ARUBA JEEP RENTAL, who should I....

[cruiserw/kids]

...Rent from? I'm looking for a reliable rental agency, close to the pier (would prefer not to have to go to Airport or Hotel Zone to pick up.). Easy pick up, easy drop off is the life for me, however I also would like to know that they are big enough to come rescue us if we breakdown as we tour the island. I would like to reserve ahead of time. Who have you used? Any suggestions?

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=dc143c&cdt=2004;7;4;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Westfield Friends - July 4th Golden Princess

[khfadpi]

We rented an Izuzu Jimmy from Avis ( or Dollar) I can't remember) and It was fine. We drove all over the island. You have to see Natural Bridge and Natural Pool to believe them. Natural Pool is kind of hard to find but what a find when you get there. The northern side of the island is rugged and wild. No swimming, but you can swim in Natural pool. The fish are beautiful. We love Aruba. Nice people. The cruise ship usually just takes you to Baby Beach, very pretty, but if you rent a jeep you can see alot more.

Kim
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=00bfff&cdt=2004;6;5;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Caribbean Princess - June 5, 2004

[sblue]

We're on the same cruise as you and have rented a Jimney from Thrifty at the pier. Sheila

Days until the Golden Princess
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;7;4;23;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500

[AcworthBill]

We were in Aruba 5/14 - you will love it! We booked the 4wd jeep safari thru Princess. It was with DePalm Tour company. It was an open air jeep which I really appreciated having to take in the incredible views on the north side of the island. Perhaps they do individual rentals as well? They do have a website, too.

Have a great time!

Mary

<FONT SIZE="4"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Bill & Mary</FONT></FONT>
<FONT SIZE="3"><FONT COLOR="#FF0000">Golden Princess: May 9, 2004</FONT></FONT>

<FONT SIZE="3"><span style="border:blue double 5px;"><span style="background-color:#000066;"><FONT COLOR="#33CCFF">~~~ Bummed Out!!! It's Over http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif ~~~</span></span></FONT></FONT></p>

[paroe]

My family booked a all day jeep tour with DePalm Tours. It was half day jeep tour of the island and 1/2 snorkeling on their own private island. Lunch and beverages were provided on the island. I booked it directly from their website because our ship did not offer this full day package and my family wanted to do it all. This tour was the highlight of my carribean cruise. It was a blast. The open aired jeeps traveled very fast through the desert. You had to hold on and you got very dirty while touring the island. It was the most fun we had on the entire cruise and is a memory that will last our lifetime. Hope you enjoy!

[ccnwater]

We did not reserve a jeep, just walked right up the pier, to the car rental area. We rented from Top Drive Royal. It was a new little white Jimmy, seats 4 people. We had it till 6:00pm that day, saw pretty much everything we wanted, even drove thru the National park for about 1 hour. Very bumpy, fun road. You do need a jeep for that. We went to Baby beach for several hours to also snorkel. Unfortunatly we did not get to the "lush" side of the Island, where the resorts are. We went during March, very busy time and had no problem renting. I was worried, thought we should reserve ahead of time, but it worked out. Have fun! Aruba is very cool...

AOS 3/14/04
Grand Princess 3/2002

[Lony]

We rented a jeep from Avis right at the pier. As it turned out, they lost our reservation but it didn't really matter - there was one dirty little jeep there for us, anyway. And it only got dirtier. We had a gas driving around on the sand with it. We were actually kind of glad we weren't on a Safari-type thing as that would have made it even dustier. We had a little map and covered all the high spots with no trouble. Pretty cheap, too - we shared the costs with another couple we met on the cruise.

Leona

Sun Viking Jan. '89, Westerdam Aug. '89, Star Princess Nov. '92,
Nile Romance Sept. '97, Sun Princess Apr. '01, '03

Time until Sun Princess <applet code="****************" CODEBASE="http://*************/java-sys" width="203" height="25">
<param name="font" value="lcdb0">
<param name="year" value=2004>
<param name="month" value=1>
<param name="day" value=20>
<param name="hour" value=17>
</applet>

[cruiserw/kids]

Thanks for your input everyone!

sblue - who's going to eat whose dust? Last one to the Natural Bridge buys the drinks!

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=dc143c&cdt=2004;7;4;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Westfield Friends - July 4th Golden Princess

[cruiserw/kids]

sblue:

I went to the Thrifty web site, also called Thrifty. It appears that there are 5 Thrifty locations in Aruba. The person I spoke to at Thrifty could not tell me which location was at the Pier or closest to the pier. Can you assist with this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Jay

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=dc143c&cdt=2004;7;4;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Westfield Friends - July 4th Golden Princess

[sblue]

Jay, Go to visitaruba.com click car rentals, then Thrifty. It lists all the addresses for Thrifty. We rented a Jimney at the cruise terminal- $62 less 15% for AAA discount with tax it comes to $54.75 PDW optional $15.
Hope this helps Sheila

Days until the Golden Princess
http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;7;4;23;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500

[sammiedawg]

We did Hertz last week, it was a great excursion, picked up and dropped off next to the pier.

[cruiserw/kids]

sammiedawg:
Did they have real Jeeps or Jimney's at Hertz?

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=dc143c&cdt=2004;7;4;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Westfield Friends - July 4th Golden Princess

[sammiedawg]

We had an air conditioned vehicle made by a nonfamiliar manufacturer, forget the name. Datsui??4 seater, good off road. I dont know the difference between Jeep and Jimmy but we were glad we had the AC. I forgot to mention, it was gridlock when we returned the vehicle about 3pm. You could potentially miss the boat trying to get to the rental lot. Pay particular attention in the morning where this lot is, We had a hard time finding it in the traffic.

[cruiserw/kids]

Great Advice! Thank You!

http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=dc143c&cdt=2004;7;4;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500
Westfield Friends - July 4th Golden Princess