Lanka, with numerous high standard hotels and many land tours being offered by very reputable holiday operators (e.g. Kuoni) as there is a great deal to see there. This has been the case for many years, though parts of the country were off limits during the war (which was a number of years ago now). Admittedly you do not see Sri Lanka featuring high on the books of the more run of the mill British holiday companies (e.g. Thomas Cook and Thomsons), but I suggest that is because it is not a cheap country, so is found on the books of the more upmarket companies and the ones who offer tours in many parts of the world as there are many cultural sites in Sri Lanka.

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise, but felt this mis-information needed to be addressed. No wish to pick a quibble - you obviously thought what you had posted was correct. Local buses are not recommended (as in many parts of the world), but tour coaches are fine as are the main roads (indeed all roads we saw, even in countryside locations). We had a car (a very large, modern Toyota) and driver who was brilliant - though self driving is not recommended because of the amount of traffic and driving standards (and the risk of finding Elephants on the road in more rural locations). You will see many upmarket vehicles in Sri Lanka along with the tuk tuks - an interesting mix.

We did thus cruise in January. It was fabulous. We are generally independent travellers, and tend to frequently book excursions off cruise ships independantly. However, I felt (darling hubby tends to leave this stuff to me), after some research, that India and Sri Lanka are not very 'geared-up' up for private tours. There main tourist industry in the past has been backpackers. They are now working to encourage a wider range of tourists, but this is recent.

 

I expect there will be more independant tour companies in the coming years, but it seems patchy and uncertain at present. I might have considered Mumbai Magic, which also does tours in Goa, I believe. Other than that I couldn't find companies that had a proven track record. It's said that many general bus companies have poorly maintained vehicles. I didn't feel confident that wouldn't be the case with a privately organised tour. Since many of the roads are rough and have sharp bends, I decided that, on that trip, we would stick to the cruise ships organised tours. In the event, they were very good.

Definitely not true about Mumbai! Mumbai has many excellent established tour companies (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g304554-Activities-c42-Mumbai_Bombay_Maharashtra.html)! Their main tourist industry hasn't been backpackers for years. Now everyone from families to couples to single woman travel India easily. Glad you enjoyed your ship's tours though.

Definitely not true about Mumbai! Mumbai has many excellent established tour companies (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g304554-Activities-c42-Mumbai_Bombay_Maharashtra.html)! Their main tourist industry hasn't been backpackers for years. Now everyone from families to couples to single woman travel India easily. Glad you enjoyed your ship's tours though.