India was a Seabourn Encore stop in December 2023 — we had an overnight in Mumbai followed by a sea day and then a port call in Cochin (Kochi). I want to be upfront that this is the one country where my experience comes with a giant asterisk: I came down with Influenza A on the sea days approaching Mumbai and got quarantined in our cabin for five days. So I never actually set foot in Mumbai.
The quarantine timed out perfectly with our arrival in Cochin, so we both got off the ship there. Cochin was a great introduction to Kerala — we saw the old temples, walked along the waterfront to see the famous Chinese fishing nets (giant cantilevered nets that have been used there for centuries), and went to a traditional Kathakali performance, the local classical dance-drama where the performers wear these incredibly elaborate painted masks and tell stories through stylized facial expressions. The pre-show makeup demonstration was almost as interesting as the performance itself.
Because I lost Mumbai entirely, I really cannot give you a useful first-person take on the city. If we were to redo this stop today, I would skip the cruise's group excursion and hire a private guide for the day — that has been our pattern everywhere else and it has never let us down.
The takeaway from India for us was that one or two ports on a cruise is not the way to see this country. We have friends who have done two and three week trips through Rajasthan and the south and come back with completely different stories. We would like to go back and do it properly. If you are stopping in Cochin on a cruise, the fishing nets plus a Kathakali show is a perfectly good half-day.