Rental Car Drop off near Port Everglades

[GoochDSA]

My fiancee and I are still going back and forth on how to spend a few days leading up to our Panama Canal cruise. We are back to thinking that we will be spending a few days in WDW before hand and then renting a car to drive down to Port Everglades the morning of embarkation. We would likely use a rental from either Alamo or National since they are available out of the Dolphin. My question is, where would be the best place to drop off the car? Is the best place the airport and then take the shuttle to Port Everglades? Is there an Alamo or National closer to the pier? If the best place is the airport, how much is the shuttle and how often does it run? Any other experiences or opinions are always welcome.

 

TIA! :D

[Oviedo32765]

This map shows a National Car Rental at 600 Terminal Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL which is the airport.

 

Don't know about a shuttle but I think a cab is $25 + tip. You can always call the local National office ((954) 359-3020) and ask about shuttles.

 

I checked on the location of Alamo and there is one at the same location as above.

[csunshine860]

My fiancee and I are still going back and forth on how to spend a few days leading up to our Panama Canal cruise. We are back to thinking that we will be spending a few days in WDW before hand and then renting a car to drive down to Port Everglades the morning of embarkation. We would likely use a rental from either Alamo or National since they are available out of the Dolphin. My question is, where would be the best place to drop off the car? Is the best place the airport and then take the shuttle to Port Everglades? Is there an Alamo or National closer to the pier? If the best place is the airport, how much is the shuttle and how often does it run? Any other experiences or opinions are always welcome.

 

TIA! :D

 

We have used Alamo and returned to airport.......last year they had shuttle to port and airport. Also Hertz also has shuttle to port and back to location listed if needed I did see last year that Hertz had a shuttle connected with Crowne Plaza Hotel - 455 St. Road 84 - we have also used them last year 954 - 761 1163

[jennmaybe]

My fiancee and I are still going back and forth on how to spend a few days leading up to our Panama Canal cruise. We are back to thinking that we will be spending a few days in WDW before hand and then renting a car to drive down to Port Everglades the morning of embarkation. We would likely use a rental from either Alamo or National since they are available out of the Dolphin. My question is, where would be the best place to drop off the car? Is the best place the airport and then take the shuttle to Port Everglades? Is there an Alamo or National closer to the pier? If the best place is the airport, how much is the shuttle and how often does it run? Any other experiences or opinions are always welcome.

 

TIA! :D

 

Just want to make sure you realize that this is a good 4 hr drive and that's if there are no traffic delays....;). I would not do this drive on embarkation day, but some folks don't mind it. Way too risky for us.:)

[GoochDSA]

This map shows a National Car Rental at 600 Terminal Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL which is the airport.

 

Don't know about a shuttle but I think a cab is $25 + tip. You can always call the local National office ((954) 359-3020) and ask about shuttles.

 

I checked on the location of Alamo and there is one at the same location as above.

 

From what I understand 600 Terminal Drive is a pretty huge rental car area. It seems like it is the safest route, but was wondering if there was anything closer to the pier.

 

We have used Alamo and returned to airport.......last year they had shuttle to port and airport....

 

You didn't by any chance notice the cost of the shuttle to the port, did you?

[GoochDSA]

Just want to make sure you realize that this is a good 4 hr drive and that's if there are no traffic delays....;). I would not do this drive on embarkation day, but some folks don't mind it. Way too risky for us.:)

 

We are well aware of the travel time (Google maps actually has it as a 3.5 hour trip). I am usually up very early in the mornings and often spend a whole lot of time driving, so 3.5-4 hours is nothing to me. How bad does the Florida Turnpike get (I am used to NYC/Queens/Brooklyn/Bronx/SI/LI type traffic if that helps)? We would probably be leaving our resort at around 7:30AM or so, but also would not be opposed to leaving WDW the night before our cruise and sleeping somewhere a bit closer.

[waterbugohio]

I know I have read that several car rentals have locations closer to the port. We just rented from budget and they have one very close and have free shuttle to and from the port.

 

If you do decide to return to the airport location, there is also free shuttle service to the port for those renting cars. Used this last year, but they do ask you to show your rental agreement, as they apparently had people flying into fll airport and going over to the car rental lobby and getting on the free shuttle to port!!

[Corby114]

The rental car area located at Hollywood/ Fort Lauderdale International Airport is a short five minute ride to Port Everglades. I have dropped off rental vehicles at that location numerous times and never had a problem. There are taxi stands located on the ground level outside of the baggage claim areas. The only thing I would personally do differently would be to drive down to Fort Lauderdale a day before the cruise and spend one night close to Port Everglades. Why would you want to drive four hours on the day of your departure.

[jennmaybe]

We are well aware of the travel time (Google maps actually has it as a 3.5 hour trip). I am usually up very early in the mornings and often spend a whole lot of time driving, so 3.5-4 hours is nothing to me. How bad does the Florida Turnpike get (I am used to NYC/Queens/Brooklyn/Bronx/SI/LI type traffic if that helps)? We would probably be leaving our resort at around 7:30AM or so, but also would not be opposed to leaving WDW the night before our cruise and sleeping somewhere a bit closer.

 

Ok.....as long as there are no accidents/traffic jams, you should be ok. Leaving early is also a great plan.

 

PS--there is nothing like NYC traffic, so you can handle anything in FL!:D:)