Philadelphia Cruise Port Rental Car Guide (PhilaPort, by PHL)

PhilaPort Cruise Terminal, 4 Atlantic Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19153 — use Entrance A.

The address says Philadelphia, but PhilaPort puts the terminal in Tinicum Township, Delaware County, right next to the airport. That boundary is the reason this page carries two tax rates, not one.

Only Norwegian sails from here: Norwegian Jewel in 2026, then Norwegian Pearl from November 2026 through April 2028, and Norwegian Gem from 2028 (NCL says April, PhilaPort says summer). Jewel’s last 2026 sailing date differs between the sources we read, so take yours from the booking, not from us.

The terminal opened with a ribbon-cutting on Aug 27, 2026; before that, 2026 check-in ran through the Clarion Hotel by the airport. Posts written before then that send you to the hotel to check in are out of date; the Clarion still matters, but as the parking lot.

So a rental has two jobs here at most — getting you from a desk toward Atlantic Avenue, and getting back to a desk before you board.

The checker opens on a Saturday at 12:30 — Essington Avenue has half an hour left, and the three Delaware County desks shut at noon.

Sunday narrows it again — Darby and Prospect Park don’t open at all, and Avis in Glenolden keeps only 8 to noon.

Weekdays run 7:30 or 8 to 6 at all four. That suits a car collected after breakfast, not one you need after an evening landing.

Outside those hours the airport is the answer — Avis at PHL never closes. The PHL page lists every brand’s clock.

Enterprise dominates the streets around the airport — as far as we found, Essington Avenue is its only branch in the airport district. Two more sit just over the city line, and the nearest Avis we found is in Glenolden.

“Pick-Up Service Available” on an Enterprise page is a branch service, not a cruise shuttle. None of the four says it will drive you to Atlantic Avenue — ask the branch before you count on a ride.

Return rules differ from desk to desk, and the after-cruise page sets them side by side.

Pennsylvania charges 6% sales tax, a 2% vehicle rental tax on rentals of 29 days or less and a $2-a-day public transportation fee; Philadelphia adds a 2% local sales tax. That’s 10% plus $2 a day at PHL and Essington Avenue, and 8% plus $2 a day at the Delaware County desks, by our arithmetic.

The $2 fee is per day or part day; we couldn’t confirm whether sales tax applies to it, so the calculator leaves it untaxed.

On a three-day car at $55 a day, the two-point gap is about $3.30, our arithmetic. A cab from Darby to the ship runs roughly $4 more on the meter than one from Essington Avenue, by our arithmetic on the posted meter — so the cheaper tax rarely pays for the longer ride.

PHL piles two charges of its own on top of the 10%, and the PHL page deals with both — one comes from a consultant’s survey, the other isn’t published at all.

Enterprise lists twenty-odd Philadelphia branches; Essington Avenue is the only one in the airport district. Avis and Budget’s city desks are in Center City (1324 Arch St, 201 N 17th St), at 1120 S Broad St (Budget) and in the Northeast. Hertz’s city desks are on Presidential Boulevard and Frankford Avenue, nowhere near the airport. Sixt has a downtown branch at 1500 Market Street besides the airport.

Those earn a look only if the night before is downtown and the next day holds a drive — Longwood, say, or Valley Forge. Collect in Center City, then hand the car back at PHL that evening if the company allows the one-way, since the airport counters stay open late.

At 1324 Arch Street, Avis and Budget each list weekdays 7 to 7 and Sunday 8 to 1, the longest weekday hours among the city desks whose hours we read. Budget at 1120 South Broad keeps 7 to 6 on weekdays and the same 8 to 1 on Sunday.

For the ship itself they’re the wrong end of town, not a shortcut — the day-trip page prices the drives that might justify one.

No toll between PHL, the neighborhood desks and the terminal as we’d drive it. For a desk-to-terminal hop, decline the toll plan — there’s nothing for it to bill.

The bridges are where it starts. The four Delaware River Port Authority crossings charge only on the way into Pennsylvania, and the drive-in page has the amount and the tolls beyond them.

Run one bridge crossing through Enterprise’s TollPass and the day costs about $10.95, its fee plus the toll, our arithmetic; Avis’s e-Toll makes it about $12.95. Your own E-ZPass pays the toll and nothing else.

Bring the transponder if you own one — Enterprise says your own E-ZPass avoids its TollPass charges.

None of the routes we priced uses the Pennsylvania Turnpike; its 2026 rates took effect Jan 4, 2026, and it says E-ZPass can save up to 50% over Toll By Plate.

Choose the desk by its closing time first — its rate second. A cheaper Delaware County car that shuts at noon on Saturday becomes a cab fare to PHL, not a saving.