A full-fledged cruise shipping service starts between Surat, Gujarat and Bandra, Mumbai from November 10, 2019. The passenger shipping will be a major connectivity boost for India's financial capital and Surat City.
The cruiseferry will have passenger capacity 250 and 20 staterooms. Initially, the voyage will operate just once per week, whereas the number of crossings in the future will increase depending on the demand. The price of the cruise tickets will cost ~INR 3000-5000 (USD 42-71) per person.
Surat's Hazira Port developed a dedicated and specialized marine terminal and also constructed the other required infrastructure to ensure the facility is able to facilitate the passenger ship operations. The seaport also plans to build a ship repair facility (at Hazira) to help in the development of the ecosystem for such operations.
The port development will further add to the options of the existing road, rail, and air-based connectivity between Mumbai and Surat. The latest reports suggest that once the operation is started on the route, it shall depart from Bandra at 5:00 p.m. on Thursdays and dock at Surat at 9:00 a.m. the next day. After that, the same voyage shall depart from Surat at 5 pm on Fridays and dock at Bandra at 9 am on Saturdays.