Anthem Port Canaveral Rental Car Question

[hardingk]

We are sailing on the Anthem at the end of March. Does anyone have any experience renting cars in Port Canaveral? We don't arrive till 12noon and depart at 9:30PM. Do any of the rental places stay open late while the ship is in port or let you drop off after hours? TIA!

[Merion_Mom]

I have rented from Thrifty and after-hours drop-off is a breeze.

 

You have to get yourselves back to the ship, of course.

[reallyitsmema]

We are sailing on the Anthem at the end of March. Does anyone have any experience renting cars in Port Canaveral? We don't arrive till 12noon and depart at 9:30PM. Do any of the rental places stay open late while the ship is in port or let you drop off after hours? TIA!

 

Hertz has a late drop box. We rented from them in November and dropped off after hours. There is a van service that left their card on the drop off box and regularly checks the lot to see if anyone needs a ride back to the ship. We called a cab instead of using that service, the van service drove through the lot while we were waiting on the cab. Van was in much better shape than the cab that came.

[OACAggie]

We will be renting a car when we stop in PC on Anthem in a few weeks. I have a car reserved with Hertz with after hours drop off. I have read elsewhere of the guy in the van to shuttle you back, but have not read of anyone actually using the service. I am going to get an Uber back to the ship. I will try and report back after my cruise to let you know how it went for us. (yn)

[notmyrealnameoremail]

We will be renting a car when we stop in PC on Anthem in a few weeks. I have a car reserved with Hertz with after hours drop off. I have read elsewhere of the guy in the van to shuttle you back, but have not read of anyone actually using the service. I am going to get an Uber back to the ship. I will try and report back after my cruise to let you know how it went for us. (yn)

 

Will Hertz pick you up at the ship in the morning?

[MandiesPharm]

We used enterprise in November. There was a shuttle right outside the ship to take you over and after hours drop off was very easy. They give you a number to call for a van service or in our case we used Uber. The Uber driver said they tend to hang in the area (coco) more when ships are in port with late departures for this purpose alone.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Will Hertz pick you up at the ship in the morning?

Yes, these agencies have free shuttles:

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52984511&postcount=5

[hardingk]

We will be renting a car when we stop in PC on Anthem in a few weeks. I have a car reserved with Hertz with after hours drop off. I have read elsewhere of the guy in the van to shuttle you back, but have not read of anyone actually using the service. I am going to get an Uber back to the ship. I will try and report back after my cruise to let you know how it went for us. (yn)

 

Thanks! Let us know how it goes!

[notmyrealnameoremail]

Yes, these agencies have free shuttles:

 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=52984511&postcount=5

 

 

Thanks, I'm thinking Enterprise might be our best bet. It looks walking is a reasonable plan B if the shuttle doesn't work out.

[Clarea]

Thanks, I'm thinking Enterprise might be our best bet. It looks walking is a reasonable plan B if the shuttle doesn't work out.

Yep, reasonably close to Terminal 1, and walking woruld probably be faster than waiting for the shuttle, especially if the shuttle is also servicing the north complex that day.

[OACAggie]

To update my previous post now that we are back, I ended up changing my rental from Hertz to Enterprise prior to our cruise as Enterprise had better prices and looked to be pretty close to Terminal 1 where Anthem was scheduled to dock. When we came out of the terminal, the shuttle was by in a couple of minutes. Enterprise is very close to Terminal 1. Car pick up was very quick. I would say we were in the car and on the road to WDW within 20 minutes of getting off the ship. Returning the car after hours was simple. Park the car and drop keys in the box. Ship was scheduled to leave at 9pm and we returned the car about 7:30. There were many others returning cars at this time as well. There was a cab waiting and we were told it was $5 to the ship, but it was a nice evening, so we just walked. It was less than a 10 min walk back to the ship. I will definitely rent from there again, especially if the ship is at Terminal 1. Next time, I don't even think I would take the shuttle to get the car, I would just walk.

[FirstAnthem]

How do you know what terminal your ship will be docked at in Port Canaveral? Ahead of time, I mean.

[Clarea]

How do you know what terminal your ship will be docked at in Port Canaveral? Ahead of time, I mean.

The very large ships, like Oasis and Anthem, will dock at Terminal 1.

[Capt_BJ]

How do you know what terminal your ship will be docked at in Port Canaveral? Ahead of time, I mean.

 

always subject to change but the schedule is here

 

https://www.portcanaveral.com/PortCanaveral/media/Cruise-Assets/FY2018/FY-2018-Cruise-Schedule.pdf

[reallyitsmema]

How do you know what terminal your ship will be docked at in Port Canaveral? Ahead of time, I mean.

 

You look at the port schedule for the port and it will show you which terminal you will be at, here is a link to the Port Canaveral port schedule:

 

https://www.portcanaveral.com/Cruise/Cruise-Lines-Schedules

 

The very large ships, like Oasis and Anthem, will dock at Terminal 1.

 

Anthem does not always dock at Terminal 1, if Oasis or Majesty is in port that day, Anthem goes to either Terminal 3 or Terminal 6. Our last sailing of Anthem, we came into Terminal 6, which is not within walking distance of anything since it is on the other side of the channel.

[Reds4life]

Is the after hours van or shuttle from Enterprise free?

[OACAggie]

The Enterprise shuttle is free, however it does not run after hours. There was a cab waiting there when we returned the car and was $5. As mentioned, we just walked back.

[Clarea]

... Anthem does not always dock at Terminal 1, if Oasis or Majesty is in port that day, Anthem goes to either Terminal 3 or Terminal 6. Our last sailing of Anthem, we came into Terminal 6, which is not within walking distance of anything since it is on the other side of the channel.

I appreciate the catch.

[Reds4life]

To update my previous post now that we are back, I ended up changing my rental from Hertz to Enterprise prior to our cruise as Enterprise had better prices and looked to be pretty close to Terminal 1 where Anthem was scheduled to dock. When we came out of the terminal, the shuttle was by in a couple of minutes. Enterprise is very close to Terminal 1. Car pick up was very quick. I would say we were in the car and on the road to WDW within 20 minutes of getting off the ship. Returning the car after hours was simple. Park the car and drop keys in the box. Ship was scheduled to leave at 9pm and we returned the car about 7:30. There were many others returning cars at this time as well. There was a cab waiting and we were told it was $5 to the ship, but it was a nice evening, so we just walked. It was less than a 10 min walk back to the ship. I will definitely rent from there again, especially if the ship is at Terminal 1. Next time, I don't even think I would take the shuttle to get the car, I would just walk.

Is this accurate as far as walking time? Since apparently there is not a return shuttle, we would be fine walking as well if this is accurate. Looks like a bridge that you cross on the map. It is open to pedestrians correct? Thanks for any help.

 

Sorry I just now found a map. Looks like 1,2,3 Terminals are on the side with the rental car agency. Everything else is across the bridge that I assume you can't cross by foot?

Edited January 30, 2018 by Reds4life

[reallyitsmema]

Is this accurate as far as walking time? Since apparently there is not a return shuttle, we would be fine walking as well if this is accurate. Looks like a bridge that you cross on the map. It is open to pedestrians correct? Thanks for any help.

 

Sorry I just now found a map. Looks like 1,2,3 Terminals are on the side with the rental car agency. Everything else is across the bridge that I assume you can't cross by foot?

 

I do not think there are sidewalks across that bridge and while I am sure someone has walked it, I wouldn't. If you do Google walking directions, it is a lot farther to get to Terminal 6 than you would expect. I forget exactly how many miles it was, but it is close to 3 miles.

 

We got a taxi from Hertz to Terminal 6 and it was around $15. Much safer and worth the money to us. Hertz is farther away than Enterprise, so I would guess around $10 for a taxi from Enterprise.

[OACAggie]

Just to clarify, we docked at Terminal 1, so Enterprise was a short walk. If you are docked on the other side close to where DCL's terminal is, it would be too far a walk and shuttle/cab/Uber would be best.

[FirstAnthem]

Thank you for the link to the port schedules! Looking at it, it appears Anthem docks at noon, but the itinerary schedule when we booked the cruise said it docked at 7am. We planned a day at Kennedy Space Center because of the early dock time. Noon is definitely not what we planned on. Is it still worth it to go to Kennedy Space Center for only a few hours?

[Clarea]

Thank you for the link to the port schedules! Looking at it, it appears Anthem docks at noon, but the itinerary schedule when we booked the cruise said it docked at 7am. We planned a day at Kennedy Space Center because of the early dock time. Noon is definitely not what we planned on. Is it still worth it to go to Kennedy Space Center for only a few hours?

I'd want at least 3-4 hours there.

[OliviaJ10]

Thank you for the link to the port schedules! Looking at it, it appears Anthem docks at noon, but the itinerary schedule when we booked the cruise said it docked at 7am. We planned a day at Kennedy Space Center because of the early dock time. Noon is definitely not what we planned on. Is it still worth it to go to Kennedy Space Center for only a few hours?

 

 

 

We are going to head there at the end of March. They will be open until 7 pm

 

 

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[OACAggie]

Thank you for the link to the port schedules! Looking at it, it appears Anthem docks at noon, but the itinerary schedule when we booked the cruise said it docked at 7am. We planned a day at Kennedy Space Center because of the early dock time. Noon is definitely not what we planned on. Is it still worth it to go to Kennedy Space Center for only a few hours?

 

I would go with RCI's scheduled time in port. On our sailing last week, our itinerary was 7am-9pm, but the port schedule listed us as 12pm-9:30pm. We were indeed in port at 7am. Maybe call RCI to confirm?