Car rental Miami Port - return FLL questions

[TwoMateys]

I have several questions on car rentals.

 

We will disembark at the Port of Miami. How do I rent a car there?

 

Is there a complimentary shuttle from the ship to the car rental place?

 

Which car rental company is the most economical and easiest to get to post cruise?

 

Can I rent at Miami port and return to FLL without added costs?

 

Is it difficult to drive from port to Fort Lauderdale Beach area hotel?

[tomko2]

I will try to answer your questions and am sure others will provide further information.

It is very easy to rent a car at the Fort Lauderdale Airport; there are several major agencies right there; we always use dollar (check their website) for prices. The earlier you book your car the better the price and if you see a price drop then make a new reservation and cancel the first one. We paid $35.00 on Monday for a Pacifica which we picked up in Naples and dropped off at the Fort Myers Airport on Tuesday. We often use Dollar from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples and never pay a drop off charge.

I don't know if there is complimentary shuttle service available but the distance between the port and the airport is about a $12.00 taxi ride.

Very easy to get from the Port of Miami to hotels on the beach in Lauderdale; 1-95 is the major highway; best to use Mapquest or some other map site to get explicit directions so you don't waste time.

Hope this helps.

Kathy:)

[Bequia]

I have several questions on car rentals.

 

We will disembark at the Port of Miami. How do I rent a car there?

 

Is there a complimentary shuttle from the ship to the car rental place?

 

Dollar, Thrifty and Alamo have a free shuttle from the port to their off-airport rental facility

 

Which car rental company is the most economical and easiest to get to post cruise?

 

Thrifty, Dollar and Alamo seem to be the most economical

 

Can I rent at Miami port and return to FLL without added costs?

 

They do not charge a one-way drop off fee

 

Is it difficult to drive from port to Fort Lauderdale Beach area hotel?

 

No, it's not difficult at all. We're a tourist destination. Our roads and signs are designed to be tourist friendly.

67

[TwoMateys]

Thank you for your responses. Bequia....you were very helpful. I was able to make a reservation at the hotel I wanted as a result.

 

I will want to have some directions from Mapquest, so are you able to tell me the street name, that the Miami port car rental places are located. I want to make sure that I use the right one as a starting point to get to my hotel in Ft. Lauderdale beach area. Thank you.

[calgary cruiser]

Hi there - we just did a cruise that docked in Miami yet our flts were from FLL. We used Hertz downtown which does provide courtesy airport drop off at the Pier - downside - this hertz location is very small and they do everything manually!!! Took forever to get our car as lineups were long. I did notice that Avis had a downtown location close to the pier as well and offered courtesy pick up drop off at pier - they may be more efficient.

 

Drive to FLL was easy about 40 minutes....

 

Good luck!

 

Calgary Cruiser

[Bequia]

I will want to have some directions from Mapquest, so are you able to tell me the street name, that the Miami port car rental places are located.

 

They're all in the same general neighborhood of this address (Thrifty), 3670 NW South River Dr Miami, FL 33142.

Try using the Google map feature for directions. I've always found it to be more accurate then Mapquest.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=4

 

 

 

80

[jillyfish]

I did notice that Avis had a downtown location close to the pier as well and offered courtesy pick up drop off at pier - they may be more efficient.

 

All of the info I have read has said the downtown Avis location does not shuttle to/from the port :confused:

[cruisin03040506]

Check this site www.discountfloridacarrental.com we booked with them as they do all the searching for you and got us a great deal on a large van.. $200.00 less than everywhere else I tried.

[MistyMoo]

We did the opposite of this earlier this week. Our ship docked in Fort Lauderdale and we flew out of Miami the next evening. When we fly into Miami, we rented a car at the airport and then returned it to the Fort Lauderdale airport and took the complementary shuttle to the Ft Lauderdale port. When we docked in Ft Lauderdale, we took the complementary shuttle to the airport, picked up a rental car, and returned it to the Miami airport.

 

There is no one way rental charge in Florida. Our first rental was over a weekend, so we found the best deal using a coupon code. The second rental was for just a couple of days during the week, so I found the best deal by bidding at Priceline.

[snausman]

OK, I need some help. I understand that Alamo has a location at the port of Miami. We are coming in to Fort Lauderdale and want to drop the car off someplace easy. We are staying at the InterContental. When I pick drop off at the port it says no cars availble, so is there another location that is close or is the airport the closes.

 

Or maybe there is another car company that is better to use as it has a closer location to the port?

 

Hope this makes sense, just need that help. I have always just used a taxi but there are 5 of us with luggage.

 

Laura

[Bequia]

OK, I need some help. I understand that Alamo has a location at the port of Miami.

 

That is incorrect. There are NO car rental offices for any car rental agency at the Port of Miami. Most car rental agencies show a Miami Airport location and a Miami Cruiseport location. Both locations are one and the same, out by the airport.

 

73

[snausman]

That is incorrect. There are NO car rental offices for any car rental agency at the Port of Miami. Most car rental agencies show a Miami Airport location and a Miami Cruiseport location. Both locations are one and the same, out by the airport.

 

 

73

Thank you for the info. Just trying to see if we can drop off a budget rental in downtown Miami someplace. I know the website shows a location but I have no idea where that is. We are staying at the InterContinenal.

 

Laura