Pre-cruise notes
The cruise was delightful, the car trip to Ft. Lauderdale, while long, was not bad either. That is, until we were about two miles from the hotel, where we were staying prior to boarding.
The two-mile mark was where our problems began. The steering wheel on our rental car locked in the ‘up’ position. All of our begging, pleading, pounding would not release it to a normal driving position. We managed to limp to our hotel, where we promptly called the car rental company for a replacement car.
What is it these companies tell you? Take the worry out of your vacation, if you break down on the road they will ~be~ there for you! Within 30 minutes, they will arrive with a replacement, taking control of the broken down car while you continue your vacation. It all sounds very nice–but is far from reality.
Our first call resulted in assurances that a car would arrive shortly. On our second call, we were told to call the FL office. The FL office, of course, told us to call TN again. After bouncing back and forth several times, we were told a car would arrive by 8:30, five hours after our original call. By 9:30 we were told the original car would have to be towed; there was no mention of the replacement car. The tow-truck did not show up until 11pm.
Saturday morning found us back on the phone with the FL office. We were told they would repair the car and deliver it to us at the pier when we returned. I had little faith in this promise, but by 11am we still had no satisfaction and had to board the cruise ship.
Our return was less than idyllic. We called the FL office as soon as we landed and were told the car would be delivered to us at the dock within 20 minutes. Fifty minutes later, there was still no car. Why was I not surprised. The surprise came when we again called the FL office and asked them to please deliver the car. We were told they did not know where the car was, did not know if it was fixed or not, and did not have any car at all for us. There we sat, luggage stacked up on the sidewalk and nowhere to go. We tried TN again as well as the Corp. offices–both were only recordings. End of story–we had a car from Budget within 20 minutes. The original car rental company? It will remain nameless–unless they try to charge us for the two full weeks, rather than the two days we used the car.
