[Worldtrippers home] [Crystal home]
Poet T.S. Eliot once said, “The journey, not the arrival, matters.” Our journey from home (California) to the Crystal Symphony cruise ship (Mumbai, India) was an adventure in itself.
The biggest challenge of our planned four and a half months is that we will be traveling on multiple international and domestic airlines… and every airline has its own baggage rules and restrictions. For example, our first flight (on Delta and Virgin Atlantic) allows each of us two 50-lb suitcases and two 25-lb carry-ons. However, our intra-Africa flights allow each of us one 30-kg suitcase and one 7-kg carry-on.
We figured we could each bring a maximum of 81 lbs of baggage. We would need to consolidate 16 lbs. from one suitcase to another when we hit Africa. We would need to bring clothing for both Mediterranean and Arctic climates. And unlike Viking’s casual elegant dress code, Crystal has two formal nights.
Gail literally spent days trying to figure out what to pack… and what not to pack. Her solution was to add a collapsible cardboard box… and to purchase an extra 10 lbs of weight for the intra-Africa flights.
Our departure on Sunday evening, March 16, got off to an ominous start. Right after we arrived at San Jose airport, Gail discovered a stone was missing from her “Mother’s ring,” celebrating the birthstones of our four children. She figures she lost it somewhere between loading and unloading all of our luggage.
Our first flight left San Jose at 7:35 pm. Unfortunately, our second flight from Los Angeles was delayed an hour. As a result, we arrived in London too late to catch our third flight. The good news is that Virgin Atlantic re-booked us onto a British Airways flight leaving at 9:35 pm. The BA flight was less than half full, and we were able to spread out just about anywhere we wanted on the plane (within our class, that is).
We left California on March 16 and arrived in Mumbai on March 18. Somehow, we completely missed St. Patrick’s Day. All told, we spent more than 26 hours in airplanes and airports.
Gail was so jetlagged and sleep-deprived, she lost her phone… not once, but twice. The first time was on a shuttle bus between airline terminals. Fortunately, we were the only ones aboard the bus, and the driver came running after us after we had entered the terminal. The second time was on a seat at the departure gate. Gail remembered it just before we boarded the plane.
When we finally arrived at Mumbai, we were not optimistic that our transfer to the ship would go well. The first miracle is that all of our luggage made it to Mumbai with us. The second miracle is that when we stepped out of the terminal in Mumbai, a driver was holding a sign with our names on it.
Mumbai, comprised of seven islands, is the financial capital of India and the capital of the state of Maharashtra. With a population of 12.5 million people, Mumbai is the world’s sixth-most-populated metropolis and home to the most billionaires in Asia.
After a 45-minute private car ride through Mumbai traffic, we arrived at the cruise ship terminal and the Crystal Symphony. Time for more delays. We had our passports, our boarding passes, our e-visas and our Crystal tickets. What we did not have was our “electronic landing cards,” which we had never heard of before.
So we were directed to stand in a line. Then directed to stand in another line. Then directed to stand in another line. In a display of bureaucracy at its finest, we had a half-dozen immigration officers all pointing at a computer screen and speaking to each other in Indian. Off to the side, two more immigration officers (who seemed to have no function at all) stood and watched. Several other guests were in the same situation – apparently, Crystal had printed some ELCs, but not others.
We finally made it through immigration and boarded the ship at 2:15 pm. This was the extent of our visit to Mumbai. We saw the airport, 45 minutes of roads, and the cruise terminal. We spent the rest of the day unpacking, and the ship departed at 7:00 pm.
