Car rental Cape Canaveral any tips??

[lakerat2]

We have decided to rent a car from Orlando to Cape canaveral and drop off the car in the AM and they will shuttle us to port canaveral. Has anyone had experince with this. I am a little nervous about when they will shuttle us I believe the first shuttle is at 11:30AM. I was hoping to get to the port earlier. We are first time cruisers. Not sure if getting there any earlier would help. I know I cannot get into my room but I would like to explore the ship and beat the crowds. If that is possible. Any sugestions??

 

lakerat2

[Magicat]

We rented a car from Budget. Although we did not use their shuttle service we saw people who did. As they were picking people up at the ship to bring them to the car rental place, they then were taking people to the ship after they dropped off their car.

[WorldCruzer]

We are doing the same thing in early November. We are renting from Thrifty at MCO then dropping it off at Cape Canaveral. About $35. I called them and confirmed their shuttle runs constantly the entire day, even before 11:30AM

[Sirknight]

Usually the rental companies' shuttles won't take pax TO the port until close to 11-at least that's been our experience-they say it's due to port security rules--BTW, you probably won't be able to get aboard much before noon anyway.

[HB Cruiser]

We used to use Avis but have changed to Budget. They are much nicer to deal with and their shuttle seems to run a bit quicker. We have been taken to the port by Budget as early as 10:30.

 

If you use the internet to book your rental, go to http://www.mousesavers and get a discount code that will save you $$$$$$.

 

Tim & Crystal

[peteukmcr]

We've used Avis to and from Cape Canaveral. One tip is to drop your passengers and luggage at the port and then go to the car hire depot and catch the shuttle back to the ship. As the shuttles are not huge, there isn't a large amount of room for bags, and if only the driver needs a ride, there's more chance of getting on a shuttle with only a couple of seats left! However, in most cases port security won't let you near the ship until about 11 as before that it's very busy with disembarking passengers.

[RoofingPrincess]

You may have better luck with this question on the "East Coast Departures" board.

[PSCruiser]

Have used Budget twice with no problems. If you are flying into Orlando, you can book your car as two one-ways on the website - use CC5 as the proper code for the Pier location. On embark they will drop you off right at the terminal, and when you get off, they shuttle from the back of the lot, straight ahead as you leave the terminal. Couldn't be easier.

[DisneyBlonde]

We just did this...

 

We rented Budget at Orlando airport and drove to Port Canaveral Residence Inn. In the morning we turned in the car at Budget (a mile or so from the hotel) and they shuttled us over to the port a few miles away. When we disembarked after the cruise we caught the Thrifty shuttle at the port (we also saw shuttles for Budget, Enterprise and Hertz)...drove back to Orlando for two days, and left the car at the Thrifty closest to the airport.

 

We went with Budget and Thrifty based on their rates. No problems with either one.

[CruiseMor]

We also used Budget on our recent cruise. It was fast, easy and I'd highly recommend them. Originally, we were going to drop luggage and a passenger off at the pier but decided that their shuttle would work for everything. We "shuttled" a bit after 11:00 AM and had no problems.

 

Our return, also with Budget, was convenient as well. The driver told us where to wait and he picked us up as arranged. Again, fast and easy.

 

P. S. Budget offers a free program "Fast Break" where you can skip the airport line at MCO and go directly to the Hertz booth in the parking garage area.

[JKHawaii]

If you leave Orlando at 11:30, you'll arrive at the ship at about 12:15. That's early enough to get on the ship and have plenty of time to look around. I doubt that they'll let you on the ship much before that, anyway.

[nanner10]

We have done it 4 times with Budget. We return the car around 9:30- 10 or so and have never had a problem being shuttled to the Port as soon as we were ready.

 

Two weeks ago there was a long (and testy) line when we dropped off the car. There were many people there heading to the ship who were wanting to return their car as well as many people who apparently just got off ships and wanted to rent a car. This was the first time we encountered such a mess. There were about 25 people in line (I counted!).

 

Turns out (at least that day) that if you wrote down your ending milage on your form and present a receipt that you filled your tank with gas you can just hand them the paperwork and keys and go.

 

In fact, since we plan on continuing to rent cars in the future, I will take along a small manilla envelope with the following on it:

RENTAL CAR RETURN

ENCLOSED:

GAS RECEIPT: TANK FILLED

RENTAL FORM: MILAGE NOTED

KEYS

 

We have never been turned away at the pier for arriving too early and we are usually on the ship around 11:30AM, if not earlier.