Anyone ever rent a car post-cruise from Port of Miami to WDW?

[TigerLaw]

Doing a 5 night cruise on the Magic this January from Miami and thinking about going to see Disney World for a couple days after the cruise. Just was wondering if anyone who had done this before could share any thoughts, advice, suggestions, etc. I think I would prefer to not have to go back to the airport to pick one up but will if I have to.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Capt_BJ]

points to ponder

- there are no rental car places at the port. A few downtown but IMO just going to the airport is easiest as the downtown locations are smaller and typically don't run shuttles ... the airport locations of majors do run shuttles ....

- Miami to Orlando is 200 miles+ and in the greater Miami area you will probably experience 'electronic tolling' with NO OPTION for cash payment ..... when you pick a rental company INCLUDE the electronic toll program in your decision. Some cost $4 a day and some cost $40 a toll ......

- there are flights nearly hourly .. not saying this is BETTER ... just sayin' it is an option

- another option is Red Coach .....

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We have rented a car at MIA airport after cruises each of the last two Januaries and will do so again next January (we're doing b2b 5 night cruises on the Magic this time, did b2b 3+4 last January). I have rented from National using free days earned from prior rentals so I only paid for taxes, fees, gas, and tolls. This next time, I have a one-day reservation for $59.20 plus taxes, fees, etc. for a total of about $70. I will likely rebook this using a free day credit since I only need one more rental to earn one and I will be renting a car for a trip we're doing in September.

The toll roads in Miami use toll-by-plate and the National/Alamo toll service fee adds $3.95 per day for each day when you have tolls charged. My charges for tolls getting out of the airport car rental facility to I95 northbound were a total of $6.15 including the service fee. I paid cash for another $2 in tolls on 528 and $3 in tolls on 417, taking I95 to 528 to 417 to WDW rather than taking the Florida turnpike. We usually stop for lunch near Vero Beach enroute and stop for groceries before checking into our DVC at the BW.

ETA: National runs a shuttle from the port to the car rental facility at MIA. If you have to take a shuttle to pick up the car in any case, the airport facility has the advantage of good selection of cars and ready access to the highway out of town. We always drop off at the Dolphin in WDW since we stay nearby and National/Alamo are there, but most of the major car rental operations have locations near WDW in the hotels near Disney Springs. Of course you might keep the car for your entire WDW stay and drop off at MCO prior to flying home as well.

 

[BartmanLA]

In 2015 we did a 5 night Western Caribbean trip on the Wonder out of Miami, but we flew into Ft Lauderdale, rented a car there and drove it to the port and left it in the parking structure while on the cruise, then after loaded up and drove up to Orlando to spend a few days at the parks there. Sure there is the daily rental cost of a car you're not driving every day and the cost of the parking for 5 days but we factored that into our budget as we didn't want to waste any time trying to get off Dodge Island and get a rental and come back to pick up the luggage and then make the drive up. It was very simple and we were out of the port with in 30 minutes of clearing customs and picking up our luggage and throwing into the car. I know this might not be a practical solution to everyone but I just wanted to relate our experience in case anyone would would find it beneficial. We used Enterprise (because I'm a premium member) and they also had the turnpike tolls included in the rental costs.