Jeep rental

Is it better to reserve a jeep in advance or wait until we get to the port? Any suggestions for rental companies? Thanks.

We were in Aruba on 8/6/14. As our ship was not scheduled to depart until 11PM, I decided to rent a Jeep 4x4 to explore the island at our own pace. We rented from Hertz Aruba. They have a desk at Renaissance Aruba Resort & Marina. This hotel is a ~10 minute walk from the cruise ship pier right on the main drag. I did arrange for a rental about a month in advance. After all, Aruba is a small island and there is limited supply of rental Jeeps to go around. After checking in at the rental desk located in the lobby of the hotel and doing the paperwork preliminaries, the agent escorted us to the car which was parked in a lot across the street. We carefully noted any damage to the vehicle on the rental agreement and no sooner we were on our way. Our Jeep was a 4 door hardtop with A/C and automatic transmission. The road infrastructure in Aruba is well maintained and driving is pretty easy. I would familiarize yourself with the European style road signage, as the symbols used differ compared to what we are used to in the US. The rental agent should be able to provide an information sheet. In addition, I would recommend purchasing a laminated Aruba map by Borch. Main roads on the island are marked only at major intersections and minor roads are rarely marked. The Borch map had points of interest marked that we used as reference points when we strayed off the beaten path. Also, Aruba makes good use of the ‘round-about’ or rotary for traffic control, so be prepared to encounter these at major intersections. One small inconvenience is the Renaissance rental desk closes at 4:30PM. As a result, I had to return the vehicle to the Hertz Airport location located about 3 miles from the dock. This required us to take a readily available taxi from the airport back into town at a cost of $20. Regardless, we covered a lot of ground on our own and I would highly recommend this option as a means to see a lot of the island.

We were in Aruba on 8/6/14. As our ship was not scheduled to depart until 11PM, I decided to rent a Jeep 4x4 to explore the island at our own pace. We rented from Hertz Aruba. They have a desk at Renaissance Aruba Resort & Marina.

Thanks GoldenDomer! How did you reserve your jeep? I just tried on Hertz's arubarentacar.com website and it requires that your pickup and dropoff date be different.

Hey AndrewM – I send an email note to the Hertz Aruba main customer service address outlining time, place, and date for pickup, car class requested, drop off location and time. Within a day, a real person will respond to your request and you can work with them via their Hertz email address directly to finalize the reservation.

Some additional details that might be helpful:

Rental fee:

Description Amount

1 Day(s) @130.00 130.00

0 Charged Km(s) @0.00 0.00

1 DROP CHARGE @0.00 0.00

CONCESSION FEE (12.00%) 15.60

SALES TAX (1.50%) 2.21

ENVIRONMENTAL LEVY (1.50) 1.50

Total Charges 149.31

Insurance Advice provided by Hertz:

The Jeep have mandatory CDW $28.00 per day, CDW insurance has a deductible of $1000.00 in case of accident or damage.

We offer a full protection package (FP A+)$33.00 per day, it is inclusive collision damage waiver (CDW), personal accident insurance (PAI), theft protection (TP), road and keys service, (FP A+)has a deductible of $1000.00 in case of accident or damage.

Other Comments provided by Hertz agent:

1-) You are able to drive at the Arikok Park, Gold mine, Visitors Center, Cunucu Arikok, Frenchmen Pass, Baby Beach, Roger Beach, California Light House, the Chapel of Alto Vista and more.

2-) Unfortunately is not allowed to drive to natural Pool, and dunes, (Driving off road is not allow)

3-) There is a possibility to drop the vehicle up at the Airport later, in this case you need to take a taxi to get back a the Cruise Ship Terminal.

4-) We don't have penalty for cancelling the reservation, to advice us a least 24 our in advance to cancel the reservation.

Good Luck and have fun!

If you rent from Hertz, please make sure you check your vehicle carefully before taking it off their lot.

We got stuck with a vehcile with a bad battery. Returned the rental and when our reservation came up later in our trip for another day's rental they gave us the same vehicle. When we had turned it in we told them the battery was going. Well coming back from dinner that night we stopped for gas to top off the tank and sure enough. D E A D !!! Had a VERY upset Aruban behind us who was waiting to fill up. :( LOL, he didn't offer to help me push the SUV from the pump while my husband was inside calling Hertz and my daughter was sleeping in the back seat. ;)

Hey AndrewM – I send an email note to the Hertz Aruba main customer service address outlining time, place, and date for pickup, car class requested, drop off location and time. Within a day, a real person will respond to your request and you can work with them via their Hertz email address directly to finalize the reservation. Good Luck and have fun!

Thanks so much GoldenDomer. I've dropped them an email. Hopefully I'll hear back. 3 other agencies have already turned me down. Oh and thanks for all the details on chrarges! Much appreciated!

And thanks for the warning ArubaLisa. I shall mention and check it thoroughly if i get a reservation. At least i'm not going for a SUV.

We will be in Aruba on Oct 2 off the Carnival Breeze, we rented a Jeep from Smart Rental for $132 total and you pick it up and drop it off at the cruise terminal!!!!

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Can 4 adults and one child fit in the jeeps?

The Jeep we got from Hertz was the 4-door Wrangler Unlimited model. This model has seating for 2 in the front and three in the rear.

We got a jeep with the Ocean Beach guys. All worked out and we got a coupon for their all inclusive. All good, great day!

Only problem with Ocean Beach is that they are in Cozumel. :confused: ;)

We're looking to rent a jeep on Christmas Day in Aruba - I sent an email to Hertz but haven't heard back - its been a couple of days.

AndrewM - did you hear right back from them?

And GoldenDomer - any chance you got an actual email address after your first contact with them?

elamyster76 - could you check back in with this thread after October 2 to tell us about your experience with SmartRental? Did you reserve online and pre-pay?

Thanks all! ;)

I called to reserve and no pre pay, ill chech back after our cruise!!!

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I called to reserve and no pre pay, ill chech back after our cruise!!!

 

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Thanks!!

So smart rental started off good but returning the car was a nightmare, the rental guy was suppose to meet us in a rental parking lot by the ship at 3pm, latest we can board the ship was 3:30pm, at 3:10 I called him and he said he was in traffic and would be 15-20min, of course that would not work for us so he said I could leave the keys under a floor mat in the back seat, got off the boat this morning and had two calls from a lady at smart car saying they could not find the keys and if I didn't call them they are gonna charge me $125 for the keys, I called and I'm waiting for they to search the Jeep again

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Oh boy!! I hope this all works out for you, what a huge pain in the arse!

It did work out, as of yesterday the keys were found in the exact spot I was told to put them, thank goodness!!!

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I was about to post this same question. None of the Aruba excursions really jumped out at me, and the Segway tour seems a little overpriced.

And with the entire day to kill, renting a Jeep sounded like fun. Spend the day roaming around, hit the beach, have a nice sunset dinner, etc.

So, would you give the Jeep rental a thumbs up?

It did work out, as of yesterday the keys were found in the exact spot I was told to put them, thank goodness!!!

 

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Whew!!!!!!!!

We're looking to rent a jeep on Christmas Day in Aruba - I sent an email to Hertz but haven't heard back - its been a couple of days.

Did you ever hear back from them?

Did you ever hear back from them?

I never did. I'm really coming up with nothing on renting a car - maybe its b/c its Christmas Day, maybe I was just too late (I started inquiring a month ago!)...but unfortunately I've gotten negative responses from at least 3 companies and Hertz hasn't responded at all. :(

I've been thinking I want to do my own thing in Aruba when we go in March. We plan on doing a Sunset cocktail cruise, but the day is ours! I thought about renting a vehicle and visiting some sights,

Just looking so far, I could go to California Lighthouse, Alto Vista Church, Bushiribana ruins, Ayo Rock Formation, and maybe even the Ostrich Farm or Donkey Sanctuary.

I'd like to hear about what places others have gone when they've been on their own!

elamyster76 ~~

Just curious as to what locations you visited while in Aruba?

Did you find it easy or difficult to locate the spots you wanted to see?

Would you suggest others to rent their own Jeep or take a tour?

Sorry for so many questions ....

We have been speaking to Hertz about renting a Jeep for our visit on 3/5/15 and are being told they don't rent Jeeps. Anyone have any info on this?

mmsmpm

I would recommend getting a jeep. Our ship went to Oranjestad, Aruda. We had plenty of time to see what we wanted to but keep in mind when it gets time to return the Jeep the traffic in town is crazy so leave yourself plenty of time on the return

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