Rental Car Pick-up & Drop-off Times?

[albertamom]

Hi Everyone. First-time cruiser here. The POA arrives in Hilo at 9:00 and departs at 6:00. What should I use as my pick-up and drop-off times when booking a rental car? I will be using Thrifty, if that makes a difference.

 

Most importantly...I want to make sure that we are back at the ship in time for departure!:)

[kackeroo]

I would set the times for pick up between 9:15am & 9:30am, and drop off at 5:30pm. Always give a buffer, because if you're a few minutes early or late, they can theoretically charge you extra fees. I would actually drop off no later than 5pm to make the ship, but if you get there at 5:01pm, you won't worry about extra charges. Also, I haven't rented in Hilo, so I don't know how long it could take to shuttle to/from the rental car place.

[smrtypnts]

I would set the times for pick up between 9:15am & 9:30am, and drop off at 5:30pm. Always give a buffer, because if you're a few minutes early or late, they can theoretically charge you extra fees. I would actually drop off no later than 5pm to make the ship, but if you get there at 5:01pm, you won't worry about extra charges. Also, I haven't rented in Hilo, so I don't know how long it could take to shuttle to/from the rental car place.

I don't really agree. I would say the exact times that the ship will be in port. They're not going to give away your car if you're an hour late. Not to mention most if not all major car rental companies rent the car for a full 24 hours. So even if you bring it back at 5pm you could theoretically keep it until 9 the next morning.

 

To the OP--are you sure the ship docks at 9 in Hilo? It docks at 8 when I am on her in July this year. Actually, I just looked up your sailing and it does dock at 8.

 

I also just learned from my daughter who works for a major rental car agency that her agency holds the rental for up to 24 hours, so if you say 8am and don't get there until 10am, it's no big deal. Then the rental is for 24 hours, so if you turn it in at 5pm or 6pm it's not going to make a difference. If you turn it in within 30 minutes of 24 hours that's considered 24 hours, but if you turn it in after 25 hours then they charge extra.

[albertamom]

I don't really agree. I would say the exact times that the ship will be in port. They're not going to give away your car if you're an hour late. Not to mention most if not all major car rental companies rent the car for a full 24 hours. So even if you bring it back at 5pm you could theoretically keep it until 9 the next morning.

 

To the OP--are you sure the ship docks at 9 in Hilo? It docks at 8 when I am on her in July this year. Actually, I just looked up your sailing and it does dock at 8.

 

I also just learned from my daughter who works for a major rental car agency that her agency holds the rental for up to 24 hours, so if you say 8am and don't get there until 10am, it's no big deal. Then the rental is for 24 hours, so if you turn it in at 5pm or 6pm it's not going to make a difference. If you turn it in within 30 minutes of 24 hours that's considered 24 hours, but if you turn it in after 25 hours then they charge extra.

 

Ooops! You're right. I think I had in my mind that I would be at the rental agency by 9:00. If it says that the ship leaves at 6:00, do you actually need to be back on board by 5:00 (I thought I read somewhere one hour ahead)? Along the same lines...if the ship arrives at 8:00, when are you allowed to disembark?

[phillygirl63]

I don't really agree. I would say the exact times that the ship will be in port. They're not going to give away your car if you're an hour late. Not to mention most if not all major car rental companies rent the car for a full 24 hours. So even if you bring it back at 5pm you could theoretically keep it until 9 the next morning.

 

To the OP--are you sure the ship docks at 9 in Hilo? It docks at 8 when I am on her in July this year. Actually, I just looked up your sailing and it does dock at 8.

 

I also just learned from my daughter who works for a major rental car agency that her agency holds the rental for up to 24 hours, so if you say 8am and don't get there until 10am, it's no big deal. Then the rental is for 24 hours, so if you turn it in at 5pm or 6pm it's not going to make a difference. If you turn it in within 30 minutes of 24 hours that's considered 24 hours, but if you turn it in after 25 hours then they charge extra.

 

 

I agree with all of this.

 

As for when you can leave and return from the ship, my experience was that once the ship is docked it will be just a few minutes before they start allowing passengers to leave. You need to be back on board 30 mins. before departure time.

[albertamom]

Thanks everyone! I think I'll just go ahead and book it from 8:00 to 5:00, and plan on returning it between 4:00 and 4:30. I really, really, really don't want to be stressed about returning to the ship (especially because this is our first cruise, and I'm very neurotic).:D

[smrtypnts]

Thanks everyone! I think I'll just go ahead and book it from 8:00 to 5:00, and plan on returning it between 4:00 and 4:30. I really, really, really don't want to be stressed about returning to the ship (especially because this is our first cruise, and I'm very neurotic).:D

Sounds absolutely perfect to me. :)

[CruisingGoddess]

Hi Everyone. First-time cruiser here. The POA arrives in Hilo at 9:00 and departs at 6:00. What should I use as my pick-up and drop-off times when booking a rental car? I will be using Thrifty, if that makes a difference.

 

Most importantly...I want to make sure that we are back at the ship in time for departure!:)

 

We rented a car from Thrifty at every port, except Kona. I reserved the pick-up time for 30 min after the scheduled arrival time and drop-off time for 30 min before departure time.

 

For pick-up, it's unlikely we'll get off the ship RIGHT when we arrive and we have to take the shuttle to the office. For drop-off, you'll be required to be back onboard 30 minutes before departure so you'll always return the car "early". When returning, we tried to be back at the rental office 1 hour before departure so that we had at least 30 min to take the shuttle back to the ship and be back onboard 30 min before departure.

 

Read the detailed review with photos of my Hawaii cruise:

http://moonprincess.com/travel/category/cruises/hawaii-2010/

[albertamom]

We rented a car from Thrifty at every port, except Kona. I reserved the pick-up time for 30 min after the scheduled arrival time and drop-off time for 30 min before departure time.

 

For pick-up, it's unlikely we'll get off the ship RIGHT when we arrive and we have to take the shuttle to the office. For drop-off, you'll be required to be back onboard 30 minutes before departure so you'll always return the car "early". When returning, we tried to be back at the rental office 1 hour before departure so that we had at least 30 min to take the shuttle back to the ship and be back onboard 30 min before departure.

 

Read the detailed review with photos of my Hawaii cruise:

http://moonprincess.com/travel/category/cruises/hawaii-2010/

 

Thank you! BTW I love your review. I've studied it in depth!:)

[AZ Karaoke Girl]

Yep Rebecca gives the right advise. I personally book start time for either port arrival time or when I think I will be off the ship if I plan to be later than port arrival (sleep in day). The return doesn't really matter. They have shuttle vans at all the major ports that make round trips back & forth and they won't give your car away.

[albertamom]

Yep Rebecca gives the right advise. I personally book start time for either port arrival time or when I think I will be off the ship if I plan to be later than port arrival (sleep in day). The return doesn't really matter. They have shuttle vans at all the major ports that make round trips back & forth and they won't give your car away.

 

Awesome! My neuroticism has officially been calmed. I am so grateful to Cruise Critic. There is absolutely nothing like getting advice right from the pros...from those who have lived and breathed it. I am so excited, that I can hardly stand it!!!:D

[huggs]

Hi Everyone. First-time cruiser here. The POA arrives in Hilo at 9:00 and departs at 6:00. What should I use as my pick-up and drop-off times when booking a rental car? I will be using Thrifty, if that makes a difference.

 

Most importantly...I want to make sure that we are back at the ship in time for departure!:)

 

 

I do not want to burst any bubbles..but our experience at HILO with Thrifty's was horrible. We caught the shuttle, only to arrive to a mass of people lined up and only one person serving Thrifty customers. It was very poorly organized. New found cruise critic friends, who had booked with Thrifty in Honolulu were denied a vehicle, because the husband booked it with his credit card, but had no driver's licence -she was their driver. He is a brain cancer survivor and cannot yet drive !! So they would not let them rent their booked car.She was devastated, they have 2 yound children they were planning on taking to VNP and tour around. My husband was in blue chip line and when he finally got served- we waited about 45 mins..the clerk had the nerve to tell my husband we were not blue chip !! - Funny we were treated as blue chip in Kaui the day before - where service was awesome. Anyhow..we ended up renting a van and took our new found cruise critic friends with us ..but mutually agreed, it was terrible customer service all round. The next day in Kona people were walking out of the Thrifty rental place complaining of the same issue..long waits and line ups...so we decided to change our plans for that day- we were still annoyed from our experience the day before. ..In Maui we decided to try again...and again, we received excellent service and when she saw I was using a wheelchair, upgraded us for free to larger vehicle tha would be easier for me to get in and out of.......

All in all, thumbs up to our Thrify experience in Kaui, and Maui, but the BIG Island, and the MOST expensive rentals...left a lot to be desired.

[albertamom]

I do not want to burst any bubbles..but our experience at HILO with Thrifty's was horrible. We caught the shuttle, only to arrive to a mass of people lined up and only one person serving Thrifty customers. It was very poorly organized. New found cruise critic friends, who had booked with Thrifty in Honolulu were denied a vehicle, because the husband booked it with his credit card, but had no driver's licence -she was their driver. He is a brain cancer survivor and cannot yet drive !! So they would not let them rent their booked car.She was devastated, they have 2 yound children they were planning on taking to VNP and tour around. My husband was in blue chip line and when he finally got served- we waited about 45 mins..the clerk had the nerve to tell my husband we were not blue chip !! - Funny we were treated as blue chip in Kaui the day before - where service was awesome. Anyhow..we ended up renting a van and took our new found cruise critic friends with us ..but mutually agreed, it was terrible customer service all round. The next day in Kona people were walking out of the Thrifty rental place complaining of the same issue..long waits and line ups...so we decided to change our plans for that day- we were still annoyed from our experience the day before. ..In Maui we decided to try again...and again, we received excellent service and when she saw I was using a wheelchair, upgraded us for free to larger vehicle tha would be easier for me to get in and out of.......

All in all, thumbs up to our Thrify experience in Kaui, and Maui, but the BIG Island, and the MOST expensive rentals...left a lot to be desired.

 

I do want to here everyone's experiences...the good and the bad, so thank you. I want to be as well-informed and prepared as possible.

 

One of my biggest worries has been huge line-ups, when everyone leaves the ship en masse, and arrives in a horde at the rental agency. I suppose there is no way to avoid that, but the lousy customer service would be much more difficult to deal with. We'll make extra sure that we have everything in order, and at least we will not be surprised if things don't go smoothly. (But we'll hope that they do!:))

 

ps. How nice of you to take your new friends with you. I love Cruise Critic!