Mumbai - India

A hive of excitement and activity as Arcadia's Gangways are moved into position on arrival in Mumbai.




Good Day Everyone,

Welcome to Mumbai!

The Band plays on arrival - a traditional welcome at Mumbai and much enjoyed by everyone lining the rails of Arcadia as we realise that we are actually here in this great land that is India.

A speedy clearance in the Horizon Room - thank you Team.

It only gone 0730 hours and the new joining crew members are coming up the gangway!

Getting the ship and shore gangways into position is key to the day.......

Every passenger was given a fresh red rose as they left the ship - a special touch.......

Custom Officials had their 'sniffer' dogs out in force.......................

Truly incredible............

Shopping inside the passenger terminal................

All the action on the dock as the Shore Excursion Coaches line up and the Taxis tout for business.

Like many countries in the world - taxi styles are exclusive to certain places........

It takes a lot of coaches to service Arcadia - and this is just one of our Tours.........

The other side of the Terminal.

Unique to Mumbai...................................

This could be you walking down our gangway...........what else does one do in the winter?

Jackie Bott our Passenger Services Manager and Kevin Oprey - Staff Captain welcome

Prasad Hariharan -Chief Operating Officer form our Mumbai Office.

Captain Ian Walters pictures with Bomi Ayrton -Managing Director FMSI - Fleet Maratime Services (India) Pvt Ltd.

Gelson Cummings with James and Prasad - always good to meet up with Colleagues and friends............

Check my camera love.......................!

Even our delivery of fresh cucumbers got a sniff!!!!

As soon as the ship is alongside there is lots of cleaning and painting to be done to keep everything 'ship shape'.......!

Check the spelling...............sludge being removed from Arcadia.......

An Indian Coastguard Ship berthed near us along with other Navel Vessels.

It was great to see Lorella D'Souza and Zurica Dais again............from our Mumbai Office.

The camaraderie amongst seafarers is unique to our occupation............

This delivery was not for us.................

Fancy a magic carpet?

or perhaps a new outfit - this is all before you leave the terminal...........

I am sure many of you have walked through here..............................................

One of my favourite views of Arcadia with the iconic glass lift tower and the name...........

And so as it is nearly time to say good bye we prepare to land the gangways.........

Lining the decks for a fond farewell, many were in tears as they said good bye to their loved ones........

The P&O Cruises House Flag flying proudly as Arcadia prepares to sail........

A Cargo Ship leaves just ahead of us.........

And on our Starboard side - such a busy harbour....

And ahead of us.....................

And so the sun sets on another day of memories on this Round World Cruise......

The gangways are landed.....

The famous Mumbai Gangway is towed into storage for another time............

Helen Thomson on her balcony enjoying the sail away from Mumbai...........

Let go forward let go aft............it could be you on that balcony!!

Arcadia edges off her berth - with loud blasts on the ship's horn we say farewell for another year...............can't believe it is a year since we were here before - you can check this blog for last year's postings.......we were a bit earlier as far as I recall.....

And finally..........

For days now you could feel the excitement building as both passengers and crew waited in anticipation for our arrival in Mumbai - India's premier metropolis! It is also the home to many of our crew members and they were past themselves with excitement at the prospect of seeing their loved ones. The day passed without a hitch. Indian Immigration Officers and one of our Ship's Agents joined us at Port Kelang for the crossing. What a crossing it was -the sea was like velvet all the way along with endless sunshine and balmy nights.........the kind of stuff you read about in brochures and the glossy travel magazines only this time it was for real.

It is always great for us when the Immigration Officers travel en route to the port. Last year we had to complete a face to face Immigration Inspection of all passengers on arrival alongside. This year we had four sea days to do this - absolute luxury - we used Electra - the Nightclub for the Inspections which were spread over four days with almost no waiting time at all - much to the delight of our passengers and our Administration Manager, Belinda. There was also a face to face inspection involving some of the crew.

Arcadia took on her Pilot at 0630 hours along with the Quarantine Inspectors and another one of our Agents. When the ship was secure alongside at 0720 hours we received clearance immediately. With two gangways in operation we have all our 97 of our new joining crew on board at 0730 hours before the disembarkation of our passengers on tours. We changed over 110 passengers today. The next and final turnaround for us is in three day time in Dubai.

I do hope you have enjoyed these photographs of the ship's arrival and departure and I will post more soon showing more of Mumbai. All I can say that Mumbai certainly lives up to that slogan that is used on all the flashy advertisements for India - INCREDIBLE INDIA!...........

More to follow............and here is a new website for you to explore.....

http://www.worldsleadingcruiselines.co.uk/

Bye for now,

James.

We do not tilt on either side - we walk upright.

Indira Gandhi - 1917 - 1984.