Rental car from MCO?

[Shelby Schroepfer]

We are planning our trip for December 2020 and I know it is far out so we can't price flights just yet but I am seeing a huge difference between MCO and MIA/FLL. We fly out of MSP in St Paul and have flown twice now to MCO at 600$ or less for 3 of us round trip. It seems that MCO is cheaper on almost every pretend date I pick. Would it be completely stupid to fly to MCO, rent a car at MCO, drive to Miami to our hotel (coming in the night before embarkation) and then drop the car off at MIA airport and catch the shuttle to the port? It's our first cruise and we do NOT fly much. As in we have flown twice, to Disney World and that's it. Trying to save as much as possible.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Have you pretend booked a rental car? If you do, know that they change their prices all the time. My recommendation would be to pretend check about 2 months to 6 weeks from now and then if you choose this option, check dates until around the same timeframe before settling on a booking price. Never book a non-refundable car rental price. They just fluctuate too much for that.

 

[Shelby Schroepfer]

Have you pretend booked a rental car? If you do, know that they change their prices all the time. My recommendation would be to pretend check about 2 months to 6 weeks from now and then if you choose this option, check dates until around the same timeframe before settling on a booking price. Never book a non-refundable car rental price. They just fluctuate too much for that.

I did check a few different dates at Alamo and roughly 60$ it what I was getting. The difference in flight prices were like 200-350$ so I think we could afford the 120$ but not sure if it's sounding easier in my head than it would be in real life. I don't know. I'd hate to book a cruise and find out we can't find any affordable transportation!

 

[FigmentSpark]

Is that $350 for all of you? Do you have to spend any extra days in a hotel? If yes, factor in that cost for the rental option. If it were me, I'd just fly, because a 4-6 hour drive from Orlando at night into a strange and crowded city wouldn't be worth $350 to me. Now $1000+ would be my tipping point, but everyone's different.

 

[Shelby Schroepfer]

Is that $350 for all of you? Do you have to spend any extra days in a hotel? If yes, factor in that cost for the rental option. If it were me, I'd just fly, because a 4-6 hour drive from Orlando at night into a strange and crowded city wouldn't be worth $350 to me. Now $1000+ would be my tipping point, but everyone's different.

It was roughly 350$ more for EACH round trip ticket so pushing 1000$ more. I think I at least narrowed it down to FLL or MIA. We aren't loyal to any one airline so it could totally just come down to what's cheapest. And that way we can either Uber or rent a car to our hotel that night and to the port!

 

[lklgoodman]

It was roughly 350$ more for EACH round trip ticket so pushing 1000$ more. I think I at least narrowed it down to FLL or MIA. We aren't loyal to any one airline so it could totally just come down to what's cheapest. And that way we can either Uber or rent a car to our hotel that night and to the port!

Word of caution about picking whatever is cheapest. The cheapest flights will probably be either the really early ones or the ones that leave really late at night, at least that's how it seems whenever I'm booking flights. Since you are flying in the winter out of MN, make sure you don't book the last flight out just because it's the cheapest. We always cruise in Jan out of Ohio, we also get snow, but not as much as you all. We always fly out on the first flight out, so incase there's bad weather, we have options of getting on a later flight. We nearly missed a cruise once because our first flight was delayed, then we missed our connecting flight and couldn't get on another until the next day. We got to the port less than 30 mins before all aboard!! Talk about stressful!!!

 

[Shelby Schroepfer]

Word of caution about picking whatever is cheapest. The cheapest flights will probably be either the really early ones or the ones that leave really late at night, at least that's how it seems whenever I'm booking flights. Since you are flying in the winter out of MN, make sure you don't book the last flight out just because it's the cheapest. We always cruise in Jan out of Ohio, we also get snow, but not as much as you all. We always fly out on the first flight out, so incase there's bad weather, we have options of getting on a later flight. We nearly missed a cruise once because our first flight was delayed, then we missed our connecting flight and couldn't get on another until the next day. We got to the port less than 30 mins before all aboard!! Talk about stressful!!!

I am PLANNING on flying in the night before the cruise (FOR SURE) and as early as I can get just to be safe. And I'm hoping on catching a flight out after 5pm but then again it's so early it's all up in the air. I LOVE planning this far out because I have more time to save and plan and prepare but I hate it because I can't really do anything until it gets closer! I think we have nixed the MCO idea and will just have to go between FLL and MIA!

 

[FigmentSpark]

It was roughly 350$ more for EACH round trip ticket so pushing 1000$ more. I think I at least narrowed it down to FLL or MIA. We aren't loyal to any one airline so it could totally just come down to what's cheapest. And that way we can either Uber or rent a car to our hotel that night and to the port!

Ah. That's a whole different ballgame. Drive, for sure.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I am PLANNING on flying in the night before the cruise (FOR SURE) and as early as I can get just to be safe. And I'm hoping on catching a flight out after 5pm but then again it's so early it's all up in the air. I LOVE planning this far out because I have more time to save and plan and prepare but I hate it because I can't really do anything until it gets closer! I think we have nixed the MCO idea and will just have to go between FLL and MIA!

Whether you decide on FLL or MIA, you should look for a hotel that has free shuttle transportation from the airport to the hotel. There are a number near each of these two airports. Use that on your arrival day. You can then Uber/Lyft to the port the following morning. Some of the hotels near MIA also have a (paid) shuttle from hotel to port, but we have found that to be more expensive than the carshare service at ~$10 per person (so $30 for three). We use MIA, so the carshare hotel to port is typically less than $20 plus tip for the two of us (so we don’t need Uber XL to accommodate passengers + luggage, and we have more control over our timing port arrival. The hotel to port shuttles might only run at a single time that may or may not work for you.

 

[bumbershoot]

IMO it's too early to 100% decide on flight or rental car based on price. Research is good. Grab a notebook and take notes in it as you go.

fly to MCO, rent a car at MCO, drive to Miami to our hotel (coming in the night before embarkation)

How late, and have you checked how long of a drive that is? And I am pretty sure you have to get on the turnpike for it, which means you have to use the rental car company's plate pass payment for the tolls. (right around orlando there are cash tolls still, but not the turnpike) So that adds another line item to research; how much each company charges for that.

Since you are flying in the winter out of MN, make sure you don't book the last flight out just because it's the cheapest.

YES.

 

[hrhdhd]

How late, and have you checked how long of a drive that is? And I am pretty sure you have to get on the turnpike for it, which means you have to use the rental car company's plate pass payment for the tolls. (right around orlando there are cash tolls still, but not the turnpike) So that adds another line item to research; how much each company charges for that.

Just a note: you don't have to take the Turnpike to Miami. You can take the Beachline (requires tolls, but you can pay in cash) to I-95 and avoid the Turnpike. The drive is 3.5-4 hours depending on time of day and day of the week.