Cruise ride in evening

Taking a cruise ride on river Mandovi can certainly be a great way of spending your evening in Goa. Decorated with bright lightings, these cruise boats can offer you a unique experience of spending an hour in river in moonlight and a pleasant weather. The overall environment inside cruise is filled with joy, music and dance.

There are several cruise operators who operates from 6:00 pm on-wards. They start from the cruise point which is near to the Patto circle of Panjim, below Mandovi bridge. Cruises takes off every 20 minutes or so and the last cruise starts around 8:30 pm. Make sure you reach there on time to avoid missing the last cruise.

Distant view of a moving cruise

At entry point, there are steel railings for making queues as it can get really crowded during weekends and in season time. You will find several touts also in front of entry point, who will try to sell cruise tickets, but it is advisable to buy it from the window (as is also written on a display there). Tickets, as of present, is priced at Rs. 300/- per person, but the experience you get is worth this amount. For children, they have a policy that those with height below 3 feet can go free. There is a scale with 3 feet mark while you move towards the cruise, but nobody really monitor heights. Once you buy the ticket, you will be required to join one of the queues (there are 5 to 6 queues) and they release each queue one by one to avoid congestion at any point of time. You will also be frisked for security reasons.

Once inside the cruise you will find a stage at and plastic chairs arranged in rows across the boat, facing the stage. There is an upper deck also, which can be reached by stairs. There are chairs there also. You need to occupy your seat and wait till all passengers have boarded. The cruise has a capacity of accommodating 200-300 person at a time. You will find all kinds of people ranging from kids to elderlies, youngsters, couples, newly married and foreigners inside the cruise. At the back side, there is a food stall which sells alcohol and other items such as cold drink, wafers, biscuits and mineral water. They are priced high (typically double of shop price), but you can really enjoy them while cruising. A professional photographer is also on board and you can ask him to click your photograph and get a print there itself for a price of Rs. 50 per pic.

Stage and seating arrangements inside cruise

The stage is manned by an anchor, a DJ and few staff. The anchor will entertain you and will also give you some necessary instructions. Through-out the trip, some dance performances will be shown which are typically Goan and Portuguese dances. In between, the anchor will invite tourists also on stage, in rounds. One round is for kids, one for couple, then for males followed by females. The DJ will play the music and people can dance to the tune. It is really a fun to join them in dancing. The dance and music continues while the cruise ply in the river, goes upto the point where it touches the sea and then back to the origin. Before your realize, it will be time to leave the cruise.

Dance performance on stage

Tips:

1. Board the cruise early so that you can chose a proper seat for yourself. Take front row for a clear view of the stage. If you want to look below in water take the seat on towards edge. But some people may find it scary. People with very small kids can avoid the edge seat for safety reason. Upper deck fills out faster. If you reach 10-15 minutes before the cruise time, you should be able to choose a nice seat.

2. Parking of four wheeler can be a problem as the parking space is limited. You can go to the other side of the road where some parking space is available and then walk down to the cruise point.Avoid parking in 'No parking' area

3. For elderlies and people with limited mobility, consider a walking of about 150 meters, a short stairs of about 8-10 steps and about 5-15 minutes of standing in queue.

4. It remains crowded during weekends and season time and may require longer waiting

Quick points:
1. Where: Near Patto circle in Panjim
2. Time: 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm on all days (Cruise starts every 20 minutes in this time)   
3.  Duration: 1 hour
4.  Price: Rs. 300/- per person. Child below 3 feet height is free