Car rental help - New Zealand

[pfd104]

We are traveling on Celebrity in Dec and I would like to book a car at the following two ports, does anyone have the names of car rental agencies located close to the port? Tauranga and Auckland. Thanks

[bobhsv]

Hi, its me from the Hobart query. You must be doing similar cruise to ours Jan 2010, and Nov 2011..........

 

Have a look at http://www.carhireshop.co.nz. We booked with them, but not for Tauranga. They do Auckland I noticed. By memory, there were lots of rental cars waiting at Tauranga port, and we are opting to rent on the day this cruise, from there. They gave us a fantastic price for Dunedin, and were the only ones I could find that had pickup/dropoff from Pt Chalmers (half hr out of Dunedin). Re Auckland. You dock right in the heart of the city, small easy to navigate city. Hope this helps. Have a great cruise.

Jen

[MargoK]

Hi pfd104.

 

We hired a van out of Tauranga last year and used Rite Price. Booked and paid before hand, but as Bob said there are plenty of rental car companies on the wharf at Tauranga. You do pay a premium for wharf pick up/ drop off but it is well worth it.

 

http://www.ritepricecarrentals.co.nz/ - found the vehicles top notch. In fact when checking the mini -van DH noticed a punture:eek: and they immediately gave us a different van, and arranged for the puncture to repaired straight away.

 

There is a company that covers other ports - will check web link and come back to you on that.

 

By the way, which Century cruise are you on???

[MargoK]

I am back:

 

Rental Cars - Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, and Dunedin

I have found a car rental company that does rentals from an number of ports - which makes life easy. Of course there is a premium, but we did this in Tauranga last year and it was worth every cent. Prices are comparable to what we paid last year (Arrived back with 15mins to spare!) http://www.nzrentacar.co.nz/cruise-s...r-rentals.html

 

 

Stolen from our Roll Call - 24 Dec 2011 Century.

[pfd104]

Thanks, great information. We are on Century Nov 30th depart Sydney.

[pfd104]

One last question on this topic (I hope) :D. We would like to pick up a rental car from close to the port on arrival in Auckland and then return it to the airport after a couple of days prior to our departure. Any suggestions? I looked and find it very difficult to locate convenient pick up. I certainly don’t mind getting a taxi if required. Should I just get a taxi to the airport to pick up? Thanks :confused:

[bobhsv]

A taxi to the airport will cost you between $50 and $75, depending on time of day/traffic. The airport is quite a distance from the CBD. There is also an airport bus that picks up from various locations in Queen Street (main st opposite the wharf....where the railway station is). There are a lot of hire car places in Auckland, within walking distance of the ship. I saw quite a few between the casino and the markets. Perhaps check out the NZ Yellow Pages for some names. Sorry I can't remember more.

Jen

[MargoK]

One last question on this topic (I hope) :D. We would like to pick up a rental car from close to the port on arrival in Auckland and then return it to the airport after a couple of days prior to our departure. Any suggestions? I looked and find it very difficult to locate convenient pick up. I certainly don’t mind getting a taxi if required. Should I just get a taxi to the airport to pick up? Thanks :confused:

 

Hi pdf104.

 

There are a few handy to where the ship berths, so here are a couple of 'local' (NZ) ones and one international brand

 

Apex Car Rentals - http://www.apexrentals.co.nz

Ace Rental Cars - http://www.acerentalcars.co.nz/Auckland_Car_Rental_Branch.htm

Europcar - http://car-rental.europcar.co.nz/auckland-car-hire

 

All are a short taxi ride. There will be plenty of taxis on the wharf. Princes Wharf can be quite congested when a ship is in because of the Hilton Hotel, private apartments and commercial premises. When we disembarked on 3rd Jan this year I was rather pleased we were first off, especially as I use a wheelchair as collecting the bags was really 'tight'!!!

 

You arrive on a Monday, so you will be arriving at peak traffic time (7am - 9am). University (one right in the city) will be finished but schools will be in their last week. It should ease after 9am.

 

Apex and Europcar are say 10 min walk, if one of you wants to wait with the luggage while the other disappears to collect the car and do the paperwork.

 

There is an airport shuttle bus - http://www.airbus.co.nz/ which will be much cheaper ($16 NZD each) than taking a taxi to the airport and I am guessing there will be an extra fee for leaving the car at the airport. Depending on when you are flying out, the bus has the advantage of using Bus Lanes during peak hours morning and night.

[cinogirly]

I've used omega rentals both in Christchurch and Auckland - they have depots all over NZ. I was very impressed with their service and price. They collected us from the airport and dropped us off at our hotel when we returned the car. They were very obliging and flexible.

[pfd104]

Margok, Thanks for some great advice, have followed up and booked. Thanks