Car/hotel question for Ft. Lauderdale

[JC Cruiser]

My wife and I are flying into Ft. Lauderdale on a Friday night and the cruise does not leave till Sunday afternoon, which means we will have sometime to explore the southern Florida area. We are thinking our best option is to rent a car at the airport and book a hotel somewhere in the area for two days. This means we will need to return the car to the hotel the morning of the cruise and take some sort of shuttle/taxi to the pier. The only other thing I can think of is booking a hotel with a car rental near by. Does anyone know of any hotels with car rentals near by? Or are there any other recommended alternatives??? Thanks!

[michmike]

Thrifty has an office right at the entrance to Port Everglades. They will shuttle you from their ofc to the pier. I'm willing to bet if you ask, when booking, that they will allow you to pick up the car at the airport and return it at the cruise port location (at the corner of US 1 and state route 84).