Returning to your vehicle

[irishgirltravels]

What are the options after a cruise for returning to a vehicle that has been left behind at the departure port? Are you able to park and leave a car at the hotel? Are there additional parking fees? Thanks...

[LHT28]

What port ? what hotel?

 

We opted to fly in order to avoid the parking problem

[riversights]

If one chooses to drive to a rendezvous with the American Queen, what does one do with a vehicle? Does the company advise on this, or are drivers left on their own to figure it out? I'm intrigued, and hope someone who has met the Queen by auto will answer this one.:)

[hondorner]

We figure it out on our own. If you are doing a round trip to and from the same city, it would be easier. It's possible your embarkation hotel (as provided by AQ) might provide parking while you are gone.

 

Last year, we embarked in Chattanooga and after back-to-back cruises disembarked in Louisvile. Despite this taking 18 days by boat, Louisville is just 5 hours driving time from Chattanooga! We left our van in Chattanooga, rented a car in Louisville and drove back to Chattanooga, picked up our van and drove both the the Chattanooga airport where we turned in the rental car. We left our van at the Camping World outside Chattanooga (long story; the roof air conditioner had to be replaced while we were gone), but if we had taken a smaller vehicle there is a public parking garage in Chattanooga with long term parking at $3 per day!

 

This year, we're driving the van (actually a Class B RV) to Pittsburgh, picking up a rental car at the airport then parking the van at a long term offsite airport parking lot, then driving the rental to Cincinnati (about 5 hours). We'll turn in the rental at the Cincnnati airport and take the hotel's free shuttle from the airport to the hotel. Once we arrive back in Pittsburgh on the boat, we may take a taxi (about $40 or so) back to the airport to pick up the van, or we may take the Airport Flyway Bus from downtown Pgh to the airport (just $3.75), then take the parking lot free shuttle to pick up the van. It's also possible AQ may offer a shuttle to the airport, at a reasonable fee.

 

We travel with carry-on luggage which makes it easy to take buses and shuttles.

[irishgirltravels]

Sounds like a simple plan...I like the idea of arriving at the end of the journey and not having to deal with a rental return or a 5 hour drive. Great advice! We are looking forward to 2014 cruise to celebrate our 20th Anniversary...enjoy your summer trip!:)

[eleanordew]

I like to rent a car one-way on each end of the trip. That way I don't put miles on my own car, can just drop the rental off when we reach our destination, and frankly, it's usually cheaper than the two of us flying one-ways twice.

[irishgirltravels]

Thanks...:) we will be driving from the Northwest to St. Louis and then cruise to New Orleans. A car rental one-way makes sense to return to St. Louis.

 

Where do people leave their personal cars during the cruise?:confused:

[LHT28]

Thanks...:) we will be driving from the Northwest to St. Louis and then cruise to New Orleans. A car rental one-way makes sense to return to St. Louis.

 

Where do people leave their personal cars during the cruise?:confused:

I would check out flights it may work out cheaper than one way rental if they have a drop off fee

You could always see if there is a parknfly in St Louis

Maybe a hotel with parking included for the length of you trip Park sleep & fly

[ededmd]

we will be driving from the Northwest to St. Louis and then cruise to New Orleans.

Where do people leave their personal cars during the cruise?:confused:

 

One way to do this would be to park at airport parking. The Parking Spot is good / pleasant / shuttles. The airport parking Lot D is connected by a tunnel to the airport proper. Take the Metrolink from the airport to the Arch / Laclede's landing stop to get to the riverfront.

You would have to be able to manage your own luggage if choosing this option.

 

Or you may find the downtown STL parking guide helpful and worth whatever potentially marginally increased cost for convenience:

 

downtownstl.org/docs/DowntownParkingGuide.pdf

 

~from a former St. Louisan.

[hondorner]

ededmd is "right on" about parking at, or near, the airport. Offsite airport lots are often inexpensive; for example, we park at one near Miami airport for less than $4 per day.

 

But, more importantly, you may find that airport locations are the only place you can drop off a one-way rental, especially if you arrive at a later hour or on a weekend.

 

The only "trick" is getting from the airport to the boat. If you are taking advantage of the pre-cruise hotel provided by AQ, check to see if that hotel has a free airport shuttle. Otherwise, we usally use a shared shuttle (like Super Shuttle), or, at last resort, a taxi. In Chattanooga, our taxi driver was a gentleman over 80 years old, driving a 15 (or more) year-old Lincoln Continental. He was a hoot!

 

Once you arrive back in St. Louis, if there is any distance between the parking lot and the car rental agency, stop and pick up you car first, transfer the luggage, and then drive both cars to the rental agency to drop it off.

[mp12point7]

Not mentioned so far is an option in some port cities. Ride Amtrak from home to first city and then again from your destination back to home. My 2014 Fall Color trip will be accomplished in this fashion.

[garlinn]

On our recent cruise some people drove to Memphis then took Amtrak from New Orleans back to Memphis. We flew from Houston to Memphis then took the train back to Houston.

[hondorner]

Sadly, while Amtrak goes through (and stops) at our tiny town of Okeechobee, it mostly doesn't make good connections with other trains. I always look at routing and scheduling to see if it's feasible ('cause I love trains) but so far it hasn't worked out.

[riversights]

To the several of you who love trains, we doff our plumed hats. We, too, imagine a fantastical cross country commune with each other by train to embark by steamboat. Will we stop along the way to allow the buffalo to pass over the rails? In our dreams...:D

[eleanordew]

On our cruise (Aug. 15) there were enough people who wanted to return from St. Louis to their cars in Cincinnati, that the American Queen sold a $60 ride on one of the buses back to Cincy. If I've known there was such an option, I wouldn't have rented a car to get to the ship and back.

[riversights]

It sounds like there will be "options" if one is willing to take their chances. If we opt for the train, there may be adventure lying in wait.

[LHT28]

When we received our final docs there was an option to return to Pittsburgh from Cincinnati on the bus I think it was $79pp

But by then I had booked airfare

Would have been nice to know this option when we booked the cruise DH would have driven down & I could have shopped more ;)

 

Lyn

[hvsteve1]

If your departure city has an airport, there may be a hotel offering free parking with a one night stay. You probably want to get there the night before rather than miss the boat due to some unforeseen delay and the free parking often makes the stay with free parking cheaper than long-term parking in a lot. Some hotels have given us up to three weeks of parking with a one night stay. The hotel may have a van to take you to the ship or you might get a cab. I ALWAYS stay over the night before a flight. The hotels are on several web sites. Do a Google search for Park, Sleep, Fly.

[LHT28]

If your departure city has an airport, there may be a hotel offering free parking with a one night stay. You probably want to get there the night before rather than miss the boat due to some unforeseen delay and the free parking often makes the stay with free parking cheaper than long-term parking in a lot. Some hotels have given us up to three weeks of parking with a one night stay. The hotel may have a van to take you to the ship or you might get a cab. I ALWAYS stay over the night before a flight. The hotels are on several web sites. Do a Google search for Park, Sleep, Fly.

 

keep in mind the cruise line will give you a hotel room either pre or post cruise included in the fare

[riversights]

I really appreciate this Park, Sleep, Fly option. The delight of a cruise can be off-set by the hassles surrounding it. I'd rather report back with happy face emoticons.:D

 

We are earning our Masters (figuratively speaking) reading the enlightening posts of past cruisers.

[hvsteve1]

keep in mind the cruise line will give you a hotel room either pre or post cruise included in the fare

 

So I would take them up on the Post Cruise room to have time to tour whatever city in which the cruise ends.