Live from the PC Terminal 8/2/11

[elgerber]

Budget was HORRIBLE. We arrived at Budget approximately at 10:30 (had a 11:00 arrival time). They only had one agent working and only one shuttle...so we called a cab (actually shared with another family). There were at least four families that called cabs while we were there. Arrived at the the terminal around 12:30. Lines were very long, but moved quickly. We received a #5 boarding so we were onboard by 1 p.m. I think they are letting people on according to their port arrival time because there were other families in the terminal waiting to board and we boarded before them. I am sure we would have been on earlier if Budget would have been operating more efficiently.

Also, Budget looked like the line was just as long at the terminal on debarkation. We decided to take a cab to airport instead of picking up the Budget rental for a return to MCO. Got a pretty decent rate for a family of five.

We had the same mess at Thrifty on embarkation day. It was awful. Never again. We used Avis this morning to go back to MCO, and it was a much better experience!

 

[MomsOf2boys]

Well with boarding going so smoothly, I am thinking there won't really be much delay in our group of 15 boarding. 5 of us are concierge and the rest not...some CC and some not. We won't have to worry about how long after us they will board.

 

[BensDaddy]

Has anyone tried Hertz? Any better than the Budget and/or Thrifty reports?

We're going to be coming from Universal Portofino Bay and there is still time to make a change in plans. Our boarding time is 11:00am.

 

[kritter]

Just got off the Dream yesterday!! Boarding was soo perfect!!

 

[Mickeygolf]

Would like to hear more reports on Budget. For example, is the one agent working and one shuttle running a normal experience with Budget? How fast did the cab get there? Could you have arranged a cab earlier if you would have known sooner? Any kind of information like that is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all who have shared their stories so far, it's incredibly helpful in planning. We too are far enough out to try a different rental car company if Budget is going to be this bad. Hate to change since we have a great rate and all the previous stories spoke so highly of the Budget process and shuttles.

Thanks!!!

 

[lds0191]

We have used Budget 3 or 4 times and have never had a problem. Does anyone know or suspect if the current issues are due to overload because of the bigger ship? I would think they would be used to larger crowds with the other cruiselines. We are using Budget for our return from the port in October. Hope the kinks are worked out by then. We have a late afternoon flight so time will not be the issue but I hate waiting in lines amid chaos.

 

[sullins5]

Would like to hear more reports on Budget. For example, is the one agent working and one shuttle running a normal experience with Budget? How fast did the cab get there? Could you have arranged a cab earlier if you would have known sooner? Any kind of information like that is greatly appreciated.

Thanks to all who have shared their stories so far, it's incredibly helpful in planning. We too are far enough out to try a different rental car company if Budget is going to be this bad. Hate to change since we have a great rate and all the previous stories spoke so highly of the Budget process and shuttles.

Thanks!!!

Us TOO! We've been booked with Budget since March, so here's hoping everything gets worked out soon! We've got 7 weeks!

 

[bz8bls]

I am the PP who posted that Budget service was horrible. As I said in my original posting the agent told me she was the only agent scheduled that day as well as the one and only shuttle...so I don't know if this has occurred before and just a one time quirk.

Also, the cab service responded within 10 minutes of my call and charged $5 per person. Very nice cab (I think it was a Mercedes SUV). I don't know if I am allowed to give the name and number on this forum, but if anyone wants to PM me, I will be glad to share the information.

 

[sullins5]

I am the PP who posted that Budget service was horrible. As I said in my original posting the agent told me she was the only agent scheduled that day as well as the one and only shuttle...so I don't know if this has occurred before and just a one time quirk.

Also, the cab service responded within 10 minutes of my call and charged $5 per person. Very nice cab (I think it was a Mercedes SUV). I don't know if I am allowed to give the name and number on this forum, but if anyone wants to PM me, I will be glad to share the information.

Aww...so sorry you had such bad service! Hopefully someone behind your cruise will also let us know if this is the new 'norm'. Hope not for Budget or all of us renters! And hope beyond that, that your cruise was indeed a wonderful memory packed with laughter and good times!

 

[JustTJ]

Has anyone here yet taken the Country Inn & Suites Shuttle? We are considering returning our rental to budget when they open at 8 and having a friend drive us back to CI&S and then take their shuttle bus. The hotel tells me the shuttle is $4 per person. What was thier timing like? Were you able to sign up for the bus BEFORE you got to the hotel (ie: call ahead) are did you have to wait till you checked in?

 

[alyssasmommy]

Any experiences with Hertz.

 

[poohj80]

Has anyone here yet taken the Country Inn & Suites Shuttle? We are considering returning our rental to budget when they open at 8 and having a friend drive us back to CI&S and then take their shuttle bus. The hotel tells me the shuttle is $4 per person. What was thier timing like? Were you able to sign up for the bus BEFORE you got to the hotel (ie: call ahead) are did you have to wait till you checked in?

Yes and it was wonderful! We signed up for a time when we checked in, but the service was included in our room rate (but we needed the long term parking as well). They were very prompt especially when we returned when we saw other folks waiting and waiting for their shuttles. I would highly recommend them!

 

[Sue (mom of 3 boys!)]

I am anxious to see how the boarding goes when the Magic returns to PC. Hopefully it goes just as smooth as the Dream seems to have been lately. The last time we sailed on the Magic it was a madhouse in the terminal. It will be nice if it's a bit more relaxed.

 

[Woobie]

No..lol, I just didn't understand "called s can 11:45"..I guess. I wonder if it's gonna be bad, if dh drops us off first at the port, if dh will be sitting at Budget for a while?

Let's hope all this 'transition' is gonna run smoooooooooth for everyone!

Sorry for the typos. I was on my iphone in the cab JUST pulling up to the Dream. I HIGHLY recommend dropping off the family/luggage then going to Budget. EVERYONE (us included) brought the whole family & luggage to Budget and they only had 1 small shuttle. The family that was dropped off at the port will have to wait until the car return person gets back, but it's much easier to get one person on the shuttle.

Budget was HORRIBLE. We arrived at Budget approximately at 10:30 (had a 11:00 arrival time). They only had one agent working and only one shuttle...so we called a cab (actually shared with another family). There were at least four families that called cabs while we were there. Arrived at the the terminal around 12:30. Lines were very long, but moved quickly. We received a #5 boarding so we were onboard by 1 p.m. I think they are letting people on according to their port arrival time because there were other families in the terminal waiting to board and we boarded before them. I am sure we would have been on earlier if Budget would have been operating more efficiently.

We were actually in line with bz8bls. The best part was we got to meet a few people. That was the only good thing. The one person working the counter was dealing with rental returns and pick ups and was quite rude.

Would like to hear more reports on Budget. For example, is the one agent working and one shuttle running a normal experience with Budget? How fast did the cab get there? Could you have arranged a cab earlier if you would have known sooner? Any kind of information like that is greatly appreciated.

YES!! I should have called a cab earlier. Our port arrival tie was 10:30 (it was never changed). Cab arrived pretty quickly. My family of 5 shared it with a guy who had dropped off his family at the port. We had waited at Budget about an hour & 10 mins. Where we were in line, we would have had to wait for another 3-4 shuttles still. The cab driver said the rate was up to us. They were trying a new thing where the customer says what they think is fair. I was quoted $10, so that's what we paid (plus tip).

Now onto the boarding... As I said, we were assigned 10:30. We arrived about 12:00ish. The check in line was long and combined with new travelers/Castaway Club. It moved pretty well. We were given #3 (ther were boarding #10). We showed our # and walked through the ears. Others above #10 were told they had to wait. We were sent to Enchanted Garden, which was awesome.

We took our sweet time getting off the ship. After breakfast, we sat and talked to our table mates for a bit & watched the lines. Once we got off, hubby jumped on the Budget shuttle by himself (easily got onto one as a single despite the long line again). The DCL agent said Budget had 2 small ones (7 seaters) and a larger one running, but there were 2-3 ships in port). Hubby seemed to get a bit better service. He was told there were no minivans & was offered a 12 passenger van or a Hummer (what do you think we took ). She finished the paperwork, then realized we needed a car seat. She gave it to us for free.

I think I got all the questions. Fire away if not.

PS - While I was waiting for hubby to pick us up, I noticed the hotel shuttles were dropping off at 10:45. Previous posters had said the hotels were told not to LEAVE before 11:00, so it looks like it's still all a work in progress. Folks were sent up to the garage to wait. About 5-10 mins later, the security lines started.

 

[sullins5]

Sorry for the typos. I was on my iphone in the cab JUST pulling up to the Dream. I HIGHLY recommend dropping off the family/luggage then going to Budget. EVERYONE (us included) brought the whole family & luggage to Budget and they only had 1 small shuttle. The family that was dropped off at the port will have to wait until the car return person gets back, but it's much easier to get one person on the shuttle.



We were actually in line with bz8bls. The best part was we got to meet a few people. That was the only good thing. The one person working the counter was dealing with rental returns and pick ups and was quite rude.



YES!! I should have called a cab earlier. Our port arrival tie was 10:30 (it was never changed). Cab arrived pretty quickly. My family of 5 shared it with a guy who had dropped off his family at the port. We had waited at Budget about an hour & 10 mins. Where we were in line, we would have had to wait for another 3-4 shuttles still. The cab driver said the rate was up to us. They were trying a new thing where the customer says what they think is fair. I was quoted $10, so that's what we paid (plus tip).

Now onto the boarding... As I said, we were assigned 10:30. We arrived about 12:00ish. The check in line was long and combined with new travelers/Castaway Club. It moved pretty well. We were given #3 (ther were boarding #10). We showed our # and walked through the ears. Others above #10 were told they had to wait. We were sent to Enchanted Garden, which was awesome.

We took our sweet time getting off the ship. After breakfast, we sat and talked to our table mates for a bit & watched the lines. Once we got off, hubby jumped on the Budget shuttle by himself (easily got onto one as a single despite the long line again). The DCL agent said Budget had 2 small ones (7 seaters) and a larger one running, but there were 2-3 ships in port). Hubby seemed to get a bit better service. He was told there were no minivans & was offered a 12 passenger van or a Hummer (what do you think we took ). She finished the paperwork, then realized we needed a car seat. She gave it to us for free.

I think I got all the questions. Fire away if not.

PS - While I was waiting for hubby to pick us up, I noticed the hotel shuttles were dropping off at 10:45. Previous posters had said the hotels were told not to LEAVE before 11:00, so it looks like it's still all a work in progress. Folks were sent up to the garage to wait. About 5-10 mins later, the security lines started.

Thanks for getting back with us! So sorry things went so bad up front...and yes, we will be dropping all of us at the port and dh will drop off rental! And I will be telling him if it takes tooo long to go ahead and call a cab! How did you know who to call?
And when we depart, we also have a minivan reserved. As long as they get us a vehicle of some sort that will hold us all, we'll be content. Here's hoping some comes everyones way when it comes to getting there and back!

 

[Mickeygolf]

Thanks Woobie for the reply. When you got back was there only one person working and only one shuttle running that day as well? Just trying to figure out if the one person one shuttle is the norm. This question could go to anyone, if you planned to drop off everyone first at the port than take the car back to Budget what time can you drop them off?

Still sounds like it would take a while to drop everyone off at port, take the car back, catch the shuttle and meet up with your group. Thanks for all the replies and advice. Hopefully we'll figure out the most effecient way to make it all happen.

 

[gerberdaisy1234]

It was cheaper for us to rent a car from Alamo for entire 2 weeks and pay for parking than to do airport to port and port to airport. After reading the Budget story I am glad I switched from two Budget rentals to one Alamo rental for whole time. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2749679&page=11 has great codes if you are interested.

 

[DisGal520]

It was cheaper for us to rent a car from Alamo for entire 2 weeks and pay for parking than to do airport to port and port to airport. After reading the Budget story I am glad I switched from two Budget rentals to one Alamo rental for whole time. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2749679&page=11 has great codes if you are interested.

how much is parking per day at Disney port?

 

[DynamicDisneyDuo]

how much is parking per day at Disney port?

Last I saw it was $15pd.

 

[BensDaddy]

Still no word on Hertz?