Renting a Car After a Philadelphia Cruise

Disembarkation usually runs from 7:00 to 9:30 AM. Uber, Lyft, taxis and private cars pick up at 4 Atlantic Avenue once you have your bags.

Your own walk-off time comes from Norwegian with the cruise documents, not from us — build the car around that hour.

If the cab runs the Philadelphia Parking Authority’s meter, the terminal to Essington Avenue is about $19.15, to Prospect Park about $21.25, to Darby about $23.65 and to Avis in Glenolden about $26.95, our arithmetic before waiting time and tip.

“Pick-Up Service Available” on the Enterprise pages may save that fare. None of them mentions the terminal, so call the branch the week before — not from the curb.

Weekdays are simple — every desk near the ship opens by 8, so the counter is waiting by the time you clear the terminal.

At 10 on a Sunday two desks near the ship are open — Essington Avenue until 1 and Avis in Glenolden until noon. Darby and Prospect Park stay shut all day.

Move the time to 12:15 and only Essington Avenue is left, with under an hour to go.

Saturday looks easier on paper and isn’t much easier in practice. The Delaware County Enterprises open at 8 but close at noon, the same hour as Glenolden.

When the clock beats you, PHL is the fallback, with Avis open around the clock. The PHL page lists the other brands’ hours.

Its page puts after-hours drops at up to 9 PM Monday to Friday and 2 PM at weekends.

That weekend line is odd but useful — the desk closes at 1, and the drop runs an hour past it.

An after-hours drop doesn’t end the rental. Enterprise’s policy keeps the car your responsibility until someone checks it in the next business day, so photograph the car, the mileage and the fuel gauge when you leave it.

Collect here on dock morning and a weekday trip fits easily. At a weekend it has to end at PHL — ask Enterprise whether that drop costs extra. The day-trip page times each drive from the terminal.

Every neighborhood desk near the airport closes by 6 PM on weekdays and by 1 PM at weekends; the Delaware County Enterprises are shut Sundays, and Darby and Avis Glenolden take no after-hours returns.

That bites on the way back from a day trip, not just on dock morning. Miss Darby’s 6 PM close and the keys stay with you until it reopens.

Prospect Park takes late returns but prints no cut-off — ask when you collect.

Dock on a weekend and the airport makes more sense. Its counters are open — and the $8 survey charge and the unprinted concession fee are what that costs.

The cab from the terminal to PHL is about $20 on the meter before tip, our arithmetic. There’s no airport fee on it, because that fee applies to trips leaving PHL, not arriving.

Have the driver drop you at Arrivals and walk out to Zone 2, where every brand’s shuttle stops.

Budget is the odd one — its page says that if you’re flying in, “the rental counter is within the terminal with a shuttle to the car lot.” PHL’s own page, and every other brand page we read, sends you to the Zone 2 bus.

Look for a Budget counter in baggage claim if you like. If there isn’t one, go to Zone 2.

Heading into New Jersey costs nothing at the river, because the port authority bridges charge only westbound. The Turnpike beyond them does charge, at amounts we couldn’t read.

South on I-95 you meet Delaware’s plaza at Newark, Delaware, and then Baltimore’s Harbor Tunnel. Maryland’s JFK Highway bills northbound only, so it’s free on the way home; the drive-in page has the amounts.

PennDOT’s distracted-driving and emergency-responder pages rendered only menus for us, so we can’t quote Pennsylvania’s handheld-phone or move-over rules here.

PennDOT’s pages wouldn’t show us Pennsylvania’s car-seat age rules, so check them before you go; its safety FAQ says advocates recommend children ride buckled in the back seat until 13.

If you rent the seat, Avis’s published US price is $14 a day, capped at $84 a rental, so a week comes to $84, not $98, our arithmetic. Bringing your own may beat it.

Fill up before the return. AAA’s Philadelphia average for regular was $4.452 on Oct 3, 2026, against $4.493 statewide.

Book the pickup for an hour after the ship is due, not the minute it docks — then check that hour against the desk.

Docking on a Sunday? Two neighborhood desks open at all, and both close by 1 — set the pickup at PHL.