Port Everglades---Renting A Car

[daveoc]

We have just booked the Grand Princess transatlantic for November.

 

It arrives into Port Everglades and our plan is to pick up a car and drive to Orlando for a couple of weeks before flying home from Orlando to London.

 

I've had a quick look and there does not seem to be any car rentals in the port itself---they seem to be at Fort Lauderdale airport.

 

Is it easiest then to get to the airport and pick up a car from there---is there a shuttle from the port to the rental companies?.

 

Are we likely to have to pay a drop off fee for returning it to Orlando and not Fort Lauderdale?

 

I'd appreciate any advise from anyone with experience of renting a car from here.

 

Thanks

[Toto2Kansas]

Correct, there are no actual car rental agencies at the port. There are shuttles that will take you to the airport to pick up your car though (only about a 10 minute shuttle ride depending on the traffic). Check with the car rental agency you decide on to see if there is a fee for dropping the car off in Orlando. Sometimes there are, other times there are not.

[teacherman]

There is a Budget on 17th Street, approximately 1 mile from the port. We have used them twice for pre-cruise. They had a free shuttle TO the port, so I am pretty sure they will pick you up at the port if you have a reservation. It may be less costly to rent from them than an airport location. Check their rates on-line and then contact them to ask.

[ronl]

We have just booked the Grand Princess transatlantic for November.

 

It arrives into Port Everglades and our plan is to pick up a car and drive to Orlando for a couple of weeks before flying home from Orlando to London.

 

I've had a quick look and there does not seem to be any car rentals in the port itself---they seem to be at Fort Lauderdale airport.

 

Is it easiest then to get to the airport and pick up a car from there---is there a shuttle from the port to the rental companies?.

 

Are we likely to have to pay a drop off fee for returning it to Orlando and not Fort Lauderdale?

 

I'd appreciate any advise from anyone with experience of renting a car from here.

 

Thanks

I rent my cat at the airport there is a lot of them hertz national and so on i get my car from national yes there is a bus it is a big Green one just right outside where u pick up the cabs just ask you can drop of the cat at orlando airport

[chrysalis]

I rent my cat at the airport there is a lot of them hertz national and so on i get my car from national yes there is a bus it is a big Green one just right outside where u pick up the cabs just ask you can drop of the cat at orlando airport

 

 

Do they rent dogs, too?:D

[Toto2Kansas]

There is a Budget on 17th Street, approximately 1 mile from the port. We have used them twice for pre-cruise. They had a free shuttle TO the port, so I am pretty sure they will pick you up at the port if you have a reservation. It may be less costly to rent from them than an airport location. Check their rates on-line and then contact them to ask.

 

I used this Budget location once for renting a car. And although probably an isolated incident, we had a severe problem there. It was the only time I used my credit card the entire trip, and after arriving home, for the next month, my credit card number was used to make purchases in Florida. Thousands of dollars worth of purchases. :eek: Since it was the only time I used my CC the entire trip, it was easy to run down who stole my CC number in Florida. It took months to get this all straightened out. :( I stick with the airport locations only now.

[cindep]

We used Hertz in December to rent a car after we came off our Ruby cruise. They had a location that was off airport (sorry I can't remember the exact location), but they picked us up at the pier and then took us to their off airport location (I'm thinking it was at a hotel?). This was nice as we didn't have to get into the airport traffic. You might check with them and find out. We were very happy with this arrangement and dropped the car off at the airport in Fort Lauderdale without problem.

[vmom]

We just did this in December. We got off at Port Everglades from our cruise and rented a car and drove to Orlando for a few days.

 

After checking out prices this is what I found out,

There is a Budget location that will pick you up at the port and take you to the Budget office however...the cost to do this was 2xs what we paid by renting a Budget car at the airport...so comparison shop.

 

What ended up being equally easy, is we took a cab to the airport which is only a 10 minute drive. We shared the cab with another couple and split the cost which was nice for both of us. We then rented the car from Budget at the airport.

 

May seem like a hassle, but it wasn't and was much cheaper. I was quoted $80 to rent a car from the Budget with the shuttle from the port because they were going to charge a hefty extra fee for dropping the car off at a different location. We paid $37 by renting the car from the airport Budget and there was no extra drop off fee for dropping the car off in Orlando.

 

We also used a discount offered by a large warehouse chain to get a free upgrade to a larger car.

[csunshine860]

We used Alamo last December. As we were off the ship by 7:30AM the Alamo bus picked us up - we were the only ones on and off we went to the airport. We had our car and were on the road by 7:50. That was great beating the rush at the airport rental office. As we were checking in for our car the driver came back in as I left my cell phone on the bus. He noticed it on the seat of the bus. He refused an extra tip and said pass the deed on. We did the following day. A woman left her car keys in the lock of her car in the parking lot of a mall. We waited for her (15 minutes) Have a great trip.:p

[daveoc]

Thank you all for the info and tips.

 

I think I will try to get to the airport and pick up there as it sounds as though there is more choice and probably cheaper.

 

Once again, thank you.

[Chester & Brewster]

Try dollar.co.uk. Their prices are excellent & they offer a Fort Lauderdale "off airport" location. It's 2400 Miami Road - basically between the airport & cruise port. Type it into Google earth/maps & you'll see how close it is.

We are doing 2 x one way rentals - Orlando to Fort Lauderdale pre-cruise & the reverse post cruise. The one way charge is minimal.

We're going in two weeks, so I'll let you know if it was successful or not!

[daveoc]

Try dollar.co.uk. Their prices are excellent & they offer a Fort Lauderdale "off airport" location. It's 2400 Miami Road - basically between the airport & cruise port. Type it into Google earth/maps & you'll see how close it is.

We are doing 2 x one way rentals - Orlando to Fort Lauderdale pre-cruise & the reverse post cruise. The one way charge is minimal.

We're going in two weeks, so I'll let you know if it was successful or not!

 

Please do---do you know if there is a shuttle to and from the port?.

 

Thanks

[JohninDC]

Please do---do you know if there is a shuttle to and from the port?.

 

Thanks

 

If there is not a shuttle a taxi would only be about $10. Good luck! :)