What time should we arrive at Budget?

[Fantasy2013]

We are renting a car from Budget and have a PAT of 11-11:30. What time should we arrive at Budget? I'm not sure if there will be a long wait at Budget to get the shuttle to the port. Any advice?

 

[Brynnie]

Try to get there for 10:30. Also keep in mind, the shuttle may drop other passenges traveling on other cruise lines first. The last time I did this, there was an awful line and Budget was extremely crowded at 10:20 am, so I went to the gas station next door and they called me a cab. I got to the port by 10:50 for $18 without waiting and it was worth it to me. I guess this happens a lot, the store clerk told me this and the taxi she called came within 2 minutes.

 

[kshark1958]

We are renting a car from Budget and have a PAT of 11-11:30. What time should we arrive at Budget? I'm not sure if there will be a long wait at Budget to get the shuttle to the port. Any advice?

We had a PAT of 11:30 but because of other issues we did not get to port till 1:30. But the one piece of advice no matter what time you get there is to drop everyone and the luggage off at the terminal and have one person take the rental back to Budget. It is a lot easier to get on a shuttle by yourself with no luggage then a crowd with luggage. Your party can check you in at the terminal as long as they have your passport. Just make sure you have your driver license with you so you can get into the terminal.When I dropped off the car at Budget at first the driver would not let me on because he said their was no more room mostly because of luggage issues. But since I had no luggage their was one seat available so he let me on. If I hadn't dropped my wife and luggage off at the terminal before hand we would of had to wait for the next shuttle

 

[mom2aredhead]

Double post..sorry

 

[Lobofan5]

I found getting back to Budget was a real headache and took much longer than I would have thought. So the second cruise I booked at a personal, small lot...seemed brilliant..short shuttle to the ship, I was feeling really smart...until...

When we came back the "small personal lot" only had 2 people working it apparently..so they didn't answer phone calls and we couldn't get any confirmation that they were coming to get us. Ended up taking a cab to the lot..never again.

Whatever your plans are when you get off the ship, remember there are thousands of others who are trying to get home to..off multiple ships.

Budget for cab money...you won't regret it.

 

[mom2aredhead]

But the one piece of advice no matter what time you get there is to drop everyone and the luggage off at the terminal and have one person take the rental back to Budget. It is a lot easier to get on a shuttle by yourself with no luggage then a crowd with luggage. Your party can check you in at the terminal as long as they have your passport. Just make sure you have your driver license with you so you can get into the terminal.

Agree 100%.
And if you are using them on the way back, one of you should just hop in a cab and go over to get the car and come back for everyone else and the luggage. It was not expensive, and between not having to wait for the shuttle and being at the Budget counter ahead of everyone that was waiting, we probably saved an hour or more.

 

[lovedvc]

We stayed at the Radisson which is in walking distance to budget and returned the car at 8:30 am then walked to the hotel and took the free shuttle.

 

[Fantasy2013]

Thanks everyone.

 

[kshark1958]

We stayed at the Radisson which is in walking distance to budget and returned the car at 8:30 am then walked to the hotel and took the free shuttle.

This is what we intend to do our next cruise. No DCL transfer fees , no Budget office fiasco.

 

[ktb2002]

We are staying at the Radisson in May and we plan on doing grocery run, then after checking in and dropping off luggage I'm going to hopefully return the car before they close that night. After reading previous comment I may wait until the next morning as soon as they open.

 

[MariaJ]

These are awesome tips! thanks everyone!!! Going this Saturday on the Fantasy!!!

 

[Kim1964]

The Radisson charges $4/person for the shuttle to the port. The lobby looks chaotic when they are getting all the people on the shuttles, but it's actually very well organized.

We rented from Budget and I returned the car at about 8:30 a.m. the morning we sailed. There was no line to do so. I will never rent from them again on the return side. We waited forever for the shuttle from the port, then over an hour in line to get a car.

 

[Docklobster]

How many miles is budget and Avis from the terminal??

 

[lovedvc]

How many miles is budget and Avis from the terminal??

It's only a few miles. Years ago we had the guys drop the girls, kids and luggage at the terminal and then go return the car. It wasn't that bad but it's easier to return the car early in the morning.

 

[kshark1958]

How many miles is budget and Avis from the terminal??

Maybe 2 miles. I remember the shuttle ride was less then 10 minutes and that was with a drop off at the Carnival terminal before DCL terminal.

 

[Sandya]

We rented last year from Dollar and we didn't have any problems... We did wait a bit longer when we got off the cruise to wait for the shuttle but nothing too bad!!