Pre-Cruise Help

[chasbos]

Just when you think you have everything figured out - you don't! We have been planning this cruise since last March and have always planned on driving. There are 6 of us and flights were way too expensive - well today I ckecked the Southwest website and got 6 seats out of Buffalo for Jan 21-28 for a total of $810. Well we decided we cannot drive for that price when you factor in gas, extra hotel costs and wages (we are self employed).

Now for some help - we need to rent a van at MCO. Any suggestions? Should I rent it for the whole week? We are flying in on the Friday and I already have ressies at the Radisson for those two nights and then we will be staying one more night after the cruise (do not know where as of yet) and then flying the following Friday in the afternoon.

Is renting for a week cheaper than by the day? And which company has the better deals?

Any help would be great.

 

[russtwinsmom]

Glad the SWA tickets are going to work out. DH is a pilot, so in a round-about way, you'll be helping us go on our cruise!

Happy sailing,
RTM

 

[hsteacher]

Go onto dcltribute.com and there are car rental links there. Dave's site is great and you can check and see which rates would be better. We have never rented the whole week as it was less expensive - remember to factor in the cost of parking at the port. Hope that helps.

 

[Lilo5]

Just got back from the Wonder last week, and we opted to rent (one-way from Budget) a 12 pass van daily since it was cheaper for us. Budget had the cheapest rates then. We arrived at MCO Fri night, drove to Ron Jon's and stayed for 2 nights. We kept the van during our stay there and returned it to Budget by the port before our cruise on Sunday. After the cruise, we rented another van for the drive back to MCO. Picking up and dropping off the van was easy and painless. It was worth the savings.

Just what the other poster said, go to dcltribute.com. That's where I got most of my info, especially how to get discounted rates. Good luck!

 

[CM_Mom]

There's also no penalty for "one way" rentals which makes it easier to rent MCO to Port and later Port to MCO. I'd price it both ways but I bet you come out better doing two separate rentals.

 

[bbowers]

For our cruise, we also wanted a rental before and after, and I found that 2 different companies gave us the best deal. The Fri-Sun before (which is over the Labor Day weekend) was cheaper from Budget (got an SUV for my biggie boy husband) and the Thu-Sat after was cheaper from National (again, an SUV). National is a bit more of a pain because they're farther from the terminal, but we happened to have rented from them this past Sept when we needed to get down to Port Everglades, so we know right where they are, at least. And the diff was SUBSTANTIAL!!!!!

 

[jfis1020]

Personally, I would have a service, such as Tiffany pick you up at the airport in a van and deliver you back to MCO after the trip. YOu can sit back and relax knowing you are not responsible for a car and the driving. I can't think it would be much more than a rental, but I am not sure.