Choosing times for Rental Car Pickup

[comfixit]

Will be sailing on Pride of America in Dec. Planning to rent a car in every port. So far I have been choosing the pick up time as when the ship docks (unlikely I would pick up the car sooner) and drop off time roughly an hour before the ship leaves (But of course will be there sooner then that)

 

My question is what happens if I say I am going to pick up the car at 7AM and don't come in until 9:30AM am I likely to have problems?

 

I am guessing dropping off the car before the reported time is not a problem.

 

Lastly I booked online, so at least at present they don't know I am coming from the boat based on my reservation to pick up the car. Do I need to call them ahead of time and tell them I am coming from the port, or just take the shuttle they offer and not worry about it?

[ndamro]

Great question - I was wondering the same thing!

 

I have booked with just about every rental agency there is in order to get the best rates at each port.

 

I called Budget and they said if there is a credit card number given for the reservation they will hold the car - they will also charge you if you don't make it to pick up the car and don't cancel.

 

I'm not sure if it's worth calling all the other agencies ;) Ok I called Thrifty too just to make sure and they assured me also that it would not be a problem - no mention of credit card or anything.

 

I think it's safe to assume they all operate that way, especially airport locations (which most of them are) are used to delays in travel plans, etc.

[comfixit]

One suggestion I would make is if you haven' (well hell even if you have) made reservations for your car you should join the appropriate free programs they have for pre-registration. From what I understand they have a seperate line for the club members that is really quick. (More time to see the islands).

 

Even if you have already made the reservations, why not join the clubs, then tell the customer service to apply your club # to the reservation so that you can speed through when you get to port.

[ndamro]

Already done thanks! Another tip I picked up off the boards ;) I am now a member of just about every customer loyalty program for car rentals there are! ;)

 

I was going to mention that in another posting for your benefit, but I guess you already know!

 

I've heard that it sometimes doesn't help much, but since it's free it certainly can't hurt. Budget also claims that the car is just ready for you with the paperwork under the visor and you just show it someone on your way out - no lines at all. I guess we'll see if that's true or not. Membership in the Emerald club for National actually gave me a discount (10%) but only worked on the Kona rental (I went back and checked all the other locations too!) so maybe they are having a slow week in Kona. Better the $4 in my pocket than theirs! :D

[ndamro]

Already done thanks! Another tip I picked up off the boards ;) I am now a member of just about every customer loyalty program for car rentals there are! ;)

 

I was going to mention that in another posting for your benefit, but I guess you already know!

 

I've heard that it sometimes doesn't help much, but since it's free it certainly can't hurt. Budget also claims that the car is just ready for you with the paperwork under the visor and you just show it someone on your way out - no lines at all. I guess we'll see if that's true or not. Membership in the Emerald club for National actually gave me a discount (10%) but only worked on the Kona rental (I went back and checked all the other locations too!) so maybe they are having a slow week in Kona. Better the $4 in my pocket than theirs! :D

[drummer]

seeing as you can't control when the ship actually gets into port as weather may be a factor, book the pick-up for about 45-60 mins after scheduled dock time. if you are early, the car will be there anyways most likely. if you are late, you can always call ahead.

[ndamro]

Don't forget to make sure one of your credit cards has the Loss/Damage Liability waiver - it will save you a ton compared to the company's rates. I believe it was around $20 to add it to my credit card (which I can cancel when I get back and receive a pro-rated refund) vs about $10-$15 per day with the rental companies.

[comfixit]

Wait your saying you have to purchase the waiver with your CC company and then cancle it? I thought it was just automatic on cards that offered it?

[S1Blum]

Just returned from a 7 day cruise on POA with a 2 day pretrip to Hawaii. I reserved a car in most ports through http://WWW.DISOUNTHAWAIICARRENTAL.COM web site which uses a discount code. Thrifty is the rental company we used and we were extremely happy with their service. I read that changes are difficult, but we changed the type of vehicle and the time for pick up on one island with no problem. We wanted to change type of vehicle on another island, but due to them being sold out, could not do so. The web site lists the phone numbers if the shuttle is not there, but we never had a problem with them not being there.

[drummer]

Same here, used thrifty in every port and basically picked which car we wanted to drive once there in the office. Service was great, prices were fine. I booked directly with them online which made it easy with blue chip. go for the convertibles.

[ndamro]

Wait your saying you have to purchase the waiver with your CC company and then cancle it? I thought it was just automatic on cards that offered it?

 

I think it depends on your credit card and the company. My card of choice (airmiles card) didn't have it as standard. It's a good idea to check before you leave!

[ndamro]

Just returned from a 7 day cruise on POA with a 2 day pretrip to Hawaii. I reserved a car in most ports through WWW.DISOUNTHAWAIICARRENTAL.COM web site which uses a discount code. Thrifty is the rental company we used and we were extremely happy with their service. I read that changes are difficult, but we changed the type of vehicle and the time for pick up on one island with no problem. We wanted to change type of vehicle on another island, but due to them being sold out, could not do so. The web site lists the phone numbers if the shuttle is not there, but we never had a problem with them not being there.

 

You can use their website to book through any car company with their discount code. If you click on the rates link - in the right hand column, about half-way down you will see a "last minute booking" link, which will give you links to the other car rental companies with the appropriate discount code entered. I found that other companies often had better rates than thrifty.

[comfixit]

Glad to hear you got some good rates. I'm splitting the costs with my family and since there are 5 of us we need the space of a luxury car or mini van. As a result we paid a hefty price since thats a busy week for families but still a great deal when you compare it to the per person costs of all of us doing even on excursion with the boat that we can do via car on our own.

 

In the other thread you mentioned something about the times printed on the tickets....have you gotten yours already? Its 4 weeks out and I was not expecting to see mine for another week.

[ndamro]

I would still recommend using the discount car rental site - you can rent any type of car the company offers using their discount code - this includes vans, jeeps, etc. I just chose compact since there are only 2 of us. If you use the last minute section (far right hand column half-way down) you are actually booking directly with the car rental company yourself - no middle man and no worries - but the discount company's corporate discount code automatically gets entered and then you get to see the corporate rates, which are much better!

 

As for the tickets, we received our E-tickets since we booked online we don't get paper tickets. We received them on November 3

[BoscoBreaux]

How reliable are the shuttles from the car rental places to the dock. I remember reading a cruise review recently and the shuttles never came for him.

Do they run continuously, or do you have to inform the car rental places in advance?

I've never rented a car while on a cruise so the whole process of getting from the boat to the airport car rental places seems perplexing short of getting a taxi (which isn't always easy) otherwise.

[cujosmom]

We recently returned from our Hawaiian cruise on the Infinity (nov 6-20). We rented cars at all the ports except Maui (did the $1 shuttle to Kaanapali Beach there instead).

 

All my reservations were done online.

 

Honolulu - Alamo. Shuttle picked up near the Aloha Tower at the Trolly Stop (covered waiting area). About two blocks walk from where ship was docked. They take you to a location at Ala Moana Shopping Center to pick up the car which is in a parking garage. The returning shuttles return "on the hour" only and drops you off about one block from the ship. They suggest you be there at least 15-20 minutes before the "hour". The traffic can be quite congested that time of the day, so allow plenty of time to gas up before returning the car. After picking up our car, we headed straight for the Arizona Memorial and got there about 9:30. There was about an hour's wait at the Memorial and we spent that time looking through the museum. At noon, we were on our way to explore the rest of the island and the north shore.

 

Kona - Dollar. Originally had reservations with Alamo at the airport but decided to reserve with Dollar at the King Kamehameha Beach Hotel just a block from where the tender docks. Reserved a mid size but were upgraded to a mini van for same price. Paid more initially than for Alamo reservation but saved alot of time not having to wait for airport shuttles (to and back). We visited the Painted Church, the Place of Refuge and snorkeled at the water park next to the Place of Refuge (kept our car parked at Place of Refuge and walked to water park. Snorkeling was fantasic there.

 

Hilo - Alamo. Shuttle picks up frequently. Driver only wants the people who will be driving the rental car to go in the shuttle van and to return to the dock for any other people traveling with you. The airport is close to the pier so that is not a big deal to come back to the pier. The rental counters at the airport are all together along a long row outdoors. We had reserved a mid size but realized after we picked up the couple traveling with us that they had given us a compact!!! We didn't want to go back to the airport for a larger car and all that hassle so kept the smaller car. They gave us an adjustment to our bill when we returned the car. Shuttle was ready to take us back to the pier immediately. We had done the volcanos the last time we were in Hawaii so did the waterfalls, exploring, and some shopping and internet time.

 

Nawilwili, Kauai - Alamo - Shuttle picked up at the pier. About a 10-15 minute ride to the airport. On our way back, we were almost ready to turn into the rentral return when we realized we'd forgotten to fill up the gas tank!! So had to go back out and find a gas station before we returned the car. Shuttle immediately took us back to the pier. Did not have to wait for a specific time.

 

Another couple was with us for Hilo, Kona, and Honolulu. We divided the car rental and gas by 4 and it averaged less than $16 per person per day. The only real hassle for the car was in Honolulu. I think I would check in to another rental company other than Alamo for Honolulu due to rental location and the fact they would only shuttle you back "on the hour".

 

Gasoline was approx $2.85 a gallon when we were there.

[cujosmom]

I also want to add that after we got off the ship, I called the rental car company on my cell phone to ask when I could expect the shuttle to arrive and were always told "one is on the way". We never had to wait more than five minutes at each location.

[gacruising]

We used the ship's concierge to arrange our cars for Hilo and Honolulu. Pricing was competive and you were not charged if you changed your mind.

 

Only problem was in Honolulu. All the companies had shuttles and most required at least a short wait. The major thing to remember there is that rush hour traffic can be horrendous. We got back in plenty of time to get the shuttle back to the ship. Problem was that the traffic was so bad it took us almost an hour to drive the 3 or 4 miles to the ship. We ended up missing dinner. If anyone was behind us, they missed the ship altogether. So plan accordingly.