Rental car return - Port of Miami?

[ajcolorado]

We're going on our first cruise soon and we'll be departing from the Port of Miami. We're renting a car through Alamo. Where do we return the car? Is there a drop-off lot at the Port of Miami? If not, do the rental companies offer a shuttle to the port of Miami or will we need a taxi?

 

Thank you

[ski ninja]

When I was cruising out of Miami last year I don't remember any car rental dop-offs there, was on RCCL. I rented a car there as well and just dropped it off at the airport. The taxi ride is very short. I think it cost us about $20 bucks total. It was very easy to hop on a taxi there, if you are lucky you might even be able to find someone else going to the pier as well.

[trish1c]

Some companies do have free shuttle service to the port, but I don't remember which ones.

 

Call Alamo & ask. Do not use the web b/c the web doesn't get this specific. If Alamo doesn't have shuttle service, figure out if it's cheaper to go w/ another co that does offer this service.

[BobbieSu]

We just returned from our cruise on the Explorer out of Miami. We rented a car from Alamo both pre and post cruise as we were flying out of FLL and a car was less expensive for three of us than anything else. I prefer Hertz, but my TA booked Alamo and I figured it couldn't hurt. TA stated that she had to specify Port of Miami as a drop off location even though it was at the airport in order for Alamo to have an idea how many cruisers needed the shuttle. Maybe not everyone did this.

 

I will say it worked, and having said that, I will also say that I won't book Alamo again. I don't know if Hertz would have been much better, but they at least have a downtown location which is closer and so less of a drive.

 

We drove our car to the airport Alamo center about 10:30 am. The check in was quick, done in the parking lot and the nicest part of the whole experience. We then went to stand in line for the shuttle to the port. There were maybe six parties ahead of us. We waited, and waited, and waited. For an hour we waited. Other shuttles going to and from the airport showed up every five minutes. Meanwhile of course the line got longer. When finally a shuttle came going to the port the pushing and shoving started. There was a cruiser in a wheelchair, and rightfully so her party was loaded first, but it was a large party and left only a few seats for the now over 50 people waiting in line. We were the last three loaded on. I had the last seat and my husband and son sat on our luggage in the aisle.

 

That morning there was a marathon going on. The route crossed the path to the port twice. You would have thought that the driver would have known this and gone another way, but no. We landed smack dab in the middle of a standstill traffic jam two blocks from port. He did alert the other drivers, so I think those in back of us in line actually made it to port before us. We eventually were able to get back on the freeway and around the marathon route to port.

 

In port Carnival is first, then Norwegian and lastly RCCL and our ship Explorer is last. I think we finally got to the drop off point about 1200.

 

On our return the situation was much the same. There is no sign for car rental shuttles, just a "passenger drop off/ pick up" sign. We had to ask which group of people were waiting for Alamo so we were all together. There were maybe 6 parties there before us. And again we waited, and waited and waited. I saw Dollar, Thrifty and 5-6 Hertz vans come through while we waited. We were off the ship at 8:30, some of the tags on the luggage of the other parties stated early disembarkation so I know they had been there awhile. The most frustrating part of it all was when an Alamo finally showed up, it was full having picked up those cruisers at Carnival, Norwegian and even the Radiance first. This happened three more times. One of the group left and took an airport super shuttle, one left and went up the row to Radiance. I know because I went down there as well, but they were the last ones on that shuttle. Finally at about 10:15 a shuttle stopped for us. There was no orderly lineup, we all crowded together.

 

When we arrived at the airport location, again there was a line, though it seemed to move fairly quickly especially when they increased the number of agents from 3 to 5. At 11am we were given a van. Everyone was given a van, there was nothing else in the parking lot.

 

I know this is long, but overall it was a frustrating experience and I am venting a little. If I were to do it over, I would go with Hertz. If I stuck with Alamo I would take my luggage and walk as far down the dock as I could in order to get on an earlier shuttle. I would plan not to do anything else that morning except wait in line. I may even fork out the money for a taxi, of which there were plenty.

 

Su

[WestKYCruiser]

We are renting a car with Alamo when we land at FLL and are then driving to Miami. We are arriving a day early and wanted to have a vehicle to drive around Miami the night before. Our drop-off location is at MIA. We are then going to take a cab from the airport to the port. We will not be waiting for a shuttle bus. They take to long.

[Host Walt]

Avis has a return station right on the pier. Caution: Their hours are erratic because they serve mostly cruise passengers so they may not be open when you want them to be.

 

 

Call them first to be sure they are open.