Hollywood tends to view cruises unfairly. Those large, luxe liners are where unlikeable heiresses get murdered in the Art Deco suite – the perfect locked room mystery. In sitcoms, they’re where empty nesters make dad jokes as they find new purpose. In Bollywood, it’s almost a decade since Kamal and Neelam took their family and buddies aboard a chic ship to play out first world problems on their 30th anniversary.
For us, on land, a cruise is still impossibly glamorous, but finally within reach. According to Skift, a travel data company in New York, roughly 470,000 travellers went on cruises in India in 2023-2024, and 80% of them were domestic tourists. It means we’re finally finding new ways to enjoy our east and west coast, and (for a nation of go-everywhere-do-everything tourists) we might be finally learning to chill.
All aboard
In November last year, Delhi resident Shikha Gupta and her partner sailed through the Sunderbans for two nights and three days, paying close to ₹50,000 for the experience. They were visiting family in Kolkata and found that a cruise was a novel way to soak in the tranquillity of the majestic mangroves and brackish creeks. “We didn’t spot a tiger, but that took nothing away from the experience of waking up in a new part of the forest reserve on both days,” Gupta says.
{{/usCountry}}In November last year, Delhi resident Shikha Gupta and her partner sailed through the Sunderbans for two nights and three days, paying close to ₹50,000 for the experience. They were visiting family in Kolkata and found that a cruise was a novel way to soak in the tranquillity of the majestic mangroves and brackish creeks. “We didn’t spot a tiger, but that took nothing away from the experience of waking up in a new part of the forest reserve on both days,” Gupta says.
{{/usCountry}}Booking was a struggle. The cruise was fully booked, and Gupta only made it because a reservation had been cancelled. “There were more than 50 of us on the water, and we did not expect the experience to be so wholesome,” she says.
At the G20 Summit in 2023, Union Tourism Secretary V Vidhyavathi stated that India is aiming to attract four million cruise tourists by 2041, up from around 3,00,000 last year. Of course, we’re going to need more wind in our sails – and lots more ships. “India has enormous potential both as a cruise destination and homeport,” says Naresh Rawal, senior vice-president of sales for India and the Middle East at Resorts World Cruises. The company launched in June 2022, and has noticed a demand for the “fly-cruise” segment, which includes a flight to and from the port where the cruise ship is moored, in addition to the cruise. “We see everyone – young travellers, couples, multi-generation families and corporate groups,” he says.
Sync and float
In the years after the pandemic, more Indians have been trying out cruise holidays, companies say. It used to be all foreign tourists a few years ago. For many, the office off-site is the moment of discovery. Delhi resident Garima Singh’s Mumbai-to-Goa trip in April 2023 was more relaxed and luxurious than the usual fancy resort, particularly since she was at a low point in her personal life too. “How many opportunities do you get to stare into the waves of the Arabian Sea while drowning in your misery?” she asks, laughing.
Singh enjoyed herself so much, she’s planning a cruise outing with her family, who has never sailed on a ship before. At ₹50,000 per person for a three-night, all-inclusive trip from Mumbai to Goa and back, with activities, food and entertainment on board, many travellers find it’s priced only slightly higher than a regular vacation.
Cordelia Cruises has been operating since September 2021. The home port is in Mumbai and they visit ports in Goa, Kochi, Lakshadweep, Sri Lanka, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Puducherry, says Jurgen Bailom, the company’s president and CEO. “The market has expanded a little,” he says. “There are now more younger travellers looking to strike a work-life balance. Our ships are now always full. People book in advance, but there are a lot of spontaneous bookings too.”
Setting sail
Peak cruising months along India waterways are from September to April, and trips can be as short as a two-night stay or a fully immersive 52-night journey that goes from Varanasi to Kolkata to Dhaka to Guwahati. Indians keep it short, foreign tourists linger longer, says Raj Singh, founder and chairman of Antara Cruises. The river cruise company has vessels sailing on the Ganga, Padma and Brahmaputra.
They also run a weekly cruise through Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park, India’s second largest mangrove forest. It costs roughly ₹92,000 for three nights and lots of Indians sign up. “Currently, I am on a cruise in Varanasi on the Ganga, which is for three nights and four days,” Raj says. “It’s completely full, and a big section of that is Indian passengers — more than we’ve seen in the past.”
But regardless of where they’re from, there’s one thing that all cruise ship tourists love. No, it’s not the buffet, the live dancing, the games room or the on-board Wifi. Everyone loves chasing the sunrise and sunset. Gupta remembers how the sky turned orange in the evening as their vessel snaked through the Sunderbans. “Seeing those fiery colours dissolve into the water is something else. Who wouldn’t choose that over a road trip?”
From HT Brunch, December 07, 2024
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