Tendering & car rental in Cannes

[rmurray847]

If I'm looking at a bird's eye view of Cannes, what markers should I look for to tell me where the tender would drop me off from my ship? Major hotels very near by? Major intersections near by? etc. I'm considering a car rental, and I'd like to have an idea of where some agencies are that are not too far from where we get dropped off.

 

Alternatively, can anyone suggest a car rental place that is a close walk to the drop off point?

 

Thanks for any help / advice!

[Hlitner]

There are really no rental car offices clost to the tender pier, but several are about a 20 min walk through the nicest part of Cannes. Hertz and Europcar are in the same vicinity right off the Rue D'Antibes and Budget is a but further near the train station. The tender pier is located on the left side of the harbor (looking in from the sea) in the Old Port area just adjacent to the large marina.

 

Hank

[-Lew-]

Hi Hank...

 

A search for auto rentals in Cannes returned an agency I'm not familiar with: Mistral. Are you familiar with them?

 

They have an office located just 600 meters from the tender drop...see attachment.

 

Lew

Mistral Car Rental in Cannes.pdf

[rmurray847]

Thanks for the info!

[imapost2003]

I'm on your cruise and rented from hertz. Compact convertible for 80$. It's a little less than a mile from the tender drop off, or a 20 min walk.

[Hlitner]

Hi Hank...

 

A search for auto rentals in Cannes returned an agency I'm not familiar with: Mistral. Are you familiar with them?

 

They have an office located just 600 meters from the tender drop...see attachment.

 

Lew

 

That is a terrific find. No, we have never heard of Mistal and never noticed their office. But, we would certainly use them if their price is right as the location is much better then the major agencies we have used for years. For anyone not familiar with the area we would estimate one could walk from the tender pier to this Mistral office in no more then 10 min. Looking forward to somebody using them and posting their experience.

 

Hank

[Mama Smurf]

That is a terrific find. No, we have never heard of Mistal and never noticed their office. But, we would certainly use them if their price is right as the location is much better then the major agencies we have used for years. For anyone not familiar with the area we would estimate one could walk from the tender pier to this Mistral office in no more then 10 min. Looking forward to somebody using them and posting their experience.

 

Hank

Hi Hank,

 

We are looking to hire a car when we visit Cannes next month. Do you know were the NCL Epic may be docking and if it is close to the Mistral Location office.

 

I have just emailed them and awaiting their reply. We are only there a couple of hours and wish to just do our own thing at our own pace. We have been to that area before but not whilst cruising.

 

If we do use them I will certainly post a review on here.

Hope you can help answer some of my queries.

 

Dorothy

[Hlitner]

Hi Hank,

 

We are looking to hire a car when we visit Cannes next month. Do you know were the NCL Epic may be docking and if it is close to the Mistral Location office.

 

I have just emailed them and awaiting their reply. We are only there a couple of hours and wish to just do our own thing at our own pace. We have been to that area before but not whilst cruising.

 

If we do use them I will certainly post a review on here.

Hope you can help answer some of my queries.

 

Dorothy

 

You will tender, not dock. The tender pier is the same location for any cruise ship which is right near the marina on the left side of the city if you are looking inland from the sea. The Mistral office (and keep in mind we have never used company) would be the closest rental car office to the tender pier. Most of the others (Hertz, Europcar, etc) are located on the other side of town about a 20-25 min walk from the tender pier. Keep in mind that the Epic is a huge ship and they will tender priority to their own tours so it could take quite a while until you get ashore.

 

We were not even aware of this Mistral office until a few weeks ago and eagerly awaiting some posts from those that try this company. It sure appears to be convenient to the tender pier.

 

Hank

[rmurray847]

Based on suggestions here, I booked a car for our shore excusion in Cannes. The online process was a little bit clunky, because some of the French to English translation was a little, well, awkward...but it went fine. I got plenty of quick follow-up.

 

The office is very near to where the tenders are dropped off. I would say it was a 7 minute walk, going at a reasonable pace. It's a small office, but marked well. From when I walked in the door until I was sitting behind the wheel was MAYBE 10 minutes. It just went very smoothly. The lady who helped us was very nice and very helpful, including providing a good map for our drive to Eze.

 

Prices were reasonable too. Yes, objectively, I could rent a small car in the US for one day for less money...but considering the cost & convenience of the car compared to the cost of an excursion, it was a HELL of a deal. And the car, a little Fiat, was in great shape. And the guy who went over it with me did a VERY through job of looking for any previous dings or scratches.

 

Upon return, I spent another 3 minutes in the office. I was just very, very pleased with the entire transaction. I highly recommend them.

[Hlitner]

Based on suggestions here, I booked a car for our shore excusion in Cannes. The online process was a little bit clunky, because some of the French to English translation was a little, well, awkward...but it went fine. I got plenty of quick follow-up.

 

The office is very near to where the tenders are dropped off. I would say it was a 7 minute walk, going at a reasonable pace. It's a small office, but marked well. From when I walked in the door until I was sitting behind the wheel was MAYBE 10 minutes. It just went very smoothly. The lady who helped us was very nice and very helpful, including providing a good map for our drive to Eze.

 

Prices were reasonable too. Yes, objectively, I could rent a small car in the US for one day for less money...but considering the cost & convenience of the car compared to the cost of an excursion, it was a HELL of a deal. And the car, a little Fiat, was in great shape. And the guy who went over it with me did a VERY through job of looking for any previous dings or scratches.

 

Upon return, I spent another 3 minutes in the office. I was just very, very pleased with the entire transaction. I highly recommend them.

 

Thanks for posting this info. This is terrific news since we never loved the long walk across town to our usual rental car office. Will definitely be using Mistral based on your review.

 

Hank

[-Lew-]

 

Based on suggestions here, I booked a car for our shore excusion in Cannes.

I join Hank in thanking you for your feedback on Mistral. Thanks to your positive experience, it looks like we've found an auto rental convenient to the port.

 

Lew

[rmurray847]

Keep in mind that the Epic is a huge ship and they will tender priority to their own tours so it could take quite a while until you get ashore.

 

 

Hank

 

This is a little off topic, but I want to note that on our ship, SERENADE OF THE SEAS, we had to wait for the excursion tenders to go first. They started at 9 and we were told to expect it to be at least 10 am before we might get to start tendering (non-ship excursion). Well, there were so few people going ashore that the non-excursion folks started at 9:30. The overall interest in going ashore in Cannes was low. I'd be surprised if more than 15% of the entire ship went ashore. Granted, this was the first day of the cruise...but I was still surprised at the lack of interest.

[sr5242]

This is a little off topic, but I want to note that on our ship, SERENADE OF THE SEAS, we had to wait for the excursion tenders to go first. They started at 9 and we were told to expect it to be at least 10 am before we might get to start tendering (non-ship excursion). Well, there were so few people going ashore that the non-excursion folks started at 9:30. The overall interest in going ashore in Cannes was low. I'd be surprised if more than 15% of the entire ship went ashore. Granted, this was the first day of the cruise...but I was still surprised at the lack of interest.

 

Interesting, seems like a very different report than usual. Was it an older crowd on board? Did they use tender tickets?

[Hlitner]

This is a little off topic, but I want to note that on our ship, SERENADE OF THE SEAS, we had to wait for the excursion tenders to go first. They started at 9 and we were told to expect it to be at least 10 am before we might get to start tendering (non-ship excursion). Well, there were so few people going ashore that the non-excursion folks started at 9:30. The overall interest in going ashore in Cannes was low. I'd be surprised if more than 15% of the entire ship went ashore. Granted, this was the first day of the cruise...but I was still surprised at the lack of interest.

 

Very interesting. So the ship was at the French Riviera and 85% of the passengers stayed aboard? Hard to fathom. I will admit that having been on an awful lot of cruises to well over 120 different ports around the world we have never seen this happen.

 

Hank