Child Safety seats from Alamo

[mellvswdw1]

We are very blessed to be going to Disney and a Royal Carribean Cruise at the end of this month. We need a rental car because we are starting our trip off at the dark side aka Universal, and we are going to visit our son's birth mom before we cruise. We will have two strollers and 4 suitcases, and a smaller cabin so space is a priority. For that reason we are going to rent two car seats from Alamo. I am worried and wanting to know from anyone who has done this...I don't want to but were doing it, so please only folks who have rented car seats and their experiences. I have prechecked with Alamo, so all we need to do is walk to the rental car area after we get our luggage. Do we have to stop at the counter, or can we stop at the booth in the rental car area! Thanks so much!

Melissa

 

[tjmw2727]

Your not going to like this but the one and only time we rented a car seat was from Alamo and we used it only long enough to drive to a Walmart and purchase one! They were in a pile in the corner of the rental office and we picked the best one but it was old and dirty and we couldn't trust it for safety never mind the cleanliness. This was a couple years ago so xx fingers things have improved since then and hopefully folks with more recent experiences will have better reviews! The other issue was installing an unfamiliar car seat in an unfamiliar car without instructions.

You don't say how old your children are but there are some newer model car seats that can be used on the aircraft that are small and could likely be stored under bed or in a storage area when not in use.

 

[Winnie23]

We rented two convertible seats from Alamo this past January. Our seats were just fine. They were clean, I found nothing wrong with them, and felt completely comfortable using them.

 

[mellvswdw1]

Thanks for the responses. Our kiddos are 2 1/2 and 6 months. I wish we could take them like we normally do, but the cabin were in for our cruise is tiny, and our car seats are bulky. I'm sure it will be fine!

 

[quagmire0]

Have you checked with the cruise company? I would imagine they might have a place on the ship where things like this could be stored.

 

[Ladcassidy]

Two different times Alamo did not have the correct-sized seat for us, even though we had reserved ahead of time. When DD was about 18 months, we reserved a convertible seat, they only had an infant seat available. The other time she was about 3, and they only had a booster, which was too big for her. We usually carry her seat with us, but have also reserved multiple times without any problems.

 

[NotUrsula]

Tip for you: Hertz offers one free carseat per rental to AAA members. Because Hertz is more commonly used by business travelers than leisure travelers, even in Orlando, I have found that their seats tend to be in better condition as they are used less often.

Hertz' rates tend to be a bit higher up-front, but calculate the savings on not having to pay for the second carseat, you may come out ahead. If your small one uses a carrier carseat still, you could bring that one (minus the base) and just get the free rental seat for the older child.

You asked about Alamo at MCO: sometimes there are seats stored at the exit booth, but IME they are more commonly picked up from the garage-located customer service counter, and you don't want to have to backtrack from the booth back to the car parking area. Here is the local number for the MCO Alamo station; best to call them and ask: (407)825-1800

Also, look into using good discount rates to rent for your entire trip (I'm presuming that you are planning to surrender the car when you get to the port, otherwise you could be storing the baby equipment in the car).
Priceline, in particular, may let you pay less to keep it for the entire trip.