Car rental post cruise - Cape Canaveral

[tatay]

We will be at Cape Canaveral post-cruise and will be renting a car (probably from Budget). Can someone advise on how to do this. Do you book the car before the cruise and ask them to pick you up on debarkation day or do you just call for a pick up after debarkation?

[newcruiser915]

I booked a car through Avis before the cruise. They were great! I got off the ship, and they had the shuttle within site of the exit. We hopped on the shuttle and were on our way! I do think I saw a budget shuttle, but you should call to be sure.

[campdaan]

I booked online prior to the Cruise. When you debark the Ship go across the parking lot and the car rental shuttles have an area along the fence for pick-up.

I used Budget and they had a van that took our entire group and luggage to the rental office down the street from the Radisson.

[bearette]

What rental car companies are at the port that have free shuttles? Specifically I want to see if Thrifty has a free shuttle, but in case they don't I want to know all my options. I was trying to look up which companies had shuttles but their websites didn't list the shuttles only that they were at the port.

[RWolver672]

I'll add Hertz. We've used them and they were great. I definately would recommend getting your car reserved ahead of time. We went during March Madness and it was almost impossible to get a vehicle. If something is going on in the area, rental cars are hard to come by.

[VTSAIL]

Used Budget in May! Would definitely reserve car in advance - a lot of people utilize this option! The Shuttle in May was full off of the Glory and the Rental agency in Cape Canaveral is not the biggest!

 

No need to call for the shuttle - they are making constant runs to the pier! Just tell the porter when you claim your bags that you are renting a car - they will take you to the pickup point!

[doconner]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find a good rate on a car rental. For instance, I normally find Orbitz to offer a better rate than the actual rental websites. However, I can not get Orbitz to recognize Cape Canaveral or Port Canaveral as a drop off/pick up location.

 

Not that it matters too greatly, but my flights are into Tampa the night before the cruise and out of Tampa late in the evening on the day of debarkation.

[mnsawyer]

We used Budget for a pre-cruise and the shuttle driver asked if we would need a ride for the trip back. Saw the shuttles the day we got off the ship running all of the time. When we dropped our car the day of our cruise (10:30 or so) the representative did a quick check and then someone else got right in our car.

[tommyh]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find a good rate on a car rental. For instance, I normally find Orbitz to offer a better rate than the actual rental websites. However, I can not get Orbitz to recognize Cape Canaveral or Port Canaveral as a drop off/pick up location.

 

Not that it matters too greatly, but my flights are into Tampa the night before the cruise and out of Tampa late in the evening on the day of debarkation.

Go to Mousesavers.com. Scroll down the left side to car rental discounts. This will take you to a list of rental agencies. I have Budget for one day at $41.90 for a full size car including all fees and taxes (MCO-Cape Canveral). I also went with National for a 4 day rental for $134.78 for full size.

[ladylegend]

Is there a big difference (other than the cost to park) in renting for the entire cruise period or dropping off before and renting another car afterwards?

 

Thanks

[doconner]

Is there a big difference (other than the cost to park) in renting for the entire cruise period or dropping off before and renting another car afterwards?

 

Thanks

 

I booked my car rentals today through Thrifty. I reserved a car from Tampa Airport -> Port Canaveral for the 24hours prior to the cruise at $32 (after tax) and then the day of debarkation back to the Tampa for $35. So the total for both was only $67.

 

A rental for 8 days (which would be the minimum you would need to rent it for) would be over $200, plus the cost of parking (which i'm unsure of the amount).

 

If you sign up ahead of time for the rental company's reward program, checking in is a breeze. Couple that with the free shuttle from the port to the rental agency, I can't think of a reason you'd want to pay for a rental while you are at sea.

 

But thats just my opinion.

[KJPG]

We used Thrifty in June. They had a shuttle at the Port upon our return.

[bearette]

Thanks . I have had good luck with thrifty in the past and I wanted to use them if they offered the free shuttles to the port.