Car hire whilst on cruise?

[ladeh]

Just wondering what people do with car hire whilst on a cruise? We are going next year for 3 weeks so our car hire will cost us a lot more than we are used to. Would it be cheaper to go give it back to the car hire company and not have to pay for them 3 days plus parking? How easy is it to get to/from the car hire places via shuttle bus? Do they have a good selection of cars? Thanks

[DonnaD]

We did two separate bookings with Hertz but were on a 7 day cruise. I doubt it would be worth it for a 3 day. I would run the exact costs but it would have to be a good savings to make me want to have to go and collect a second car. The office wasn't too far but it still takes time.

[KarenG]

On a four day cruise, and including "wasted" car hire and parking fees, it was about £160 we saved.

I was prepared for the (slight) inconvenience of getting the shuttle to and fro - it's very straightforward, runs regularly and isn't far at all. Dropping the old car off and picking up the new one has never taken long at all (though I'm sure you could be unlucky).

We've done it that way twice now. I see it as money down the drain otherwise, but you might be happy to pay it to save a bit of faff.

The car selection isn't amazing but that can work in your favour - twice we've booked a compact to return to Orlando, once we were given an SUV and the other time a convertible Mustang

[BevS97]

We did a 3 day cruise and left the car parked up. On a longer cruise I would have returned it and hired a new one.

[JoJim]

Last year we did a 7 night cruise, we parked at the terminal and left the car parked for the week. It was obviously more expensive doing it that way, but for us it was the convenience before, and more importantly after, to just get straight back in the car and drive off.
Saying that though, next year we are doing 2 weeks back to back so we will drop hire car at garage and pick up a different one on our return-can't justify leaving it for 2 weeks!

[Ronniesmom]

We are returning ours and getting another on return. Only a three day cruise but saved about £100 doing it when parking cost was also factored in.

[Alba20]

It's worth pricing up both options.

A few years ago it was cheaper for us to rent the car for the entire 3 weeks and pay for port parking on a 7 night cruise than pay for two separate rentals either side of the cruise.

I believe this was due to the week after the cruise being an expensive rental period whereas if I started my rental in March for 3 weeks the entire rental was at the cheaper rate.

Alba

[Ronniesmom]

Completely agree it was cheaper for us but every situation will be unique so definately got to do the math.

[Twentyyears]

We got our car with the BA flight package this year- was such a good deal. We thought about leaving it and doing two car hires before and after but, even with parking fees, decided we just loved the ease of walking across the bridge, into the car and off- we were off the ship and in the car in around 30 minutes last time!
Worth the weeks car park for me and the drop off at kerb and getting there when I want and no shuttles. Our touch of luxury this time.

[wedinflorida]

We did the shuttle last time. DH dropped the kids and myself off at the terminal
With the luggage and be went to Alamo and got the shuttle back. It took him about an hour from dropping us off. The last Morning, DH left the ship early and managed to get the first shuttle. He text me at that point and I then made my way off the ship too with the kids, picked our luggage up and by the time we left the terminal DH was pulling up in an almost brand new car.

It was a 7 day cruise we were on and including parking charges we saved about £200.

Like another poster - for our next trip we managed to get a fly drive with 7 seater minivan for 5 of us for £2200. So we'll just park at the terminal. Admittedly it will be much easier, though if we could save money agan, we wouldn't think twice about one way rentals.