Mumbai Port to Airport

[Sunviking]

We will be ending a cruise in Mumbai on Wednesday, October 22, 2014. I am trying to arrange for a private tour to Agra. The tour operator has sent me an itinerary which includes a flight from Mumbai to Delhi at 10:35 AM. The ship's scheduled arrival time is 7 AM. I'm worried that the flight might be too early for us to get there on time. Can anyone who has flown out of there give me any advice? I have read of dreadful traffic in Mumbai.

 

Thanks for any information.

[Keith1010]

Traffic between the airport and the port can be very bad plus you could be delayed upon arrival. I would not do such an early flight.

 

Keith

[sultan_sfo]

Hi Ann:

Enjoy your trip to the Taj!

 

If Mumbai is your first port of call in India, there may be a face to face with the Immigration. It is very quick -- just show the visa, gets a stamp, and then on exit collect your transit pass. Because cruise lines have worked it out quite well with the Imm Officers, they board almost immediately after docking. But the process may take half hour. It is also possible higher end cruise lines make some special arrangements to expedite the process. We were on Ocean Princess Singapore / Dover in May 2012 with a Mumbai Port Call.

 

All the best. Hope to see you on another cruise. /Sultan

[PaulaJK]

Sunviking,

 

It sounds as though you are disembarking from the end of a segment which usually means ship's formalities and the unloading of luggage prior to clearance. I would suggest that you check w. the cruise line as to anticipated disembarkation time. Then check w your tour operator as to whether this would permit enough time to transfer to the airport in Mumbai's hectic traffic plus allow you to check in on time.[gates close]

 

Unfortunately the flights to Agra are generally few in number. There also is a train.

 

Would you consider a night or two in Mumbai, a fascinating city.

 

Enjoy your trip. Paula

[wangeling gal]

G'day Sunviking,

It would indeed be risky to try catch such an early flight from Mumbai airport. It's not be a chance I would take, as it is quite a distance from the port.

Once you get through the formalities of the immigration, find your bags, you would need to be picked up directly from the port terminal, get to the front gates, get your bags x-rayed, then try get through peak hour traffic. On the day we disembarked it was for roughly 700 passengers and it was havoc.

If you don't have a front of terminal pickup (they need to be authorised to do this) you have to walk or catch an inside port taxi to the gate, go through the xray (one door in-same door out) then deal with the many taxis outside the gate trying to get your business. Also there is much checking of papers and passports at the airport, before you get into the terminal, and if there is a line of people this can be quite slow. I would recommend a reputable transfer company, with a guide who can help you with any problems, as the 3 flights we had in India, all had 'misunderstandings' that came with them.

I would agree that a night in Mumbai is fabulous, but if not an option a later flight to Agra, so you can watch the sun come up over the magnificent Taj Mahal the next morning, would probably be the less stressful option to take.

Whatever you decide enjoy your visit to Incredible India.:D

Edited December 3, 2013 by wangeling gal

[Sunviking]

Hi Ann:

Enjoy your trip to the Taj!

 

If Mumbai is your first port of call in India, there may be a face to face with the Immigration. It is very quick -- just show the visa, gets a stamp, and then on exit collect your transit pass. Because cruise lines have worked it out quite well with the Imm Officers, they board almost immediately after docking. But the process may take half hour. It is also possible higher end cruise lines make some special arrangements to expedite the process. We were on Ocean Princess Singapore / Dover in May 2012 with a Mumbai Port Call.

 

All the best. Hope to see you on another cruise. /Sultan

 

Hello, Sultan! It's so nice to see your name. I hope you and Lou are well. We too would like to see you on another cruise.

[Sunviking]

Thank you Keith, Paula, and Wangeling gal for the information. We are working on arranging a later pick-up at the port and later flight. My husband is still employed so we have a limited number of days he can be away from the office. We'll have to make another trip to India in the future to be able to see everything we'd like to see.

[Donna_In_India]

Good idea. The original timing was too tight. You'll need to be at the airport an hour before the flight. (Be sure to have a printout of the flight for security check to get INTO the airport.) Traffic continues to get worse....the trip from the port to the airport can easily take an hour and you don't know how long it will take you to disembark.