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Budget car rental in St thomas and destination suggestions


sds
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Hello everyone I need some insight about car rentals in St Thomas. I currently have a car reserved with Budget at the port when I visit next month. I have read multiple reviews about this rental area being a PITA to deal with at times. I am just wondering how the experience went and is there any caveats I should be aware of. Additionally, if anyone has any tips on driving here they would be greatly appreciated. I have read they drive on the left side which I think I should be able to handle. and that refueling could be expensive. I guess that is relative since I want the flexibility to go to Drakes seat, Mountain top, and the overlook of Charlotte Amalie then hop over to Sapphire bay or Magens bay for a quick dip and some additional photo ops of this beautiful island. I did the pricing of taxis going from each destination and it seemed exorbitant hence the reason for the rental. If anyone has more areas they think I should check out by all means let me know. Thank you.

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  • 1 month later...

Well I am doing what most don't  do on this forum and that is a follow up. Budget rent a car no longer has a port site at Havensight from what I understand or that's what I was told.  I was taken to the Crown bay port because the Harmony of the sea is just to large for the Havensight port. Budget picked me up at Crown bay and brought me to their office which was a 5 to 10 min walk now looking back on it, the cars were in decent shape the service people were very helpful but seemed a bit disorganized they didn't have the car I reserved initially but gave me another and charged me less money so it is what it is. The overall experience was painless and they did go out of their way to make sure I had what I needed and that they got me and my family to and from the office. The cost for a midsize car was 42.60 all in I was able to find my way around with the help of the locals (which were all very helpful I spoke with a total of 15 lol) and a map that Budget gave me. Be aware there is very little signage if any hence me chatting with everyone I saw lol but once I figured it out it made the adventure that much more fun and memorable. also note that Budget does not rent GPS. FYI I was able to hit all my targets (e.g. Drakes, Moutaintop and beach) St Thomas is absolutely beautiful.

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Edited by sds
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Years ago we rented a car and it was great being able to go as we wanted. We had similar experience with rental car company but all turned out well. I will point out if you are from the United states, you can use your phones GPS. I remember there was an election going on and there were signs everywhere

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Thank you for posting a follow-up.  One question as I was not following the port where the budget office is.  Are you saying there is no longer a budget office at Crown Bay or at Havensight?  I just booked a Jeep ( I hope it ends up being a Jeep) last week and it showed Havensight as location and that is where we will be docking.  Just wanted to make sure. Thanks.

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Krisco 

There is no car rental at crown bay. I was told that there wasn't one at havensight just the off site one near crown bay where I was. I would call to confirm with them on both the jeep and location considering I was given a different car sat pick up as well as another couple the was there. Have a great trip and remember STAY to the LEFT LOL .

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The Budget website shows the Heavensight office still open and accepting reservations. Royal Caribbean uses the Crown Bay docks almost exclusively along with some Celebrity ships. While there's no office AT Crown Bay, there's an office just a 3 minute car ride from the dock. The location at Heavensight is right besides the AVIS office, which is the company I have always used when renting in St. Thomas.

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On 11/2/2018 at 9:27 PM, Stinger-pr said:

The Budget website shows the Heavensight office still open and accepting reservations. Royal Caribbean uses the Crown Bay docks almost exclusively along with some Celebrity ships. While there's no office AT Crown Bay, there's an office just a 3 minute car ride from the dock. The location at Heavensight is right besides the AVIS office, which is the company I have always used when renting in St. Thomas.

Thanks. My reservation shows Havensight so I think I'm good as our ship docks there as it's NCL. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

My Budget reservation for next month (Christmas Day!) also says Havensight.  I will call Budget tomorrow and confirm both location AND car size.  We are a family of 5 and require a larger car ( no Jeep 😣 ).  We also have to be quick about it because we have a fishing trip chartered out of Red Hook at 9 am.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 11/16/2018 at 7:17 PM, 1964IceCreamLady said:

My Budget reservation for next month (Christmas Day!) also says Havensight.  I will call Budget tomorrow and confirm both location AND car size.  We are a family of 5 and require a larger car ( no Jeep 😣 ).  We also have to be quick about it because we have a fishing trip chartered out of Red Hook at 9 am.  

Great, let me know what you find out or maybe respond after you get back.  My reservation is not until February and you can tell us how easy it was to drive on left side of the road!  or give us some tips for good stops.  Appreciate it.

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21 hours ago, Krisco said:

Great, let me know what you find out or maybe respond after you get back.  My reservation is not until February and you can tell us how easy it was to drive on left side of the road!  or give us some tips for good stops.  Appreciate it.

 

I double-checked and now the various sources say we dock in Crown Bay, so I switched our reservation.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, cinnam0n said:

We had a car reserved through the Avis location at Havensight for our cruise last week, got there, and were told "no more cars available."  Have a plan B in place - we wasted a lot of time and money figuring out our next move.

Wow. Thanks for info.  Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode on car rentals.  "you know how to TAKE the reservation, you need to learn how to "KEEP" the reservation.  Yikes

 

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