rental car or disney transfers?

[cruisin05]

Ok. We are taking our very first cruise in June 05. Neither one of has ever been in florida, so we have no clue how to get anywhere. Would you pay more money to have to convience of the dcl transfers or would go ahead and save money and find your way around. We are arriving the night before.

 

[poohbear2]

I was thinking of taking the DCL transfers in to CC, but after researching on past threads and doing a quick check on prices, I think it is better to rent a car for the night and drop it off in the morning before going to the cruise line. We are staying a week in FLorida after the cruise so we will be renting a car again afterwards. If you have a lot of people going together is is probably much less expensive to rent the car for the day and it really is very easy to get to CC. WIth the money you save, you can buy more stuff on the ship!!!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would rent a car--get clear instructions from the rental agency on how to get to the port--but it really isn't that difficult. 528 East and when you see the sign for your port and your ship, exit.

Using the toll roads from Disney to get to 528 and then taking that east is really easy. If you are unsure--double check with a CM at your resort.

 

[LuvTravelToo]

We rented a car from AVIS in Orlando (MCO) and it worked extremely well for us. I dropped my family and luggage off at the Terminal and returned the car to the Port Canaveral AVIS location. I hopped on their shuttle back to the port and rejoined my family in about a half hour. When we returned a porter took our bags to the AVIS shuttle and we all headed back to pick up the car. It was very painless. We did have the early breakfast on Saturday and were off the boat relatively early. There was no wait and only one other family at the shuttle.

Good Luck.
Greg

PS - I've heard the other rental agencies have similar arrangements...

 

[cds62]

If you are staying at a hotel near the airport, most have a shuttle that will pick you up and bring you to a hotel. I would than recommend a towncar service to pick you up at the hotel and take you to the port and return to the airport. We have done this on our three previous cruises and it works out great. The ride to and from is very relaxing since someone else is doing the driving, especially if you are not familiar with the area. I would recommend Tiffany Towncar since we have never had any problems with them. You will find that this is definately cheaper that using DCL transfers. We just used them and had a van for the seven of us and it cost $210 roundtrip plus tip.

 

[Masonpips]

If you hang around these boards between now and the cruise, you'll be an expert and know A LOT! Therefore, I'd rent a car and spend the night at the port, dropping the car off in the morning. We did this and ate at Kelsey's next door to the Radisson, visited Ron John's store for fun, the grocery store for some wine, etc. and thoroughly enjoyed our evening. Make sure you fly in about 4 so you have time to do it all without being stressed out too!

 

[DoomBuggieDriver]

Make your choice depending on your itinerary and budget; not based on worry about getting lost on the way to the port. I was really stressed about it, and it was really very simple.

We did the rental car for the trip in, and transfers for the day we left, which was the easiest for our plans (although not the best for the budget because Disney transfers are definately more expensive.)

We rented on the way in because we were arriving a couple days early and wanted to have a car to go to Cape Canaveral etc before the cruise. I got the ressie on the internet after checking sites, using codes etc. We had never traveled out of the Orlando airport on our own, and have never been to the port. I was anxious because we were supposed to arrive at 6pm which would give us plenty of daylight, but had to switch to a later flight out, so we arrived around 10pm. It was no problem. I had printed directions from mapquest from the airport to Ron Jons, and also got detailed directions from the Budget personnel just in case. We had an easy, traffic free ride to to hotel near the port.
We dropped the car at the Budget site near Ron Jons Sat. am and had no problem getting a shuttle (just us and our luggage) over to the port, with the only cost being a tip for the driver.

On the way home we decided to take the Disney transfer because we were going right to the day room at the airport to rest until our late flight out. It was extremely easy, and for this convenience I was willing to pay the extra dollars.

 

[tjosato]

I rented cars both ways and found it was a breeze. Just one little bit of advice if you rent from National. I rented from National on my return to MCO from PC, as they had the best rates at the time. National in Cocoa Beach does not have a shuttle but has an agreement with yellow cab for about $12. I knew this before I left for the trip (I read it here on the Disboards , but what did i do? I hopped in the first cab available and it cost me almost $25! I guess in my early morning fog, post staying up too late the night before, DS crying because he didnt want to get off the ship, and struggling with luggage because DW had way too much fun shopping on board......... I forgot what i read on Disboards! Anyway , you live and you learn, no big deal, just wanted to give that tip.

 

[Billinaz]

I rented from Budget, and it was very smooth.

They had a shuttle right to the port when I returned the car.