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FLL Car Rental Advice


stratixman
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I posted this over on the Fort Lauderdale forum. Thought I would ask here as well.

 

We have never had need for a car rental in Fort Lauderdale pre-cruise before. But on my upcoming cruise we will be in Fort Lauderdale for several days before sailing. I have done extensive research on car rentals from the Airport to be dropped off near Port Everglades. My question pertains to how much hassle is likely to be involved in dropping off the rental car at any of the the port drop of locations on the morning of the cruise, especially given that on our sailing day there will be 6 ships accounting fort over 20,000 possible passengers trying to board ships. I'm thinking there could be a lot of folks with luggage trying to drop off rental cars and get a ride to their ship on the car rental port shuttles. I have seen posts by various people on Cruise Critic describing long, slow lines at the return counters and long waits to get on a car rental shuttle (as long as couple of hours in line) on such days due to the large numbers of people and large amounts of luggage (shuttle vans can carry only so much luggage per trip).

 

1) Are there any of the car rental firms that would be a better choice in thinking of returning a car near the port, e.g. better or worse locations, less hassle, etc.?

 

2) Some have suggested driving to the port first to drop off our luggage before returning the car, which means then that boarding a car rental shuttle would be quicker by not having any luggage to be transported. But having seen the traffic jams on occasion at Port Everglades I'm not sure I want to deal with that either.

 

3) Would it it maybe be more efficient to just drop the car back off at the airport and then take a cab to port?

 

Any advice is appreciated.

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First of all, 6 ships is not a huge number for Port Everglades...they do this every weekend during cruise season, and are very good at it. Plus, only a small number of those people are renting cars. Yes, the sites can be busy, but that is not insurmountable. You could turn in the day before, and hotel shuttle or taxi to the port. Commonly discussed on the Florida board.

 

Also commonly discussed there is the fact it will be cheaper to turn the car in off airport, and that the airport rental sites don't often shuttle any more.

 

The Florida board is really the place with all the knowledge and experience.

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There are agencies with offices closer to Port Everglades than Fort Lauderdale airport, many with a free shuttle between there and the port. By and large they permit picking up the car at the airport and dropping it off near the port. I have a couple of upcoming rentals with Alamo picking up at the airport and dropping off just off the port, and vice versa.

FLL airport is close to the cruise port, true, but no agencies will provide a free shuttle between the two.

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Thrifty and Dollar have a rental office just outside Port Everglades gates. The shuttle will take you to your berth location and pickup there as well with your bags. We often pickup car at FLL and drop at Port Everglades office. No extra drop charge for this or vice versa. Just off US1 and State Rd 84

 

Location is: Thrifty Car Rental 2400 Miami Rd Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316 954-463-2958

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Alamo has a PE drop-off just outside the south gate on Eller. The satellite drop-off was only a few buck more.

 

Dropped off around 11:00, no check-in counters they do it with their remote scanner gizmos. Hopped on the shuttle (little tight) and was to the ship in about 10 minutes.

 

Dropping off earlier might be a completely different experience.

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Here's what I do....

 

Rent my car from either Budget or Avis, both on 17th ST close to cruise terminal. Take taxi or Uber from airport to the rental location a couple of days before cruise and pick up car. Return car the morning of the cruise and take shuttle to your cruise. I allow a little extra time for the shuttles which are usually busy and not everyone is on the same ship!

 

It's pretty easy to do...

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What we did was drop it off the night before after dinner. We only had it for one night, so we dropped it off at 24 hours as do not get a charge. We stayed at a Hampton inn that had a free shuttle to the airport and back. Dh took the car while I stayed with the kids. He took the free shuttle back to the hotel and we used Uber to the ship in the morning.

 

It was the best thing, especially with two kids and we always seem to have a lot of bags despite me saying I’m going to pack light

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Most of the hotels on 17th charge around $20 to park, so you have to decide if you want to pay the fee and drive your luggage to the port or just turn in the car the night before and use a shuttle/cab/Uber.

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We stay at the Hampton Inn, Plantation. They have a free shuttle from the airport and free shuttle to the cruise terminal. The hotel is across the street from a Mall with a Sears that has rental cars available. We take the rental car back to Sears the morning of the cruise and then take the shuttle to the port.

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I posted this over on the Fort Lauderdale forum. Thought I would ask here as well.

 

 

 

3) Would it it maybe be more efficient to just drop the car back off at the airport and then take a cab to port?

 

 

We think so.

 

No lines dropping the car off at the airport, just grab your luggage and head to the cab that you won't be waiting for or sharing with mobs of other people and their luggage..

 

We always use Enterprise because we get a great discount through employer, and they never seem as busy as Hertz, Avis, etc--not sure if that is because Hertz/Avis are connected with more reward programs or if people only use Enterprise when they have an insurance claim.

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