Park the Rental Car or ?

ScubaMamaK

New Member
Original Poster
Hi - We are cruising out of Port Canaveral for the first time next Spring.

We are planning on being in town (Cocoa Beach/Melbourne Beach) for a couple days before and after the cruise and we will need a car.

I have been pricing out rentals and it seems that we can save at least $50, if we rent a car one way (From Orlando Airport to Port Canaveral) and then rent one way again (Port Canaveral to Orlando Airport) but I'm wondering if it is worth it vs. the convenience factor? Parking will also offset a bit ($30 and up) depending on where we park the rental car, but I keep reading about long lines for shuttle buses...

I'm not opposed to paying an extra $80-$100 if it will save me from waiting around for a couple hours in shuttle lines and post cruise car rental lines.

Any advice would be appreciated!
 

ChuckElias

Well-Known Member
Hi ScubaMama, welcome to the Forum!!

I've done it all 3 ways. I've done 2 one-way rentals, I've driven my own car and parked it off-site, and I've parked at the garage. The garage is 100% definitely absolutely the most convenient. There's just no question about that. So if maximum convenience and avoiding any type of waiting to get to the terminal before your cruise or waiting to get to your car after your cruise is your #1 priority, then park at the garage.

I've made two one-way rentals and found it to be a great savings, and not too terribly inconvenient. You have to accept that you're at the mercy of the shuttle provided by the rental car company. And that can take a little bit of time. We've waited 5 or 10 minutes, and we've waited 25-35 minutes.

The one thing that I would definitely recommend against is renting a car and parking it at the garage. While it's convenient, you over-paying TWICE. Once because you're paying for a rental car that you're not using for several days; and twice because you're paying the highest parking price, when you could just drop the car back at the rental company for free.

So you really just have to ask yourself is the extra cost of parking at the garage worth 60-90 minutes of your time? For me, personally, it's not. But if it's your first cruise and you want to minimize any inconvenience, then it might be worth it to you.

One other thing that I"ve done is to drop the family at the port with all the luggage before dropping the rental car back at the rental company. That way, I"m the only one who is inconvenienced AND we're not all dragging our luggage on the shuttle to get to the port.
 

ScubaMamaK

New Member
Original Poster
Thank you ChuckElias! I really appreciate your input! Will probably do the two one-way rentals and just bite the bullet on the wait! 30 mins isn't terrible...
 

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