How do I rent a car in Halifax/Saint John?

[brideoct12]

My husband and I are looking for ways to save money on our cruise. We are in Halifax 8 hours and Saint John 8 hours. We were thinking about renting a car a wandering around on our own instead of going on private tours. Do you think this would be cheaper? Is it hard to find your way around? Would I book the car from home and just pick it up when I get there or do I just walk in and rent it on the spot? How far is the rental place from the dock? Any idea how much a rental car would cost for the day or two?

[cgc33a]

I sent off (via web sites) for tourism info from both the Saint Johns & Halifax info sites. Both packets came very quickly. Can't remember exact sites, but they were not hard to find. Seems like there is a lot to do within walking distance of the ship at both ports. I looked at Hert.com (they have a location downtown/Market Square in Saint John) to rent a car. A one day rental is very reasonable (re quoted in CAD, convert to USD). Other people are probably more knowledgable on this than I am, since I have yet to go.

[daWoods]

One word of caution when renting a car. Unlike most American rental agencies, many Canadian agencies do not offer unlimited mileage. Quite often they'll include a certain number of kilometres in your day's charge, but anything over that will be billed at about $.15 a km. Make sure you know what is included.

 

Island Princess Feb. 2004

Grand Princess Feb. 2002

Norwegian Sky Feb. 2001

 

[Joy2Day]

In Halifax, there are several kiosks at the port, then they shuttle you to the car. I would recommend reserving in advance. Last year, we were there on Canadian Thanksgiving and not all the companies were open. We had not reserved ahead, and they were starting to run low on cars. Hertz had a special all-inclusive rate (not on their website).

 

We did not rent a car in Saint John.

 

Big Red Boat, New Year's 1994

Legend of the Seas, Alaska, 8/98

Sovereign of the Seas, 5/03

Grandeur of the Seas, Canada/New England, 10/03

Grandeur of the Seas, 11/29/03

[disneydavid]

In Halifax, right across the street from where the ship docks is a Westin hotel. Inside the hotel lobby is an Alamo/National car rental desk. We rented from National for about $55 Canadian for the day and drove to Peggy's Cove and stopped at the Titanic grave sites and Citadel in town on our way back. This is far cheaper than any tours.

[jayjo]

Right in the Port Building in Halifax there is an Enterprise car rental Kiosk as well as a Hertz. We found Enterprise helpful and the best price as well. You can book online or call their 800 number.

[med4bike]

We will be renting a car from Avis in Halifax in Oct. Mid size, cost 44CAD per day unlimited kilometers.

After pickup car can get an early start and visit Peggy's Cove ( before all the tourist buses get there) Can also visit Mahone Bay and Lunenberg. Then return car and see the sights in Halifax. We have been to Nova Scotia many times before and driving to these towns is pretty easy and very nice to see. Halifax also has many sites to visit, the Citadel, the boardwalk area and the Maritime Museum. Enjoy Halifax

[mamahugs]

Last year we rented a car at the Westin Hotel in Halifax...the process was a little slow being that there was a new employee there. Try to get there as quick as possible...so you don't have to wait on line.

 

You can rent a car from Avis in St. Johns..I reserved a car there for this coming September for the cost of $40 Canadian. It counter is on 4 Water St. A real short walk from the pier. I booked it online. Hope this helps. Happy Sailing

[Becky]

I went to Hertz.com I have rented a midsize car for the day in Saint John. Unlimited mileage $67 can., $50 us Mind you midsize is a chevy malibu, pontiac sunfire, or ford focus. Not big cars. We will walk from the docks to market street, about 5 minutes I was told. Then we're going to drive the fundy trail, which we were also told was approx. 45 minutes away. The trail takes you along the coastline with many pull off panoramic points for pictures or trails to take you down to the beach. Far cheaper than booking an excursion through the cruiseline. Hope this helps.

[DMRick]

Whoever suggested yourcab in Halifax, thank you so so much. We were picked up by Jonathan (8 of us) in a large van on the peir (he had a sign up with my last name..we just went on Monday), and we saw sooo much! It was great having private transport..and especially with a driver that was a wealth of local info.

 

He took us around the city a bit, waiting for the cruise buses to get out to Peggy's Cove and finish up their tour, before we got there. On the way, he showed us a bit of the city and then the countryside, including where people from the US are now building houses. We went into some neighborhoods that I'm sure a big bus couldn't get. We stopped in a small store that made and sold maple syrup products and got a little lesson abotu it.

 

We visited Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, and then drove down to the the little village in Peggy's Cove where we wandered.

 

We then ate out at a cute little restaurant, and finished up with a sobering stop at the Titani cemetary. Our tour was more than an hour and a half more than the ship tour, for less money, and we got to decide where we would go. It was a great day, with much squeezed into it!

[PKB]

We will be in Halifax soon and would like to check them out. Thanks for the info.

[lovacruz]

That taxi tour is just what we are looking for. Can you tell me what he charged for the tour.

[1drifter]

http://www.yourcab.ca/

 

here's a link to Jonathan's page. It lists his different tours and prices. We joined another couple from our roll call and had a wonderful day in the area.

[nybumpkin]

Thank you for posting! We've booked a tour to Peggy's Cove with Jonathan based on what we've read here, and we're really looking forward to it. Our tour is $39 pp (there's 5 of us).

[Cat48]

Whoever suggested yourcab in Halifax, thank you so so much. We were picked up by Jonathan (8 of us) in a large van on the peir (he had a sign up with my last name..we just went on Monday), and we saw sooo much! It was great having private transport..and especially with a driver that was a wealth of local info.

 

 

 

 

He took us around the city a bit, waiting for the cruise buses to get out to Peggy's Cove and finish up their tour, before we got there. On the way, he showed us a bit of the city and then the countryside, including where people from the US are now building houses. We went into some neighborhoods that I'm sure a big bus couldn't get. We stopped in a small store that made and sold maple syrup products and got a little lesson abotu it.

 

We visited Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, and then drove down to the the little village in Peggy's Cove where we wandered.

 

 

We then ate out at a cute little restaurant, and finished up with a sobering stop at the Titani cemetary. Our tour was more than an hour and a half more than the ship tour, for less money, and we got to decide where we would go. It was a great day, with much squeezed into it!

 

 

DMRick:

 

I contacted Jonathan and he said we needed to send 20% to hold the reservation. I know we did something similar for a private excursion on our Italy cruise but we are always just a little leary to do this. Were you required to do the same? So many do not ask for anything ahead of time. Thanks for all your information and thanks to all the other cruise critic members.

Cat48

[DMRick]

He asked for our credit card for the down payment..but he never charged it..he requested and we paid cash at the end of our tour. I think that was more if we didn't show up.

 

I just got a really nice thank you from him for using his services. That's a first for me!

[DMRick]

Thank you for posting! We've booked a tour to Peggy's Cove with Jonathan based on what we've read here, and we're really looking forward to it. Our tour is $39 pp (there's 5 of us).

Ours was $48 pp plus tip, but we were out for a very long time.

[CruiseNut7]

Ours was $48 pp plus tip, but we were out for a very long time.

 

DMRick - thanks for all the Halifax info. We'll be sailing there in a matter of weeks and will be in Halifax on September 3rd!

 

Question ??? - how long was Jonathan's tour? 3-4 hours? Did you have good weather - chilly?

 

Your excursion sounds like a great one! Thanks again! :)

[DMRick]

We were told we were very lucky with the weather. It was warm, but not hot..about 78. The fog rolled away, just as we arrived, and we were told we were the first in weeks without rain.

 

We told Jonathan where we wanted to go and he figured out the time..the price depends on what you want to do. He picked us up on the dock at 9:30, and we went over in time a bit..I think we got back to be dropped off at the museum about 3:30, but we didn't pay extra, since he figured the time needed. I can't remember now for sure..but it was a lot longer than the ship's cruise.

[Cat48]

Thanks for the information on Jonathan. We are planning on taking his tour for sure.

I noticed you were just on the Carnival Victory, we just sailed on the Carnival Freedom from Rome in May, 2007. Enjoyed that cruise very much. We are now going on Holland America for the first time to Canada/New England. Read some negative reviews on this site on HA, hope we enjoy ours.

[DMRick]

This guy (Jonathan) is so polite, he wrote and thanked me for giving him a positive review. He's just such a nice guy, I'm sure you will love your tour.

 

We had a great time on the Victory. What small things we didn't like were so small as to not matter.

 

Our favorite cruise so far though was on the Veendam..Holland America. We just loved it and the service. The library blew us away..we could have spent the week in it. I hope you have a grea HA trip as well.

[nybumpkin]

We just returned from our cruise on Victory, and Jonathan was great! He met us as we disembarked and drove out to Peggy's Cove along some of the back roads. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't particularly cooperative - very foggy - but what we saw was beautiful. After the tour, he dropped us off right downtown so we could have lunch and enjoy the waterfront.

 

About the deposit - I posted earlier on another thread that I had sent Jonathan a deposit prior to the cruise. When we met him, he handed me the check uncashed, saying that nothing was owed until the end of the tour. I gather the deposit just covered in case we were "no shows."

 

We're already talking about doing this cruise again next summer, and we wouldn't hesitate to book a tour with Jonathan again.

[Cat48]

We are a group of 6 on the HAL from Montreal 8-25-07 and are booked on a tour with Jonathan. Can't wait. Hope the weather is good. Thanks to all for your great posts with so much information. Will report on our trip when we get back.

[caitlynnb]

we recently went on a curise that stopped in halifax and had an amazing time on our tour. we didn't use jonathan, but i can highly recommend paul mcneil of arrive in style. Paul looks expensive but he isn't. he is dressed in a 3 piece suit and has a beautiful and very comfortable town car to escort you around town. Yet he is cheap, only $60 an hr for a 3 hr tour. We had three ppl and ended up going about 4.5 hrs and he only charged us the quoted $180 for the three hours! His car had complimentary water and iced tea, as well as delcious carmels and candys :) He knows everything about the city, from history to architecture. We went around the city, to the titanic cemetary, to fisherman's cove, a quieter but just as pretty peggy's cove and even recommended an excellent place to have some great seafood. we also went to the citadel just in time for the noon firing of the cannon it was excellent. we'd def go again. he told us if we brought more ppl next itme (aroudn 8) we could go in his company's stretch limo complete with champagne, nova scotian wine and local beer and once again although he looks expensive it'd only be aroudn $50 per person this time, much cheaper than anything done off the ship. I would highly recommend booking a tour with him in advance, because due to pier restrictions he can't drive up with the other taxis, probably because he's a better tour guide than the regular taxi. You can find him a bit down the boardwalk along the water in a suit, or you can go to his employer's website, http://www.ariveinstyle.ca . We're glad we stumbeled upon his services!!!

[LHP]

We have a special needs child and could only do an hour private taxi tour.

 

I wish I could pronounce his name (but it was French and involved) Taxi Number 240.

 

We paid $45.00 for the hour for the 3 of us. And he took us exactly to the places we wanted to go. He was an older gentleman and was a hoot to talk with.

 

We got exactly what we were looking for....