10:30, somewhere in the Indian Ocean

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Today, the face check is the only item on the agenda. This means that all passengers who make shore excursions in India and have obtained a multiple entry visa for 65 euros before the trip, must go through another identity check. AIDA has already filled out the necessary forms for all passengers and now all passengers need to come deck by deck into the theater. We are first in line on deck 4. In the theater, we have to sign the three shore leave cards and two Indian officials “face-check” us. They are enthroned on the stage at their desk and hand us the first of the three yellow cards with the necessary signature. With this and a copy of our passports, we are allowed to leave the theater. The passport and the remaining cards are taken from us beforehand. I would have just misplaced it anyway, so this is quite good for me and my “order”.

Be mindful of your return time if you don’t want to stay in Mumbai unwanted overnight

Another good thing is the hint given during one of the excursion presentations. The AIDA is in Mumbai overnight, but the port closes its gates from 11:00 pm to 07:00 am. So if it is later (and such plans you may well have, if you eat dinner ashore and then still want to sip a cocktail or two), you will strand willy-nilly in the city and have to take a hotel. We were not aware before and this tip will probably save us a lot of trouble.

// We applied for a visa here: Indian Embassy in Hamburg, Germany