Seeking Tips for One-Way transportation from DVC to Miami Cruise Ship terminal

[bwvBound]

I'm seeking ideas on one-way transportation from WDW to the Miami Cruise Ship terminal for upcoming trip in late January. We check-out from OKW early on a Sunday morning and expect to board the ship at/before 1PM.

I'm leaning towards a one-way car rental picked up from WDW area (either the WDW Car Care Center or Dolphin/Swan hotels) with drop off at the Seaport -- but Alamo claims no cars available at the pick-up locations. I'll check National (same company?) and other lines.

Influencing factors:

• We won't need a car for most of our visit and have Magical Express already set for our arrival.
• We are staying the first 6 nights at BWV then transfering on Friday to OKW for an additional 2 nights.
• We have tickets for Friday evening's Princess and Pirate Party at MK. The event ends late and I'm concerned about bus transfers from MK to OKW. Might be a good idea to pick up the car on Friday, use it for the event ... keeping it through Saturday with drop-off on Sunday.
• Our plans for early check-out on Sunday morning would favor having a rental car in our possession no later than Saturday afternoon if "rental car" is the route we are taking. (Don't want to cause delays on Sunday dealing with cars.)
• Two adults, no children, lots of bags. (Coming off a week-long conference in business attire, heading into a cruise, carrying lots of stuff from the conference and laptops, -- not to mention the costumes for P'n'P, etc.)

Given this info -- any suggestions beyond one-way car rentals? Any leads on long-haul, shared ride services? Thoughts on the bus transportation system after the P'n'P Party?

Thanks in advance!

 

[salmoneous]

I needed something similar recently. I was looking for a 1-way rental to MIA airport for an upcoming trip. I looked at a lot of different options before stumbling upon a rental from Dollar (out of Grosvenor) that was much cheaper than anything else I had seen.

The tricky thing was I had checked Dollar before and not found the rate because it was only for some car classes. So economy cars had a sky high fee, but compact was 1/3 the price of economy (it's supposed to be more expensive).

I guess the point of this is just to wish you luck if you decide to go the car rent option and encourage you to check all your options..

 

[bwvBound]

Thanks for the lead on Dollar and the encouragement!

Current status: Have a one-way rental booked through National on AAA discount. Midsize, $106.56 (taxes and fees included, unlimited miles), pickup Friday from Dolphin hotel, drop off Sunday at Miami airport. Now I'll check NCL for transfers from MIA to the ship.

I found car rental agencies with pick-up from the Miami Cruise Ship terminal -- but none with drop-off. Hmmmm.

If possible, I'd like to cut out the extra hop (MIA to Cruise ship terminal) due to baggage handling ... but the one-way rate from National seems more than fair to me!

 

[surfer_ed]

Keep checking the rate, it sometimes goes down. Also Budget is at the Double Tree.

I usually use Alamo from the Car Care Centrebut used Budget a couple of times as well.