Advance Car Rental

[CTSandy]

Wanted to share the excellent experience we had with Advance Car Rental on our August 2023 cruise.  We booked on line, car was parked right outside of port gates, a representative met us with a sign with our name, brought us to the car, provided a map, a gps with preprogrammed popular sites, and a cell phone to reach them, if necessary.  Rental was $125 for the day and that included full insurance coverage.  We explored several of the sites, went to a couple of beaches, stopped at the flamingo sanctuary (no flamingos around).  We enjoyed having our own transportation from 10 AM to 5 PM.  There were three of us, so it was definitely cheaper than purchasing ship excursions and so much more convenient.  

[ShellDil]

I'm thinking of using them in November. This is all great to hear! Did you have a route that you planned to follow or did they give you suggestions? I'm not too sure how to plan the day if we do rent. I love the idea though!

[CTSandy]

On 10/10/2023 at 8:57 PM, ShellDil said:

I'm thinking of using them in November. This is all great to hear! Did you have a route that you planned to follow or did they give you suggestions? I'm not too sure how to plan the day if we do rent. I love the idea though!

The most popular sites were programmed in the GPS, but they also gave us a map and he circled some of the places that he recommended.  Pretty easy to get around, but we did make a mistake driving to the flamingo sanctuary and made an extra half hour circle😆.  We did Banco di  Caribe pier - snorkeling, lots of turtles, saw a wedding on the pier and the bride and groom jumped off the end of the pier after the ceremony (this stop was recommended by the guy at the car rental place).  Very inexpensive chair rentals there - $12 for two - restrooms, a small group of souvenir stands, drinks and snacks.  Then went to the national park - Boka Sheta (not sure about spelling) - rather wild, blowholes, cactus, goats, rocky coast, a couple of other beaches and flamingo sanctuary.  Rental place did warn us to put our stuff in the trunk and leave nothing visible in the car.  

[tigger77732]

I heard that Advance was great, but I wanted to share this. I was not happy with the fact that their website showed cars for $45 or $55 a day, but then the quote came back as 

 $125. Seems like bait and switch to me. Bummer cause I’ve heard great reviews.

 

Personally, I chose Smart wheels Curaçao. They are inside the cruise terminal and we got an Economy automatic for $80 out the door, which includes full insurance, theft protection, and roadside assistance.

 

I will be sure to leave a review after we rent in December.

 

take care!

[ColdCruise]

@tigger77732 how did the rental work out on Curacao?

[tigger77732]

11 hours ago, ColdCruise said:

@tigger77732 how did the rental work out on Curacao?

 

It actually worked out very well! Super simple process. Price and coverage was as advertised!

We arrived at their little building, which was super close to the ship, showed our drivers license and were given the keys. We got a little Kia Picante, which was practically brand new (only 1100 miles on it.) We zipped around the west coast with ease! The only hiccup was that when we got back to return it, the office was locked. It took us about 10 minutes to locate someone to drop the keys.(No key drop box, which would have been super helpful) Apparently a worker failed to show up to work. But we located someone in the parking lot and we were quickly back on the ship.

 

We would definitely use them again in the future! As a reminder for everyone, it was Smart Wheels!

[Arubamoose]

If we ever go back to Curacao and have a full day we would rent from Advance again.

Seamless experience - unlike Avis.

Unfortunately we get in late this trip and will just walk around downtown.

[Hydro ergo]

@tigger77732  how was the driving in Curacao?  We're thinking of renting the smallest economy car and want to make sure that is practical.

 

thanks!

[tigger77732]

The driving was safe and fine. Not many stop signs, more yields. And even if you see a stop sign, some treat it as a suggestion so that is the only thing to look out for. But, honestly, it was super easy to rent and drive around. We will definitely do it again when we return.

[udamom]

On 10/2/2023 at 10:36 AM, CTSandy said:

Wanted to share the excellent experience we had with Advance Car Rental on our August 2023 cruise.  We booked on line, car was parked right outside of port gates, a representative met us with a sign with our name, brought us to the car, provided a map, a gps with preprogrammed popular sites, and a cell phone to reach them, if necessary.  Rental was $125 for the day and that included full insurance coverage.  We explored several of the sites, went to a couple of beaches, stopped at the flamingo sanctuary (no flamingos around).  We enjoyed having our own transportation from 10 AM to 5 PM.  There were three of us, so it was definitely cheaper than purchasing ship excursions and so much more convenient.  

 Hi I wanted to ask how were you able to pick up the car right near the dock? When I go to their website it only looks like they rent at the airport

Thanks

[CTSandy]

1 hour ago, udamom said:

 Hi I wanted to ask how were you able to pick up the car right near the dock? When I go to their website it only looks like they rent at the airport

Thanks

When we booked we indicated we were on a cruise and their rep met us right outside the port gate holding a sign with our name.  The car was parked right across the street in the Renaissance Hotel parking lot and that’s where we dropped it off.  I’m going to have to check out their website and see if it’s changed.  I can’t believe they would only offer cars at the airport - cruiseport is a pretty popular pickup place and I know other car rental agencies also offer cars at the port.

[CTSandy]

2 hours ago, udamom said:

 Hi I wanted to ask how were you able to pick up the car right near the dock? When I go to their website it only looks like they rent at the airport

Thanks

just checked their website - if I remember correctly, we just went to the website and selected “contact us” - there’s a box for comments/questions and pretty sure we just noted there that we needed the car at the port in Curaçao.

[udamom]

thanks for the info I'll try that

2 hours ago, CTSandy said:

ust checked their website - if I remember correctly, we just went to the website and selected “contact us” - there’s a box for comments/questions and pretty sure we just noted there that we needed the car at the port in Curaçao.

 

[miss meow]

On 10/20/2023 at 10:28 AM, tigger77732 said:

I heard that Advance was great, but I wanted to share this. I was not happy with the fact that their website showed cars for $45 or $55 a day, but then the quote came back as 

 $125. Seems like bait and switch to me. Bummer cause I’ve heard great reviews.

 

Personally, I chose Smart wheels Curaçao. They are inside the cruise terminal and we got an Economy automatic for $80 out the door, which includes full insurance, theft protection, and roadside assistance.

 

I will be sure to leave a review after we rent in December.

 

take care!

So, are they somehow charging as a two day rental with whatever taxes, etc? We'll be there, as well as Aruba and Bonaire in September, so trying now to just get things reserved. 

 

Thanks!! 

Rita 

[tigger77732]

I am unsure. All I know is that when I requested a quote, I was quoted $125 for one day rental. I am working on biting my tongue as I grow older, so I refrained from emailing back my true thoughts on what a scam that appeared to be. But I can say, I was thoroughly impressed with Smart Wheels and thought @ $75 was a very fair excursion amount to explore the island on our own for the day. We absolutely loved the freedom!

[miss meow]

8 hours ago, tigger77732 said:

I am unsure. All I know is that when I requested a quote, I was quoted $125 for one day rental. I am working on biting my tongue as I grow older, so I refrained from emailing back my true thoughts on what a scam that appeared to be. But I can say, I was thoroughly impressed with Smart Wheels and thought @ $75 was a very fair excursion amount to explore the island on our own for the day. We absolutely loved the freedom!

I emailed them a bit ago and got the same offer, $125. Since we'll be on Aruba and Bonaire as well, I've checked prices for renting a car for the day there too... ~$75 - $100. I expect the higher prices are due to the fact that they are only a one day rental vs several days. Oh well.