Renting a car from MCO after cruise?

[KarenP99]

Anyone done this?

We are staying at POR for 3 nights after our cruise. Right now I have transports back to POR via Disney.

I'm thinking (due to size of POR and stories regarding bus issues), that we should rent a car.

I love National, so am thinking we'll have transfers back to MCO, and head straight to the garage to pick up a car.

I'm thinking time-wise, it will be about the same (assuming POR is not the only resort that they are dropping off at...unless of course POR was 1st on the list...but who knows!).

 

[disneypoor]

I would cancel the Disney transfers after the cruise and just get a rental car from Port Canaveral. To me, that would be a lot easier! We always rent from Budget at PC and then return at MCO.

 

[aprilgail2]

I got a cheap rate on a car so I just rented it at the airport on the way to the cruise, parked it there and then it was right there waiting for me when I got off the ship and we were at Disney by the time the gates were opening!
I rent a car when I stay at POR too since I really hate waiting for buses and being crowded on to a standing room only bus.

 

[NancyIL]

I see no need to pay for transfers to MCO PLUS a car rental. As disneypoor said, you can rent a car in Cape Canaveral and return it to the airport. I have used Avis twice.

 

[samily]

I agree, save the money on DCL transfers - it will easily pay for your one way rental.

Thrifty/Dollar, Avis, Budget & Hertz all have locations in Cape Canaveral and offer a free shuttle from the ship to their office. National has a location in Cocoa Beach but does not offer a shuttle.

 

[poohluv2u]

We rented a car from Budget at Port Canaveral, and we ended up waiting over an hour just to rent the car .. ugh Not too sure if we will do this again

 

[KarenP99]

Thanks for your responses everyone!

Couple questions...

How much is it to park at PC?
Any other Budget experiences? Was an hour wait an exception?

We are staying at MCO Hyatt the night prior, could we still send our luggage with DCL if we don't pay for transfers? If no, where do we bring our luggage when we get to PC (I just remember the TSA type security check...no luggage check).

If we rent at PC, is the 1 way transfer simply half of the round trip rate?

Thanks!

 

[Hygiene99]

Thanks for your responses everyone!

Couple questions...

How much is it to park at PC?
Any other Budget experiences? Was an hour wait an exception?

We are staying at MCO Hyatt the night prior, could we still send our luggage with DCL if we don't pay for transfers? If no, where do we bring our luggage when we get to PC (I just remember the TSA type security check...no luggage check).

If we rent at PC, is the 1 way transfer simply half of the round trip rate?

Thanks!

parking is 15 bucks a day!!!!!

you do not need to park.. a car while on a cruise and pay for rental..

one way rental, is not the same rate as round trip...


Several places in and around disney to drop off the car.
and not pay for rental for days spent at the parks, we will rent car return car just outside of DD, and rerent when we head to the port, drop off car and re rent after cruise you can take shuttle from ship to rental location we use avis most times..

 

[KarenP99]

parking is 15 bucks a day!!!!!

Do they pro-rate? For example we are on the 4 night wonder. Will arrive at port around 11am Sun, and leave 8am-ish on Thursday. Will they charge me 4 days or 5?

 

[KYMickey]

Do they pro-rate? For example we are on the 4 night wonder. Will arrive at port around 11am Sun, and leave 8am-ish on Thursday. Will they charge me 4 days or 5?

Car rental days start when you get the car, this if you rent a car at 11:00 AM the first day is up at 11:00 AM the next they. So in your scenario you would pay for 4 days.

 

[KarenP99]

Thanks - I was about to book a rental from Budget...

but now I am thinking (since we go in Oct), it will be nice to have the piece of mind that DCL will take care of getting us to/from port regardless of where we may have to dock - hurricanes stay away!

 

[kcashner]

Last question first.....when our cruise was re-routed due to hurricane, DCL provided complimentary bus transportation from WDW or MCO to Ft. Lauderdale and on the way home from Port Canaveral to MCO or WDW.

We rented from Budget one way. Their shuttle was waiting for us when we got off the ship. It took a few minutes to load up the shuttle and the Budget place was maybe a mile away. It took maybe 15 minutes at the place to get out car. We were the second family in line. Of course, I had a confirmed reservation pre-paid. We even got a free upgrade.

Parking at the port is $15 per day (paid to the Port Authority...DCL doesn't control this). A "day" is the same as the number of nights of your cruise, not calendar days. You do not need to park a rental car at the port! You can use DCL transfers from MCO to the port (if this works best for you), and can do a car rental for the return. Most car rental companies consider Port Canaveral and MCO/WDW to be in the same rental area--thus, there is no additional drop off fee. Budget definitely considers the Port and MCO to be the same area. I've read of other companies no longer doing this and charging a drop off fee, so shop carefully!

If you rent at PC, you buy "one way" DCL transfers--basically 1/2 of the round trip rate + $1. One way car rental rates are different, but as above, PC/MCO is not a one way rental. You cannot send your luggage on the DCL truck unless you are using the DCL shuttle.....and if they catch you trying to, you will pay the shuttle fee.

 

[frozensmoke99]

Anyone done this?

We are staying at POR for 3 nights after our cruise. Right now I have transports back to POR via Disney.

I'm thinking (due to size of POR and stories regarding bus issues), that we should rent a car.

I love National, so am thinking we'll have transfers back to MCO, and head straight to the garage to pick up a car.

I'm thinking time-wise, it will be about the same (assuming POR is not the only resort that they are dropping off at...unless of course POR was 1st on the list...but who knows!).

So here is my situation....I am flying in from Boston, MA 2/12 (day of cruise). When I arrive at MCO I am renting a car and drive it to Port Canaveral for drop-off. That will cost me $50.41. We will cruise from 2/12 to 2/15 on Disney Wonder. When we return we are staying at the Westgate Town Center from 2/15 to 2/18. I had two options- 1) renting a car when we docked at the Port returning it to MCO on 2/18 for $155.68 (which I think is kind of expensive but think about it its Presidents week) or when we dock go to MCO rent the car and return it back there on 2/18 for $91.26...but then it dawned on me...how were we gonna get to MCO? so i said might as well get the rental from the Port for $155. I looked at it like this....

it cost $69/round trip for Disney transfer (have the Disney bis pick you up from MCO to the Port on your arrival and departure date) = $210 roughly

-or-

rent the car the way i have it reserved for a total of $210...here is the good part for this way...i have means of transportation when we dock back, the other way above I would be spending more money just to rent the car for those 3 extra days we are in Disney.

So renting is good...no matter what it will be expensive if its a Holiday week. Can anyone agree with me?

 

[poohluv2u]

Can anyone agree with me?

Sure .. if you'd like

Sorry couldn't resist

 

[KarenP99]

So renting is good...no matter what it will be expensive if its a Holiday week. Can anyone agree with me?

I think I can agree - in your situation I would go with the rental, you'll need to get back to MCO at some point anyhow, and to the parks etc.

I'm thinking convenience factor - right now the the bus is convenient to shuttle us around, but once at POR a car would be really handy.

I just hate to cart 3 carseats around until we rent. It's nice to pop them in the car right at MCO and not worry about it.

I think we'll take the DCL Transfers, ME etc...and hope for low crowds and good bus service at POR!

 

[Hygiene99]

So here is my situation....I am flying in from Boston, MA 2/12 (day of cruise). When I arrive at MCO I am renting a car and drive it to Port Canaveral for drop-off. That will cost me $50.41. We will cruise from 2/12 to 2/15 on Disney Wonder. When we return we are staying at the Westgate Town Center from 2/15 to 2/18. I had two options- 1) renting a car when we docked at the Port returning it to MCO on 2/18 for $155.68 (which I think is kind of expensive but think about it its Presidents week) or when we dock go to MCO rent the car and return it back there on 2/18 for $91.26...but then it dawned on me...how were we gonna get to MCO? so i said might as well get the rental from the Port for $155. I looked at it like this....

it cost $69/round trip for Disney transfer (have the Disney bis pick you up from MCO to the Port on your arrival and departure date) = $210 roughly

-or-

rent the car the way i have it reserved for a total of $210...here is the good part for this way...i have means of transportation when we dock back, the other way above I would be spending more money just to rent the car for those 3 extra days we are in Disney.

So renting is good...no matter what it will be expensive if its a Holiday week. Can anyone agree with me?

Is there not a rental place closer to the West gate?
that you could do another drop off and pick up?
or do you need the car for that stay?

Enterprise will pick you up at resort and i think National will also.

 

[disneypoor]

We have used Budget for three Disney cruises now and have never had a problem. The longest we've ever had to wait was maybe 10 minutes or so. We're going on the Magic for Thanksgiving week, so maybe we'll wait longer since it will be a holiday, but Budget has been great for us so far.

 

[ppony]

Can I piggy-back on this thread to ask a related question?
I see that at least one or two rental places will pick you up at your resort to get to to the rental place to get your car. BUt is that your only option or best one if you decide to rent a car and go out to PC and drop it there? We have the DCL transfer booked right now for with 5 people, it'd be far cheaper to rent a car. I just wouldn't begin to know how and where to get one once at the resorts. We've always rented a car before for our whole trip but this is our first cruise and we're going to try and do Disney transportation instead of renting a car since we won't be leaving property to do anything else this time as we usually do.
THANK YOU!

 

[zulaya]

Here's another related query:

We are on a 3 day in October. Right now, it is significantly cheaper, as in by around $40-$50 for me to rent a car for the whole week of our vacation (3 day cruise, then 4 days at WDW), than to get 2 one ways, what with all the taxes and fees and no good codes or coupons for one way rentals.

Now that the tropics are spinning up storms, and that there's a lot of scuttlebutt that we could be seeing some of the strength we saw in 2005, I'm wondering about my plan.

If a hurricane hits and we are diverted to FLL, or wherever, if I rent a car for the week, then I have to ride a bus for 3 hours back to PC, then ride in the car for 1 hour to get to WDW. Ugh. Long day.

Thankfully rental car ressies are cancellable. So I'm thinking I really need to look at possibly just a one way, and keeping an eye on the weather to see what's what.