Jump to content

Any rental car issues?


OjMel

Recommended Posts

We were in St Croix a year ago. Although it was pouring rain, we rented a car and meandered around the island. Since then, someone told us that you need a special license or permit or something to be able to rent a car now. Has anyone very recently dealt with this or know anything about it? I'd be bummed getting there next month only to find out that renting a car isn't an option because we didn't have what we needed. Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just returned from sailing on the Maasdam this month. Our ship was in St. Croix December 9th.

The car rental was with Budget. Once you depart out of the gates, go to the left and they are in that first block of stores.

Nothing but my state licence was needed to drive. Also mind you they drive on the left side. No biggie on this. I never had a problem except for one time.

Also if you have a GPS, it will work on the island.

I was solo that day and headed to Point Udell and worked my way back to the port area. No issues at all.

Make sure that your car rental is at the pier and not at the airport. One couple ahead of me did it on Budget main website and it sent the rental to the airport, not to the pier. They were not able to rent unless they went to the airport.

I enjoy doing my own tour of the island on my own pace.

Enjoy!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We rented a minivan from Budget on December 14th. It worked really well. The rental is just outside the pier. Just needed a drivers license and credit card.

 

I did note--as others warned on this page--that the gas tank was not full when we picked up the van. It was about 7/8 th full. I noticed it and pointed it out--but it's hard to figure out how much gas to put back in so we ended up putting in a basically full tank for return.

 

One other thing to note is we did run into traffic on our way back from Christiansted--and so it took longer than we expected to get back. A little close for my taste. So don't wait until an hour before you're ship leaves to head back--allow plenty of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

We rented from Budget Jan. 9. Only needed a U.S. driver's license and a credit card. We did need a little patience... it's not as efficient as renting from an operation in the continental U.S. We had to ask the policeman at the pier to point out the Budget lady. She was on her phone trying to locate her vehicles, and hadn't put out the Budget sign yet. They have a shared office on the first street facing the waterfront, about a block to the right of the cruise pier. It is quite easy to spot-- once the sign is out!

I had assumed that since I gave credit card information ahead of time, we would just be handed the keys. We did get our pre-reserved vehicle, after about 15 minutes of calling in authorizations, but I think it would have been just as fast to walk up without a reservation.

When we tried to drop off the vehicle around 2:00, we were told that the Budget staff wouldn't be back for "hours yet", but we could leave the keys with the sorbet guy who shared office quarters with Budget. It all worked out OK, but don't expect a city-style operation.

We enjoyed having the flexibility of our own vehicle. We drove through the rainforest, stopping a few times to walk, at Creque Dam, and at the Mt. Pellier Domino Club for a soda. What a neat place! Then we meandered along the Western Scenic Road, stopping at a deserted beach (North Star?), where we enjoyed excellent shelling, and saw washed-up sea sponges and coral. We also made a brief stop at Cane Bay.

The rainforest and Western Scenic roads are quite narrow and potholed, and I would have been worried about getting stuck if the ground was wet. You’d definitely want a 4WD vehicle. And don’t forget to drive on the left! The map Budget gave us wasn’t too good, but we didn’t care since we didn’t have set goals. We eventually got onto a wider paved road and drove east, then south to Christiansted.

Coming back on Centerline Road, we stopped to tour the Botanical Garden. It’s picturesque, being located amid the ruins of an old plantation. They have a good self-guided tour with informative and attractive exhibits of local plants. We were fascinated by the hundreds of fruit bats nesting in the old overseer’s house.

Back at Frederiksted, we did a little shopping near the pier. The shopping is not high-end, but there are cute souvenir-type items. We checked out Fort Frederik (could this be the humblest fort in the Caribbean?) and walked along the white sand beach next to the pier, which would be a pretty place to hang out for an easy beach day. Had a relaxing day on St. Croix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The rental was $70. They had cheaper vehicles, but we wanted a 4WD Jeep since we planned to explore the rainforest.

 

We did get the insurance, just so there would hopefully be no hassles if anything happened. You may be covered by your credit card or your auto insurance, so check into it. Technically, St. Croix is the U.S.!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...