Question for those who have rented a car to get to Port Canaveral and cruised since covid

[lklgoodman]

We have a cruise at end of March. We are flying the day before our cruise and staying the night at a hotel by MCO, reservations already made. I am thinking about renting a car from Enterprise to drive to Port Canaveral on the morning of cruise. For those who have rented a car since covid, how are you handling the covid testing and returning of the car? We've never rented a car to get to the port, so I don't know if what I am thinking is doable. Could we park in the garage, take the covid test, and then once we are cleared to board the boat, could my dh then return the car? Not sure if DCL allows you to leave once you have been tested or not. Thanks.

Edited to add. I realize we would have to pay to park in the garage and am fine with that. I am thinking about doing it this way in case someone in our group would test positive, we would have a way to leave the port. If we return the car before testing then, I don't know how we would leave the port. We are all vaccinated, have gotten our boosters, and always wear masks. We will test before we leave home and of course will cancel the cruise if anyone gets covid. I am just super paranoid right now because I live in an area with very low vaccine rates and very few people wear masks. I'm slightly paranoid we'll test negative at home and then get a positive at the port. I know that probably doesn't happen very often, but I'm a natural worrier, lol

 

[erionm]

Could we park in the garage, take the covid test, and then once we are cleared to board the boat, could my dh then return the car?

You don't want to do that because you have to pay for parking as you enter the garage.

 

[MomOTwins]

We have a cruise at end of March. We are flying the day before our cruise and staying the night at a hotel by MCO, reservations already made. I am thinking about renting a car from Enterprise to drive to Port Canaveral on the morning of cruise. For those who have rented a car since covid, how are you handling the covid testing and returning of the car? We've never rented a car to get to the port, so I don't know if what I am thinking is doable. Could we park in the garage, take the covid test, and then once we are cleared to board the boat, could my dh then return the car? Not sure if DCL allows you to leave once you have been tested or not. Thanks.

You have to pay for parking to enter the garage. So with a one way rental, better to drop off rental, shuttle/uber to port and get tested in the tents. Alternatively can get a round trip rental, pay for parking, and drive back after the cruise. Just depends what makes more sense with your travel plans and rental prices.

 

[esta1701]

Does anyone know if they are allowing you to drop off luggage prior to your port arrival time so you can return the car and be back for your arrival time and COVID test?

 

[orum]

We cruised in September and checked in our car (at Avis) first. Then they brought us over with our luggage to check in and get tested. I had similar concerns about testing positive at the port and one way I felt a little better was getting tested at home a few days before we flew to FL.

 

[mmouse37]

We have a cruise at end of March. We are flying the day before our cruise and staying the night at a hotel by MCO, reservations already made. I am thinking about renting a car from Enterprise to drive to Port Canaveral on the morning of cruise. For those who have rented a car since covid, how are you handling the covid testing and returning of the car? We've never rented a car to get to the port, so I don't know if what I am thinking is doable. Could we park in the garage, take the covid test, and then once we are cleared to board the boat, could my dh then return the car? Not sure if DCL allows you to leave once you have been tested or not. Thanks.

Edited to add. I realize we would have to pay to park in the garage and am fine with that. I am thinking about doing it this way in case someone in our group would test positive, we would have a way to leave the port. If we return the car before testing then, I don't know how we would leave the port. We are all vaccinated, have gotten our boosters, and always wear masks. We will test before we leave home and of course will cancel the cruise if anyone gets covid. I am just super paranoid right now because I live in an area with very low vaccine rates and very few people wear masks. I'm slightly paranoid we'll test negative at home and then get a positive at the port. I know that probably doesn't happen very often, but I'm a natural worrier, lol

You would pay the garage the whole fee for the length of your cruise. There is no day rate parking. It is usually an unmanned booth at the entrance of the garage to pay.

We opted to keep the rental the whole time of our cruise (4 night) and it was great and it was actually less expensive than doing two one-way rentals and so very convenient.

MJ

 

[MomOTwins]

We have a cruise at end of March. We are flying the day before our cruise and staying the night at a hotel by MCO, reservations already made. I am thinking about renting a car from Enterprise to drive to Port Canaveral on the morning of cruise. For those who have rented a car since covid, how are you handling the covid testing and returning of the car? We've never rented a car to get to the port, so I don't know if what I am thinking is doable. Could we park in the garage, take the covid test, and then once we are cleared to board the boat, could my dh then return the car? Not sure if DCL allows you to leave once you have been tested or not. Thanks.

Edited to add. I realize we would have to pay to park in the garage and am fine with that. I am thinking about doing it this way in case someone in our group would test positive, we would have a way to leave the port. If we return the car before testing then, I don't know how we would leave the port. We are all vaccinated, have gotten our boosters, and always wear masks. We will test before we leave home and of course will cancel the cruise if anyone gets covid. I am just super paranoid right now because I live in an area with very low vaccine rates and very few people wear masks. I'm slightly paranoid we'll test negative at home and then get a positive at the port. I know that probably doesn't happen very often, but I'm a natural worrier, lol

Just so you know, Disney Cruise Line has a van they are using to transport covid positive guests back to the Orlando area (typically MCO, so you can rent a car there). If you kept your rental but still had it due to be returned in Port Canaveral, you’d have to work out with your rental agency an extension to use the car or get another one to driver yourself back to Orlando, which can be iffy since they may have counted on your rental return for another reservation (my worst experience with this was one time on a business trip the charge was $600 to extend my reservation for a single additional day)!

 

[lklgoodman]

You would pay the garage the whole fee for the length of your cruise. There is no day rate parking. It is usually an unmanned booth at the entrance of the garage to pay.

We opted to keep the rental the whole time of our cruise (4 night) and it was great and it was actually less expensive than doing two one-way rentals and so very convenient.

MJ

Thank you for the info about the garage. We have never parked a car there before, so that is very helpful info.

 

[lklgoodman]

Just so you know, Disney Cruise Line has a van they are using to transport covid positive guests back to the Orlando area (typically MCO, so you can rent a car there). If you kept your rental but still had it due to be returned in Port Canaveral, you’d have to work out with your rental agency an extension to use the car or get another one to driver yourself back to Orlando, which can be iffy since they may have counted on your rental return for another reservation (my worst experience with this was one time on a business trip the charge was $600 to extend my reservation for a single additional day)!

Thank you for the info about DCL having a van to transport back to MCO. I hadn't seen that mentioned on here before and is very helpful. Of course we would get a room in a hotel somewhere to quarantine until safe to fly back home.

 

[Ladyfish77]

We're booking a one way rental to Port from MCO with Enterprise (next month). We will just drive to Enterprise and take the shuttle with our luggage to the port. We considered dropping off two people with luggage and third returning with shuttle, but that just seems more complicated than it's worth. We will test before hand and go in with positive thoughts and fingers crossed! Good luck!

 

[Freeman867]

We booked a rate of $380 for a 4 day cruise to/from MCO for a rental car. Deals are out there if you're patient. Most rental companies don't charge your card at the time of reservation and let you cancel for free up until the day you're renting the car, so you just cancel the old reservation and book the new one at the better rate. My rate started at $600, then dropped to $480, then to $425, then to $380. Just have to keep checking.

From what I know, it's much, much easier to have a rental car with you if at all possible.

 

[brianz09]

We booked a rate of $380 for a 4 day cruise to/from MCO for a rental car. Deals are out there if you're patient. Most rental companies don't charge your card at the time of reservation and let you cancel for free up until the day you're renting the car, so you just cancel the old reservation and book the new one at the better rate. My rate started at $600, then dropped to $480, then to $425, then to $380. Just have to keep checking.

From what I know, it's much, much easier to have a rental car with you if at all possible.

Repriced my 4 day Avis rental (MCO to MCO) and saved $160!

 

[diznee princess]

Just so you know, Disney Cruise Line has a van they are using to transport covid positive guests back to the Orlando area (typically MCO, so you can rent a car there). If you kept your rental but still had it due to be returned in Port Canaveral, you’d have to work out with your rental agency an extension to use the car or get another one to driver yourself back to Orlando, which can be iffy since they may have counted on your rental return for another reservation (my worst experience with this was one time on a business trip the charge was $600 to extend my reservation for a single additional day)!

Did you rent from a discounted site like priceline, a travel company, or something like that? What happened to you usually happens when you rent a car through a 3rd party. With most major car rentals and I know with Alamo. If you rent directly they would just charge you additional time at the per day rate of your current rental agreement up to the weekly rate to extend. If its cheaper to rework the original rental to a weekly rate they will do that too. But a rate with a negotiated 3rd party is for the time you paid for.

This happened to me at Alamo once when i rented a car through my RCI account. I was charged over $100 for an extra day at drop off, I went into the little office in garage and they told me that is what happened, they took off the charge and charged me for one extra day instead. Now I just rent directly and I always keep the car a day or two longer and only get charged for the daily rate listed on my agreement. I have even called to keep longer during my trip and my cost went down when they reworked to the lower weekly rate.

 

[caheffe]

In September we rented from Enterprise at MCO and drove to our hotel near the port. In the am my husband dropped everyone off at the port, with luggage, and took the car back. The shuttle dropped him off right at the entrance and we gave the luggage to porters and went straight to the testing tents. It was pretty seamless.