Mumbai and Goa cruise service likely to start on March 1

Mumbai: The much-awaited cruise service between Mumbai and Goa is set to kick off from March 1, a Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) officer revealed.

The service will have ‘Bollywood-style’ dance floors and a swimming pool. The approvals will be in place by the deadline even as the cruise ship is getting a makeover to reflect the Maximum City’s culture. According to officials, a trip from Mumbai to Goa is likely to cost Rs 5,000.

“All the permissions are sorted, tentatively March 1 has been decided as the date for starting the domestic service. Currently, the ship is getting refurbished. Since the ship is procured from Japan, its style and decor is different. So we are changing it to make it reflect our culture,” said the official.

The cruise service will start its journey from the domestic terminal in Mazagaon. En route, it will stop at Dighi in Raigad, Dhabol and Jaigad in Ratnagiri, Vijay Durg, Malvan and then Panaji.

The boat has the capacity to ferry 400 guests at a time and will take 16 hours to travel from Mumbai to Goa. The service, however, will not operate during the four months of the monsoon. According to officials, the ship will be used as floating hotel during that period. The service was supposed to start by December, but was held up due to matters related to securing the requisite permissions.

Ashish Rodrigues, a Mumbai-based businessman who travels to Goa three to four times in a year, said the cruise would make for a good albeit one-time experience. “I would definitely want to travel to Goa by ship, but it would be only to get a one-time experience. I may not choose to travel the second time, as train journeys are cheaper. The duration of the journey (by sea) is also too long, because even if I travel by car, it would take around nine hours to reach,” he said.