Rental Car at Port in Ft. Lauderdale

[chopper825]

Trying our first re-positioning cruise from NY to Ft. Lauderdale and decided to drive back to NJ. Mostly because we hate to fly and always purchase the max amount of alcohol to bring back. We are with another couple so we will split the costs. Has anyone ever done this? Can you give me any suggestions. Are there rental agencies at the port or will I have to get a cab to go pick a car up somewhere else? How far in advance do you think I would need to reserve a car? Would very much appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

[beg3yrs]

We did this backwards just 15 months ago. Returned a rental car at the Fort Lauderdale airport. The agency ran a free shuttle from the airport to the cruise dock. I suspect they do the same (in reverse) for disembarking passengers. All the usual suspects are there (National, Alamo, Hertz, Budget, etc). Just give them a call.

[srpilo]

Yes..

Just make your reservation online with agency of your choice.. The courtesy van's circle the port picking up renters

 

 

 

Srpilo

[-Lew-]

After our winter cruises we pick up our Budget rental car at their Quay Plaza location rather than at the airport for our drive to Walt Disney World. That way we don't have to pay those high airport pickup fees that are included when a rental car is picked up or dropped off at an airport.

 

Go to the Budget site and price your rental both ways...airport pick up and Quay Plaza pick up. Sometimes the saving is quite large. The Quay Plaza location opens at 8:00am, so if you do a self disembarkation, don't leave the ship too early. There will be plenty of taxis available at the port.

 

Lew

[fla jack]

I would rent from either Budget (17th st-Quay Plaza )

or Thrifty/Dollar (same ownership) at 2400 Miami Road.

Hertz-Hyatt Regency Hotel (17 th St)

All of the above run loop shuttles to pick up passengers

with reservations. I use them because they DO NOT

pick up people who rented from agencies at the

FLL airport.

The airport is a consolidated location (all agencies under 1 roof)

They run busses from the pier to the airport BUT they pickup

at ALL the piers. Imagine a Sat/Sun with 6-8 ships in port.

It's a madhouse with everyone trying to get on a bus with

all the luggage.You'll probably need a minivan

Enough said--LOL

Jack

[Shoalwater]

We did this backwards just 15 months ago. Returned a rental car at the Fort Lauderdale airport. The agency ran a free shuttle from the airport to the cruise dock. I suspect they do the same (in reverse) for disembarking passengers. All the usual suspects are there (National, Alamo, Hertz, Budget, etc). Just give them a call.

 

Only National and Alamo pick up at the port with a free shuttle to the rental counters at the airport.

[Bowie MeMe]

FLL airport car rentals are always full of surprizes. The price varies from literally hour to hour. Go all the way through to the end of the booking because some of the fees don't appear until late in the game. BE SURE there is not a huge drop off or one way fee (once I found a $175 one way fee on a pick up in FLL and drop off in MIA (and I know they share facilities!!:mad:). Also be on the lookout for special offers on one way drives if they want to get some of the cars back up north -- happens particularly in May or April time frame. Be aware that all rental cars in south Florida area must have a Sun Pass because there are no toll takers anymore. You will get this bill on your charge card several weeks later and it can be a shocker. Nothing to do about it -- just don't be shocked when you get this bill.

 

My plan for renting cars in FLL is to go on-line and check the majors (Avis/Hertz/Enterprise and the ones they took over Budget/Thrifty etc) and find what I think is the best deal. I then book this with the ability to cancel. I keep checking back and change the booking if something better turns up like upgrade, discount, lower price, advertised special. Very close to the date of rental (week or so out) I do the final order with prepay option if it saves me money. I do this often as I have busy family with small cars so I rent often to have my own wheels.:p I have tried local rentals but I have not found that they are that much of a money saver as Dade and Broward county add the fees and not the airport itself.

 

Oh and the gas today in FLL land (Plantation, FL) was twenty some cents more than on property at Disney World. My daughter was bummed out!!:p

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

After our winter cruises we pick up our Budget rental car at their Quay Plaza location rather than at the airport for our drive to Walt Disney World. That way we don't have to pay those high airport pickup fees that are included when a rental car is picked up or dropped off at an airport.

 

Go to the Budget site and price your rental both ways...airport pick up and Quay Plaza pick up. Sometimes the saving is quite large. The Quay Plaza location opens at 8:00am, so if you do a self disembarkation, don't leave the ship too early. There will be plenty of taxis available at the port.

 

Lew

 

We'll be doing the reverse for our Emerald Jan 26 cruise... Orlando - FL. Assuming no accidents, is it a reasonable 3 1/2 hrs drive? My DH has a meeting in the morning at Waldorf Bonnet Creek where there is a Hertz rental site so we'll leave directly from there and drop off at 17th St which will hopefully be less crowded than the airport as we'll be limited for time.

 

Pam

[Billmont]

Good question Pam. We will be doing the same thing in November. Going to drive from Orlando the morning of cruise departure and am interested in this Quay location so I don't have to go to FL airport to drop off the rental car.

 

And I am also curious if 3.5 to 4 is the approximate drive time.

 

Looking forward to any input people have.