Best car rental option at Port Canaveral?

Hi,

First post so hope I'm in the right place!

We're taking our first cruise this summer and we're sailing from Port Canaveral. Plan is to drive over from Orlando that morning in a rental car, drop it at the office then repeat the process on our return.

Currently we're booked with Hertz for both legs but I'm reading some horrific reviews, especially for the return journey with significant wait times being reported, basically as they are left waiting for departing passengers to drop cars off.

Alamo seem to come out rather better - is there any consensus on the best provider to use?

Thanks in advance.

I think it is near impossible to say who will be the best on your particular travel days! All the companies are very busy each cruise day meaning they all have a lot of happy customers including repeat clients as well as some negative reviews. No one company is consistently bad or worse or better at least not from the reviews I am reading.

There are many factors involved - luck, weather, events, number of ships in port, and so on.

If you want to make things easier for yourself, can you use a shuttle service or Uber, etc on your return day instead of the rental? What time is your flight?

Welcome to the boards! :cool:

We typically use Avis, more for a corporate rate I get than anything else. All of the major agencies have locations close to the port and run shuttles to/from the port. Renting a car pre-cruise gives you the flexibility to say, shop and dine where you want. ;)

I agree with Joe's comments above. Unless your return flight is after about 2:00PM renting a car post cruise is not worth the hassle (shuttle, pick up, drive, tolls, gas, drop off, etc.) -- use a shared shuttle (about $20-25 each) or private transport.

We don't have a flight - have just over a week in Florida after the cruise, so need a car for the duration. Only paying £200, it's just some of the horror stories sound ridiculous. 2hr waits for the shuttle pick up, then queues out the door at the rental office, all in 90F heat!

Unfortunately there are three arrivals the day we get in - one at 5.30am then two more at 7am. Total capacity is almost 9,000 passengers.

We have always used Avis and have never had an issue.

We've had good luck with Avis, however the shuttle pick up can be a bit of a wait. Try using Uber to get to the rental agency, tha should save some time, for about $6-$8.

Thanks all. There are 5 of us - 2 adults & 3 kids. Any value in me and one of the kids leaving the boat first to sort the car then drive back to the terminal, or am I overthinking this, especially given immigration clearance will likely take longer for us as non-US citizens?

One on the shuttle is easier than 5 plus bags, but with your immigration factor it may not be an option or at least not a good option.

All Cape Canaveral rental locations are crazy busy on turnaround days. Since you have another week in Florida wait until after 8:00AM until you disembark the ship. That way most of the passengers who rent vehicles for transportation back to MCO are already off of the ship. The shuttles taking you back to the rental car locations are usually packed. Normally I’m in no hurry so I wait with my family until the rush quiets down. I’m on the shuttle after 9:30AM and it’s not as busy. Since you are a group of five I would go by myself to the rental location, pick up the vehicle and return to Port Canaveral for my family.

Thanks - but that contradicts both common sense and what I've heard from others.

If I'm at the back of the line getting off the ship, we're at the back of the line in immigration and we'll be last to the car rental office. From what i've read, they are reliant on folk bringing cars up to the port on changeover day to meet demand, so that means I'll be waiting until early afternoon for a vehicle that will potentially be un-fuelled and not cleaned. Better to be front of that line to get something that has been there for a day or two waiting.

Oh, and if we all leave the ship at the same time but I leave the rest of the family at the dock, they've got nothing to do for the approx/min 1hr it'll take me to get to the rental office, queue up and get a car.

But if anyone ca say Hertz is better than Alamo or whatever, then please let me know.

I have personally witnessed cruise passengers arguing over access to the shuttle buses at the conclusion of my cruise. Even though the rental car facilities are relatively small in Cape Canaveral and extremely busy on turnaround days if you have a confirmed reservation you will be provided with a rental vehicle and in most cases ungraded at no additional charge. If you enjoy the excitement of piling onto the shuttle when the ship first arrives and the long lines at the rental car facility make sure you are one of the first to arrive there. At my age I take my time and wait for the rush to subside.

Hi, just wanted to feedback on how this went.

Took Lyft from MCO to the Port, which worked well.

We used Hertz for the return. Shuttle took around 15 mins to arrive - they were busy as one driver down and I think 4 ships arrived that morning, but after one other stop, we were dropped at the office.

Took no more than 5 mins to get a vehicle. Friendly agents, no attempts to up sell. Car only had 7/8th of a tank of fuel and since I needed it for the week I paid upfront for the gas. Vehicle was clean, if a little high on mileage.

So on balance, all good - no horror stories here!

Thanks for the feedback. Hope your cruise and post cruise travels were fun. :D