Rental/hurricane question

[sweet angel]

If you rent a car and drive to the port and leave it there while on your cruise and something happens weatherwise...hurricane, etc. and the car is damaged, what happens?

Also, if you get re-routed to a different port, how do you get back to regular port to get your rental car?

I'm overthinking this now...

 

[safetymom]

I would imagine it would be like any other accident situation. If you have insurance that would cover it.

As far as returning to another port then it would probably cost you extra.

In times like a hurricane I would contact the rental agency.

 

[WisconsinDisneyGirl]

That is a really good question. I have been trying to figure that out myself! What would you do if you did not return to the port? Has this ever happened to anyone else????????

 

[jetsetter90]

We were on the 3 day Disney Cruise in 1999 during Hurricane Dennis or Floyd. Captain Henry assured us that we were in a safe place. A ship can move were a house couldn't. We didn't get to make any of the normal stops, Nassau and Castaway Cay but instead went to Key West and a day at Sea. We also couldn't go back to Port Canaveral since it and WDW were closed. The ship docked at Ft. Lauderdale and all the Disney buses were there waiting for us.

We had our car parked at the dock so DH and BIL took the bus that went pack to the port. We took the bus that went to the parks and there were buses for the airports. They gave us each bag as we entered and if I remember it had water, fruit and a snack. We had just finished checking in when DH showed up with the car. The rest of the trip went fine.

We just flew home yesterday morning and again missed the hurricane.

Prayers to all of you down in Florida now.

TTFN

Jetsetter90

 

[wnissen]

The answer to the damage question is: you don't want to find out. Anything involving rental cars and insurance is a huge pain in the patoose. As far as the rental car company is concerned, yes, you personally are liable for damage to the car, plus the "loss of use" while the car is in the shop getting repaired. Sometimes they want payment immediately. Of course, only a moron would rent a car without using a credit card that offers collision/damage insurance (please pardon my strong language, but I get really angry that the rental car companies charge people $10 a day for coverage that they already have). So in the end you won't have to pay for damage to the car. However, read the fine print in your credit card agreement (it might be in a pamphlet titled "Additional Program Information"). Most of the rental car coverage is secondary, which means that you have to file a claim with your personal auto insurance first. So first you pay the rental car company, then you file with your personal auto, then with your credit card company. It's a pain, and your personal auto premium might go up as well. However, the credit card company typically will pay anything your personal auto won't cover, which is a lifesaver when it turns out that there was a huge flood and your $15,000 rental car got totaled. But I cannot express enough the importance of reading the fine print for your specific credit card.

However, I would suggest that a far better deal is to get a one-way rental from the airport (MCO) to the port. We are paying less than $25 a day, and we don't rack up rental and parking charges while on the ship. I highly recommend it.

Walt