Experience with Budget rental car?

[Mrs Booboo]

I found a web site (http://www.caymancarrentalguide.com/) that advertises one day rentals for cruise ship passengers from Budget. It says they have a location at the Pier in Grand Cayman.

 

Has anyone used this web site to book a car online? Any problems once you got to port? Is the location within walking distance from where the tenders dock?

 

The prices seem very reasonable and we would really like to rent a car for the day and do our own island tour since we've done the Stingray City thing twice already.

[budaman]

I reserved a car from them last week for our trip in April. They will actually shuttle you to the rental location from the Dock. The cars are not there. It's probably at the airport which is only a couple of minutes away. They didn't require a credit card deposit and I got my confirmation the next day. If you haven't driven in Cayman before, request a rt hand drive car. It's a little awkward at first, but makes it easier to stay on the left side of the road. The biggest problem we had the first time renting there was at night. The roads are narrow and hard to tell what lane the other car is in. With all the tourists, its always on your mind that they're on the wrong side. I think most cruise ships leave before nightfall, so that shouldn't be a problem.

[Mrs Booboo]

Thanks budaman. Driving on the left won't be a problem for us; we've done it several times in St. Thomas. I wondered if the cars were actually at the airport, because when you look at the main Budget web site, the only location they list for Grand Cayman is APT CENTRE BUILDING - which I took to mean Airport Center Building.

 

You say you reserved for your trip in April; does that mean you haven't used the pier rental location before? Or if you have, is it easy to find once you get off the cruise ship tender?

[budaman]

No, I haven't used them before. By the map, the office at the pier appears to be the closest agency. Main reason I reserved there besides that was the credit card. Seems that actually getting on land in GC has been hit or miss at best and usually you have no advance warning. Didn't want them charging my account just in case. I wanted to reserve ahead of time because there are 5 ships scheduled to be in port that day, 4/28.

[Mrs Booboo]

Hey budaman! That's the same day we'll be there!

[budaman]

We'll be on the Rhapsody. You?

[Mrs Booboo]

We have a group of 12 on Carnival Conquest. We're steering 6 of the "newbies" to an excursion with Captain Bryan.

[txwildflower2002]

Avis definately has the better rates~$52.50 compared to budget~$70. I know if you put the charge on your credit card that it will cover some of the insurance. Avis says it charges 20 pecent to charge it. Do we need the extra coverage? Should we pay cash? What is more cost efficient? What place was less hassle? Should we all go to rent the car? Thanks!

[Mrs Booboo]

We used Avis (see http://www.aviscayman.com/cruise.htm) this past April. They have a pickup location at the Blue Iguana, which is very close to the pier - about a 5 or 10 minute walk right down the main road.

 

You simply call from the Blue Iguana and they will send a shuttle that then takes you to the airport. We all went at once (there were 8 of us and about 6 other people too). A couple of minutes to complete paperwork and you get the car. Bring the car back to the airport and the shuttle takes you back downtown.

 

We charged the car and did not get insurance. Total cost was $49. This was for a Taurus. I'm not sure about that 20% to charge the car.

[txwildflower2002]

Guess we'll go with Avis. How long did it take you to get back to the pier after drop off? I hear it is often hectic in Georgetown with eveyone trying to get back to their ships. What places are just not to be missed on a car tour? Did ya'll see any convience or grocery stores? Not really "keen" on rumpoint as a destination, but would like to see the Starfish Beach in that area. Will need to make a pit stop for a quick lunch. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Mrs Booboo]

I don't recall it really taking that long to get back to the pier. I think we left Rum Point around 12:30; tried to find Starfish Beach (didn't have any luck with this), one of our rental cars had a flat tire, stopped at the grocery for beer, and then turned the rental car in. After getting back downtown, we still had time for lunch and time to kill before the last tender at 3:30.

 

You might want to check out the thread "car rental/island drive" a little farther down on this page for suggestions on what to see. I'm not sure what we did wrong in trying to find Starfish Beach; maybe you'll have better luck.

 

There is a large grocery store right after you exit the airport (Foster's Food Fair), and then you'll pass another one on the way to Rum Point (at one of the roundabouts, Hurley's in the Grand Harbor Shopping Center).

[txwildflower2002]

We port at 7am to 4pm. The car rental company opens at 8 am, but will make arrangements for earlier. Should my DH get off the ship earlier, get car, than pick us up? Or, should we stay as a group and get off the ship as soon as we can and go to car rental place? Just want to make use of the time we have in port. Thanks!

[Mrs Booboo]

You really can't get off the ship and to the rental car office much before 8 AM because of the tendering process. I think it would be easier for you all to stay together and go to the rental car place vs. having him go and come pick you up. Don't think it would really save you any time in the long run, because he would have to navigate his way back to Georgetown from the airport to pick you up (which would probably be a bit of a circus, with taxis and vans picking up other people at the pier). If you're headed to Rum Point, you don't have to go back through Georgetown.