The City of Miami is huge, and even if you’re simply trying to get from your cruise terminal to the airport, or your hotel, there isn’t a whole lot of public transportation available. Airport shuttles, taxis, and similar transportation can easily get expensive.
The easiest option most people have found is to rent a car for driving around the city.
Thankfully, there are plenty of rental companies near the Miami cruise port, so you shouldn’t have any trouble renting a car for your stay in the city.
You can also check out our articles on finding a good hotel in Miami before your cruise and how to get from the airport to the cruise port.
The list below of rental companies and their starting prices that we’ve compiled for you should give you a good place to start in your search.
Car Rental Companies That Serve Customers Near Port of Miami
First on our agenda are rental companies that have offices near PortMiami. Many of these have offices that only service cruise passengers, offering shuttle service to and from the terminal.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Enterprise has several locations near the cruise terminal. The closest one is located by the Hyatt Regency Miami in downtown Miami. They do offer a pickup service, but you need to book over the phone ahead of time to arrange for that.
The fact that there are multiple locations around makes Enterprise a great choice if you’re also traveling in or out of one of the airports.
If you rent just a standard 4-door sedan, rental costs will run approximately $50-$60 per day. Enterprise also has a ton of luxury cars you can rent, if that’s more your style. If you have a large group, they also offer vans and pickup trucks.
- Website: Enterprise
- Phone number: 305-379-3003
Hertz Car Rentals
Hertz has an office dedicated for Miami cruise port passengers, located on 229 SE 2nd St in downtown Miami. As such they offer customers a complimentary shuttle to and from the cruise terminal.
There are various other locations around the city, including one at the Miami International Airport and one at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport.
- Website: Hertz
- Phone number: 786-425-2515
Sixt Rent a Car
Sixt has two locations near the Miami cruise port. The first is in downtown Miami at 330 SE 1st St. When your ship comes into port, just take a short taxi ride (no more than five minutes) to their office to pick up your car.
They also have an office near the Miami International Airport, which is an excellent option if you’re headed right to the airport after your cruise.
Rates from the airport location are far more reasonable than the 1st Street location, so that’s something to consider when booking your rental car.
- Website: Sixt
- Phone number: 301-547-8210
Thrifty Car Rentals
Thrifty Car Rentals, like Hertz, has a dedicated Miami cruise port location at 3900 NW 25th Street. They even offer shuttle service to and from the port.
Book an economy car for as little as $17 a day and free up your budget for other fun stuff around Miami.
- Website: Thrifty
- Phone number: 877-283-0898
Budget
This is another rental location that provides shuttle transportation to and from the cruise port. You should be able to book an economy car for around $74 (before taxes), which comes out to about $25 a day.
- Website: Budget
- Phone number: 305-377-4410
Avis
Located just 0.5 miles from the cruise port, Avis’ cruise office provides customers with a shuttle to and from the terminal. This location is for cruise ship passengers only. Economy cars start about $50-$55 per day.
- Website: Avis
- Phone number: 305-379-1317
Dollar Car Rental
Dollar Car Rental makes renting easier than ever by offering customers to rent using a debit card, rather than a credit card. This is a great option if you don’t have any credit cards, which are sometimes required to reserve a rental car.
This idea was proposed by financial guru and motivational speaker, Dave Ramsey, who is a huge advocate for people getting out of debt and staying that way.
Like many other rental services on this list, they have a dedicated office for cruise passengers. They also offer shuttle service to and from the port. Customers must choose the Miami Cruise Ship location MIAP01 as the pick-up location when booking their rental car.
They offer extremely reasonable rates on their economy cars, starting at $34.90 per day.
- Website: Dollar
- Phone number: 866-434-2226
Alamo Car Rentals
Alamo has Miami rental offices, one of which is by the Downtown Miami InterContinental Hotel, about 4-5 miles from the cruise port. They don’t offer a shuttle service, but they are just a quick taxi or Uber ride from the terminal.
One important thing to note is that they are closed on Sundays, so pay attention to what day of the week your ship leaves or docks.
Alamo offers prices for economy prices starting at $78 per day.
- Website: Alamo
- Phone number: 305-376-4107
Supreme Rent a Car
Supreme Rent a Car is a locally owned car rental business serving the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale areas. They offer pickup and drop off at PortMiami, and their economy prices start around $24.99 per day.
They also have a line of luxury and larger vehicles, should you want to drive around in style, or if you have a larger group riding with you. Additionally, Supreme offers jet ski rentals for about $120 a day.
- Website: Supremerentalcar
- Phone number: 305-975-1641 (or toll-free at 855-642-7368)
Easirent Car Rental
Though Easirent’s Miami branch is located by the Miami International Airport, they offer pickup from the cruise port, and a shuttle back to the cruise port after you return the car. Just be sure to select PortMiami as your pickup/drop-off location.
Easirent also has some of the best rental rates in the entire area, starting at around $10 per day for economy.
- Website: Easirent
- Phone number: 786-358-6875 (to make reservations, call 888-901-5121)
Rental Cars Near Miami International Airport
These locations, while they don’t directly serve cruise passengers, can be found at the Miami International Airport. If you’re flying into Miami before taking your cruise, you can add these to your list of considerations.
Royal Rent-A-Car
Royal only has two locations, one at Miami International Airport, and the other at Fort Lauderdale International airport. At MIA they’re located on the fourth floor of the Rental Car Center, just east of the airport itself.
Economy cars start at about $16 per day.
- Website: Royalrentacar
- Phone number: 305-871-3000
EZ Rent A Car
Once you land at Miami International Airport, take the MIA Mover train to the Rental Car Center and look for EZ Rent A Car signs. If you pay in advance you can lock in a rate of $34.50 for economy cars, while it’ll be slightly more if you pay at pickup.
- Website: E-zrentacar.com
- Phone number: 800-277-5171
ACE Rent A Car
Also located in the Rental Car Center, ACE Rent A Car offers rates starting at $42 for Economy cars. For a slight discount, book a “Dealers Choice” package, where they choose for you whatever car they have available.
- Website: Acerentacar
- Phone number: 877-822-3872
Green Motion
Green Motion has a shuttle at the Miami International Airport, located at bus stop 5 in the Rental Car Center. This will take you to where you can pick up your Green Motion rental car. Prices start at around $87.66 per day.
- Website: Greenmotion
- Phone number: 888-501-4806
Our Guide to Finding the Best Price for Car Rental
When you’re looking for a rental car for your visit to Miami, don’t just take the first one you look at. Therefore, we’ve put together as many options as we could. The rates that we’ve quoted for most of these companies are approximations using fake dates.
The best way to get a good quote is to go to the links we’ve provided and put in the details of your trip.
Here are a few tips to maximize your money-saving potential so you can fully enjoy your pre- and post-cruise visit.
- Odds are you’re looking for car rental options, you’re most likely flying into Miami for your cruise. You’ll want to book a car with a company that has various locations around the city, giving you plenty of places to turn the car in before you ship off. And if they have one that’s dedicated to cruise passengers, even better, as most of those provide shuttles to and from the cruise terminal.
- If you’ll be staying at a hotel the night before your cruise, book your stay at a hotel that offers transportation to the cruise port. Then just make sure you can easily return the rental car to a location that’s near the hotel. This way you don’t have to worry about paying for your car’s rental fees while you’re on your cruise.
- Also, if you have more than one drivers named, you could get charged more for the extra people.
- It’s a good idea to get in the habit of returning the vehicle with a full tank of gas. If you don’t, they may add on a service charge which will cost you more money in the end.
- If you’re looking for a rental car for after your cruise, don’t pick it up at the airport. Many times, companies that are located there will add an “airport” surcharge to your overall cost.
- Most companies offer the option to pay ahead of time online when you book your car. We recommend taking advantage of that, as it’ll get you a much lower price than if you pay in person.
- Many rental companies will add a surcharge for one-way car rentals, so be sure to ask about that when shopping around.
- A lot of rental companies will offer insurance options which can affect the cost. If you opt to pay for deductible damage out-of-pocket, your rental price may be significantly lower.
- Finally, find out from the rental company if the car you’re renting has a SunPass. SunPass enables you to drive around the major toll roads in Miami and the surrounding cities without having to stop. All you do is connect your debit or credit card to pay the toll fees. Otherwise, you’ll have to stop frequently, and most toll roads only accept cash.
Getting to Your Rental Car from the Cruise Port
As you may have discovered, the official cruise port does not have its own car rental facility like the airport does. There just isn’t enough parking lot space for one.
However, many of the local rental offices provide shuttle service, so be sure to reserve a car with them ahead of time so. Other locations are just a short taxi ride away, and there’ll be plenty of taxis at the cruise port. Just hop in one of those and take it to your rental car.
Conclusion
When it comes to finding a rental car for your trip, you’re obviously going to pay more than you would if you brought your own vehicle. And, depending on if you get a luxury vehicle or not, might even end up costing more than taking a taxi around the city.
However, renting allows you, first of all, to keep your car safe at home. You won’t have to worry about incurring a lot of mileage, and there won’t be any wear and tear on the car. This can be a good thing if the car you have at home isn’t in “traveling shape”.
Renting is also a great option if you’re coming with a large group of people. When two or three families go on vacation together, or a whole bunch of college buddies are going on Spring Break, renting one large vehicle is going to be much more cost effective then everyone driving four or five separate vehicles.
Whatever your reason is for needing to rent a car while visiting the PortMiami, do your research so you can be sure to find the best price for your traveling budget and the best option that will cause you the least amount of stress.
No matter what you end up renting, we hope you have fun!
