cruise america rv rental worcester reviews

Cruise America

based on 118 locations

About Cruise America

Cruise America has an average rating of 2.8 from 1487 reviews. The rating indicates that most customers are generally dissatisfied. The official website is cruiseamerica.com. Cruise America is popular for Hotels & Travel, RV Rental. Cruise America has 118 locations on Yelp across the US. Read below to see the top rated Cruise America businesses on Yelp and their customer service rating.

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Cruise America Review: What We Really Think

Cruise America, as a corporate rental company, strongly contrasts with popular peer-to-peer rental service providers like RVshare and Outdoorsy. And looking for the best RV rental service, you are likely wondering whether Cruise America is a good place to rent an RV from.

To figure out whether renting an RV from this company is worth it, we need to cover a lot of details, including rental options, fees, penalties, insurance, and whatnot. They are important for our points that we will present to you in the end, as well as for your understanding of what Cruise America is.

Let’s begin with the rental options offered by Cruise America.

Cruise America Review

The primary rental options offered by Cruise America is the traditional round-trip rental where you rent an RV, drive it to your destination, spend your vacation, drive back, and pay the fees. This rental has a minimum duration of 7 days.

Aside from this, however, Cruise America also offers one-way and long-term rentals. Let’s overview them a little more in-depth.

The other big player in the RV peer to peer rental space is RVShare and Outdoorsy you might want to check out our in-depth review of them here and here .

One-way rental

With one-way rental, you can pick up an RV at one Cruise America location and drop it off at another, without having to drive the RV back to the location where you took it from.

One-way rentals can be cheaper than round-trip rentals, with the rates sometimes being as low as $1/night. However, there is a drop fee associated with one-way rental – usually between $250-650 – as well as some other fees that we are going to talk about a bit later.

With peer-to-peer RV rental, people very rarely rent-out their RV for one-way trips. The vast majority of the rental offers are round-trip. Thus, the one-way rental option certainly is a plus for Cruise America.

On the other hand, Cruise has “more than 120 rental locations” in the United States and Canada, which is very little given that they are servicing almost the entire North America. So even though one-way rental has some nice benefits, you will be rather limited with drop-off locations.

It should be also kept in mind that Cruise America won’t always able to provide RVs for one-way rental due to certain RV number requirements at each location.

Long-term rental

Cruise America also offers long-term RV rental. In fact, they offer this type of rental for both temporary housing needs for individuals and for business uses. The pricing for these rental options is set on a case-by-case basis, so you’d need to contact Cruise America and provide them with all the details of your trip so that they could set a fee.

As a corporate rental company, Cruise America has its own RV fleet.

One very common complaint with Cruise America is their poor selection of RVs. And indeed, even though they do offer RVs of different sizes for rental, they only have a couple of Thor Majestic class C motorhomes, which are basically reinforced variants of Thor Four Winds RVs.

Cruise America has 4 RV rental options to offer – Large, Standard, Compact, and Truck Camper. These options differ by their amenities and comfort, and we think we should briefly overview them so that you know what you are dealing with.

Cruise America seeks to always maintain their RVs in good condition for rental, so you could be sure that you are getting a problem-free RV from them. Even if mechanical breakdowns do occur while on the road, Cruise America has an assistance and reimbursement program, which we will cover a bit later.

Before moving on to overviewing the RV offers, we’d like to note that Cruise America provides quite a lot of information on their RVs. Compared to offers available on peer-to-peer rental websites, it may be much easier to make an informed decision with Cruise America.

Cruise America doesn’t dive too deep into the specs of their RVs – which they maybe should – but they do provide you with some crucial information in regard to floorplans and key amenities.

Large RV Rental

The RV in this offer is a 30 feet class C motorhome, the Thor Majestic 28A. This motorhome offers up to 7 sleeping spots. Among the amenities provided with this RV are:

• Air conditioning.
• Shower & freshwater toilet.
• Gas cooktop.
• 4KW generator.

A thing that Cruise America also lists among the comfort features of this plan is pet friendliness. This actually is a feature of all the rental plans, and it is among the things that we like about Cruise America. With peer-to-peer rental, not everyone is going to allow you to bring along pets.

Cruise America also allows towing with their 30 feet class C motorhomes. However, there are certain limits to towing:

• Cruise America doesn’t provide hook-up services or towing equipment.
• The towing weight needs to be within 2,500 pounds of tow weight restrictions.
• A daily towing charge is imposed if you tow a vehicle to Cruise America’s RVs.

Keep in mind that before rental, Cruise America requires that you declare the intention to tow prior to departure from a rental center.

Cruise America also allows customers to attach a bike rack to the receiver hitch free of charge. The customer needs to again let the rental center know about the intention of mounting a bike rack so that the RV’s locking pin can be removed.

Standard RV rental

With Standard RV rental, you get a 25 feet Thor Majestic 23A class C motorhome.

The amenities are very similar between the Standard and Large RV rentals. One difference should be noted though – at the moment of the review’s writing, Cruise America provided customers with generators only in the US, so do keep that in mind if you want to rent an RV from them in Canada.

Aside from that, 25 feet RVs sleep up to 5 people.

Compact RV rental

With the Compact RV rental option, you are getting a 20 feet Thor Majestic 19G motorhome. The RVs in this plan offer up to 3 sleeping spots.

Like it was with the Standard RV rental plan, Cruise America only provides US customers with RV generators. And aside from some differences linked to the smaller size – like smaller water or fuel tank sizes – the Compact RV rental doesn’t differ from the previous two options.

Truck Camper RV rental

With the Truck Camper rental, Cruise America basically provides you with a Ford F-150 truck with a truck camper mounted on top. Aside from the much smaller size, one crucial difference in this option is that the RVs don’t include a generator, as well as can’t be used for towing.

On the other hand, the interior amenities in the Truck Campers are very nice, essentially corresponding to those of the previous rental options. And like the Standard and Compact RV rental options, you are getting 3 sleeping spots out of this thing.

RV rental rates

Compared to peer-to-peer renting, Cruise America certainly offers a couple of good things for the money. However, there are also some downsides that you should know about. Cruise America’s payment system is a bit convoluted compared to peer-to-peer renting, and there’s a lot to know about.

One thing that we and many other people dislike about Cruise America is the variety of fees they impose, as well as the variety of upsells they offer.

Aside from that, what we personally don’t like is that Cruise America has all the fee info scattered throughout their website instead of having it easily accessible in one place. Not only that, but we actually had to go to third-party websites to get some of the fee information.

Overall, here’s what you will have to pay for when renting from Cruise America:

• Reservation deposit.
• Nightly fee.
• Mileage fee.
• Environmental fee.

In addition, there are some charges that you may or may not need to pay:

• Generator fee if you use the RV generator.
• Early Bird Departure Special fee.
• Optional kit fees.
• De-winterization fee.
• Towing fees if you use the RV for towing.
• Certain penalties for failing to comply with the rental conditions.

As you can see, Cruise America has many service fees, and this is a big reason why people prefer to opt for peer-to-peer rental services. If you will indeed be renting an RV from Cruise America, we’d advise you to find out about all the possible fees directly from them since we may have missed something, and things may change over time.

Cruise America requires that all the payments be made with Visa, MasterCard, and American Express credit cards. In the US, they also accept Discover Cards. The credit card needs to bear an imprint of your name that matches the driver’s license. The cardholder is required to be listed on the contract as the primary renter or an additional authorized driver.

Upon the return of the vehicle, Cruise America accepts stored value/prepaid/gift cards.

Now, let’s overview all the aforementioned charges one by one.

Mandatory fees

The very first thing you are going to pay for with Cruise America is deposits. Cruise America requires you to make two kinds of deposits – a $300 reservation down payment and a refundable $500 security deposit.

The reservation down payment will be applied toward the rental charges. As for the security deposit, it is used to cover any excess charges that occur during the trip. Upon return, extra charges are balanced against the security deposit.

If you didn’t use up the $500 security deposit, Cruise America will issue a credit to cover the refund. If you aren’t using a credit card, Cruise America will issue a check and send to your home address. Cruise America doesn’t do cash refunds.

Speaking of cash, the $500 security deposit needs to be paid with a credit card. If you are using any means other than a credit card, the security deposit charge will be $1,000. Keep this in mind in order to avoid quite expensive surprise costs.

A thing to note is that for certain rental applications like Bonnaroo or Burning Man, Cruise America may impose increased charges at their own discretion. In addition, they may require you to make a full prepayment in advance for rental events like auto race events, music festivals, or gatherings in remote areas.

Per-night fees

Cruise America imposes per-night fees which vary from season to season. On average, it seems that the nightly fee is around $90-100. It may be lower or higher depending on the season.

Given that Cruise America rents out RVs for at least 7 days, your fees per night will likely quite easily exceed the $300 down payment deposit.

Cruise America calls their daily rental rates Flex Rates since they vary over time, and sometimes quite significantly. If you book an RV early and there are plenty of them available, the daily rental rate will be lower for you.

If you need a change after booking and confirmation (aside from changing party size and adding pre-paid items), the rate will be recalculated using the most current Flex Rate. This Flex Rate will be compared to the Flex Rate that you’ve booked an RV with. The higher rate of the two will be selected as a new Flex Rate.

Mileage fees

Aside from a nightly fee, Cruise America applies estimated mileage charges to your rental in advance. Mileage charges are per night based on 100 miles for round-trip rentals and 250 miles for one-way rentals. In other words, you will be charged 100 miles per day with round-trip rental and 250 miles per day for one-way rental.

At the end of the rental, you will be refunded if you’ve driven fewer miles than you’ve paid for. Conversely, you will be charged $0.35 per mile if you have exceeded the estimated mileage.

Cruise America offers pre-paid mileage packs as well – the 100-Mile Package for $28, 500-Mile Package for $140, Unlimited Miles Package for $750, and Unlimited Miles Plus Package for $1000.

The Unlimited Miles Plus Package includes unlimited mileage, one personal kit for each passenger, one vehicle departure kit, and unlimited use of the RV generator for 21 days. Past 21 days, Cruise America will charge you with $29 per day. The same applies to the Unlimited Miles Package.

All the costs above are excluding taxes. Since these will likely depend on the area you will be renting the RV from, it is difficult to say how much tax you will have to pay.

Environmental fee

Cruise America imposes a $5 environmental fee per rental. As Cruise America writes, this fee’s purpose is to offset a “wide range of environmental expenses” associated with the proper disposal of shop waste, filters, tires, batteries, etc.

Optional fees

Generator fees.

Cruise America also imposes a generator fee of $3.50 per hour. This fee will be collected upon return based on the onboard running time meter. There is also an option of purchasing unlimited generator usage at an $8 daily rate.

Keep in mind that the generator is not required for normal RV operation, so you don’t have to operate it while traveling. A generator will be required only if you decide to run the RV electrical appliances while on the road. You can power all the appliances at campgrounds with electrical supply systems.

Early Bird Departure Special fee

Cruise America offers an optional Early Bird Departure Special for a $350 fee. The Early Bird Departure Special allows you to depart from a rental location as early as 9 AM instead of the regular 1 PM.

You will then need to return the vehicle at the specified date between 9 AM and 3 PM. Regular renters need to return the vehicle by 9 AM and in no case later than 11 AM.

The Early Bird Departure Special needs to be reserved at least 30 days in advance and prepaid. In addition, keep in mind that Sunday departures/returns aren’t allowed.

Optional kits

Cruise America also offers a couple of optional kits for borrowers. These kits are the Vehicle Provisioning Kit and the Personal Kit.

The Vehicle Provisioning Kit includes kitchen-related items like bows, forks, knives, plates, and many other things. The Personal Kit includes items like bath & dish towels, pillows with pillowcases, etc.

The Personal Kit costs $60 per person, while the Vehicle Provisioning Kit costs $110 per vehicle. All items must be returned clean to Cruise America.

De-winterization fee

In locations with colder winter weather, Cruise America winterizes their motorhomes from around mid-October to late March. When winterized, you cannot use the RV’s water and holding tanks. Due to this, if you chose to have the motorhome de-winterized, you will need to pay an up to $40 fee.

Towing charges

If you plan to tow a car or boat behind the motorhome, keep in mind that Cruise America imposes towing charges of $25 per night.

Aside from the charges we’ve described above, there are certain penalties that borrowers will need to pay should they fail to comply with the rental terms.

These penalties include, but aren’t limited to, the following:

• Housekeeping charges of up to $250 for returning an RV uncleaned.
• Reservation changes are charged at $50 per change from second and subsequent reservation changes. The first change is free of charge.
• Dump charges of up to $50 for not emptying the RV holding tank prior to returning the vehicle.
• The RV is overdue after 11 AM on the return date. If you fail to return the vehicle on time, you will be charged a fee of $25 per hour after 11 AM of the return date.
• You are responsible for any damage or equipment loss, except mechanical wear. The penalty for damage or equipment loss is limited to $1,500 per occurrence or incident.
• $200 – 46 days or more prior to departure.
• $600 – 16-45 days prior to departure.
• $850 – 8-15 days prior to departure.
• $1050 – 1-7 days prior to departure.
• Full rental charges – departure day and no-shows.

Cruise America rental deals

Cruise America from time to time offers rental deals and discounts. For example, for departures between September 4, 2019, and December 31, 2019, from any of Cruise America’s North American rental centers, a mileage rate reduction of 50% applies. Another deal is 300 free miles for departures by December 31, 2019, in the US.

Offers are typically not combinable with others, but they do offer some remarkable value. These were examples of deals available as of June 2019, but Cruise America will surely introduce others in the future as well.

How Cruise America handles RV maintenance & breakdowns

Overall, it seems that Cruise America keeps a good eye on their RVs. They appear to be quite strict when it comes to RV condition, so you could be sure that the RV you are renting from them is in a good state.

But for cases when the rented RV breaks down, Cruise America offers nice support to the clients.

Roadside assistance & repair reimbursement

In the event of mechanical breakdown on the road, Cruise America provides the around-the-clock Travelers Assistance Hotline. For authorized repairs, your expenses will be reimbursed by Cruise America. Alternatively, Cruise America may directly pay for the repairs.

According to the conditions of Cruise America, any vehicle service expense over $75 requires authorization from Travelers Assistance, where your problem will be documented in a customer service log.

For repairs costing under $75, you may have repairs done, but you will need to keep the receipt with you for reimbursement. Rental centers will reimburse receipts under $75 without a service log. If a repair service costing over $75 isn’t documented by Cruise America, you will not be provided with a reimbursement.

Aside from that, engine battery jump-starts require approval from Travelers Assistance, so keep that in mind.

Long service time reimbursements

If as a result of a breakdown the RV is in repair for 12 hours or less through no fault of yours, Cruise America may refund you a portion of the daily rental rate. If the repair requires more than 12 hours, certain living/transportation expenses may be reimbursed by Cruise America as well. However, you will need to immediately report the breakdown to Cruise America.

Cruise America provides up to $30 a day per party for transportation expenses and up to $30 a day per person for lodging. Total provisions are limited by Cruise America up to $3000 per tour. To receive reimbursement, you will need to provide all receipts for your expenses.

In certain cases, Cruise America does not reimburse for repairs, transportation, and lodging. Cruise America does not cover expenses associated with the breakdown of the RV generator, AC unit, refrigerator, microwave, appliances, and cruise control since these aren’t needed for the basic operation of the RV.

In addition, Cruise America doesn’t reimburse damage caused by collision or accident. Plus, failure to call Travelers Assistance immediately after a breakdown will make the reimbursement void.

There are certain travel restrictions as well. The areas that fall under Cruise America’s restrictions are:

• Death Valley and other desert areas.
• Alaska and Manhattan, New York City, in the US.
• Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Newfoundland in Canada.

If issues occur in specified areas, Cruise America coverages will not apply. In fact, you may be held responsible for all vehicle damages associated with driving the RV in the restricted areas.

Aside from that, Cruise America prohibits entry of their RVs to Mexico, so be mindful of that.

How Cruise America handles tolls and traffic violations

Cruise America also has specific procedures with regard to tolls and parking/traffic violations.

Cruise America has a policy for All-Electronic Tolling. If you didn’t know, with All-Electronic Tolling, the picture of a vehicle’s license plate is taken and then used to determine who will be billed.

In some cases, a process called reassignment is utilized by Cruise America. The company basically transfers your information to the relevant tolling authority. Then, you will have to handle the fees yourself.

For other cases, Cruise America will pay the tolling authority directly. However, Cruise America will impose a $10 administrative fee on you and charge the credit card you used for rental. The administrative fee is per rental.

For other tolling services like EZ Pass lanes or Fastrack, it will be your responsibility to use a corresponding transponder in order to avoid any fees or penalties.

Parking/traffic violations

Cruise America handles parking and traffic violations in a similar manner to tolling. However, in cases where they pay the fines for you, you will be charged a $35 administrative fee per rental.

At rental return, you will be responsible for reporting and paying for any parking or traffic violations. If you fail to report a parking/traffic violation at return, Cruise America will charge an administrative fee of up to $250.

Cruise America rental coverage

A very nice thing about Cruise America is that they offer coverage options for their customers in case of accidents or mechanical breakdown. We’ve overviewed mechanical breakdown coverage above, but there’s more to the coverage provided by Cruise America.

All in all, Cruise America offers:

• Up to $1 million Supplemental Liability Insurance (SLI) against claims made by third parties for property damage or bodily/injury caused by the operation of the RV. There are certain exclusions to the SLI, a part of which is contained in the rental contract.
• Expense reimbursement of up to $3,000 in case of long service times, which we overviewed earlier.
• Responsibility of up to $1,500 for vehicle damage or loss per occurrence. If you do not abide by the terms of the rental contract and fail to promptly report any incident, you will be fully responsible for the damage or loss of the RV.

RV departure & return at Cruise America

The RV departure time at Cruise America begins at 1 PM. For Early Birders, as we mentioned above, the departure starts at 9 AM and ends at 12 PM.

A common point of complaint among users of Cruise America services is that it can take several hours before you actually leave the rental center. Early Birders may be able to avoid waiting for hours, but they aren’t insured from it as well.

As for RV return, regular renters are required to return the vehicle by 9 AM and no later than 11 AM. As we mentioned above, Cruise America imposes a $25 fee for each hour past 11 AM. At the same time, no refunds will be made if you return the vehicle early or if you pick it up late.

For Early Birders, which we again mentioned earlier in the material, the return time is between 9 AM and 3 PM. Failure to return the vehicle in this time frame will incur an hourly $25 penalty.

Keep in mind that departure and return times on Saturday may vary because some Cruise America locations close earlier.

Customer interaction

Customer interaction is another area where Cruise America is notorious. If you look around for user reviews, you will find that quite a considerable number of people have complained about the customer support of Cruise America in various areas, starting from the quickness of service and ending with the inability of the company to resolve issues.

A testimony to this may be Cruise America’s frankly quite low BBB rating , which indicates how the company is expected to interact with customers. There have been so many complaints about Cruise America that BBB has even put alerts on the company profile page, indicating noticeable issues with customer service.

What we really think of Cruise America

With everything above in mind, we’d like to present to you the advantages and disadvantages of RV rental with Cruise America, as well as what we really think of Cruise America.

So, the advantages are:

• A good amount of information provided on the RVs.
• Well-maintained RVs.
• One-way and long-term rentals available.
• Pet-friendliness.
• Reimbursements for mechanical breakdowns and long maintenance.
• Quite advantageous deals.

What we didn’t like about Cruise America.

• The plentitude of fees makes rental quite pricey.
• Poor selection of RVs.
• The customer interaction isn’t always spot-on.
• Quite uneasy to find fee information.
• The minimum rental period is 7 days.

As a corporate RV rental company, Cruise America isn’t going to provide you with much flexibility. They have a mechanism that works and doesn’t really take into account your specific needs, unlike peer-to-peer rental platforms.  You have limited options when it comes to fees and RV selection. Their customer service also isn’t spot-on.

On the other hand, they do have some benefits like one-way rental, a comprehensive reimbursement policy, and occasional deals. So we can’t say that Cruise America is a bad place to rent an RV from.

In the end, we’d say that those who want to quickly rent an RV may want to go for Cruise America since it has an established policy that is designed to ensure hassle-free rentals. But if you want flexibility and don’t mind spending a lot of time finding the right RV, you’d want to go for a peer-to-peer platform.

If you’d like to see how Cruise America is rated against other RV rental companies you might want to check out our review of the best RV rental companies .

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Cruise America

156 SW Cutoff, Worcester , Massachusetts 01604 USA

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Cruise America Review: Why You Shouldn’t Rent From Them

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There is nothing better than cruising on the open road in your RV. You get to experience unique areas of the country, take in picturesque views, and spend quality time with the ones you love. A successful road trip is one without worry or inconvenience. You should be able to go at your own pace and experience life the way it should be.

Table of Contents

About the company, pros and cons of cruise america, the rv rental process at cruise america, cruise america available rental inventory, cruise america pricing, cruise america insurance coverage, cruise america roadside assistance, cruise america cancellation policy, cruise america customer service.

Half the battle is booking your trip and interacting with the company that rents out the RV. In this article, we provide insights into the quality, operations, customer care, and rental experience with Cruise America . There are both good and bad things about the company, but ultimately, you’re better off going with a company like RVshare or Outdoorsy – two of our favorite RV rental companies .

Cruise America was founded in 1972 by a Florida native by the name of Robert Smalley Sr. He wanted customers to reap the benefits of an RV without experiencing the hefty price of purchasing one outright.

Cruise America is the country’s biggest RV rental companies with over 132 locations and 300 employees combined in the United States and Canada. The company is still family-owned because Smalley’s sons are fulfilling the positions of both the CEO and President.

While the sons lacked experience coming straight out of college, they learned from their father and have grown the company into what it is today. Their strategy is categorized as aggressive and proactive. The leadership tries its best to anticipate what the market says and then correct small issues before they become disastrous problems in the future.

While the Cruise America RV brand is well-known throughout the country, a big knock is that the company is growing faster than it can handle.

The shortened staff has weaknesses in the areas of maintenance and customer service. The maintenance team needs to work extra hard to have the vehicles ready for the next reservation, which can sometimes backfire. When it comes to customer service, an overwhelming amount of cause can sacrifice the joyous interaction that customers seek when renting an RV.

Because the company has a significant market share and presence, it can offer a better price than most of its competitors upfront. There are also promotions that customers can enjoy at certain times of the year, along with individual insurance advantages.

Here are some more benefits when renting from Cruise America RV:

• Competitive prices on the market due to a massive inventory and presence across the nation
• Special offers for early bookings for customers
• There are both 1- and 2-way travel options
• There is a $0 deductible option if the vehicle gets damaged
• Wide range of availability because of the massive fleet

Here are the drawbacks of the customer experience with Cruise America RV:

• If there are a lot of people renting at once, customer service can be extremely lacking during peak times
• There are limited models of RV (only three compared to 5-10 options with competitors)
• There are few unique options at the counter
• No airport or extra transportation options are available
• The company is closed on Sundays

The RV rental process with Cruise America contains a simple and straightforward interface. When you are on the rental page for the website, you can check the potential pricing by merely typing your city, state, departure, and arrival dates.

There are sections to browse the different types of RVs, and it lists what is included with each. You can also browse from a list of rental locations, which notify you of the inventory selection. The downside is that the choice is somewhat limited in most parts of the country. You are not guaranteed to always find the model you want because of your location.

The rental page also gives you a quick snapshot of the different rental deals, including half-price miles, 20% off in Canada, enjoying a free night on the company, and other one- and two-way specials. The company also offers you free insurance, a 110-point inspection, and 24-hour emergency services.

Once you fill out your information, select the RV you want, and pass a background check, the company gives you a pickup delivery time and location. This time does not always get honored, however. There have been multiple cases of people who did not receive the RV on time and were heavily delayed for their trip.

The pickup and drop-off time windows are also very narrow. You can only drop off the vehicle between 9 and 11 am, and there is a late fee of $25 per hour if you do not return the RV during this time window. Customers are also held liable for any mechanical damage because of “negligence” during operation, which ends up turning into a “he said, she said” battle if it comes down to it.

The main thing that Cruise America needs to fix here is to budget more time in between rental centre appointments. That way, people are guaranteed to leave when they plan to. An increase in maintenance and customer service staff can also help keep customers satisfied during peak times of the year.

The rental inventory with Cruise America is somewhat limited. Many customers also complain that the RVs are never stocked with any necessities, even toilet paper, and coffee pots. Below are the following options for RV rentals with Cruise America:

• Large RV: holds a maximum of 7 people and is a traditional motorhome with self-sustaining features for a family-sized unit
• Standard RV: holds a maximum of 5 people
• Compact RV: allows for a maximum of 3 people, with a rear kitchen and all amenities featured in a larger unit
• Truck Camper: this rental option is connected to an F-150 truck, which makes it easy to transport for beginner-level renters

While Cruise America’s prices are manageable because of the size of the fleet, some extra fees are not included in the rent price. There is a generator fee of $3.50 per hour that is collected at the end of the trip, which can add up and bill you twice. If the interior of the vehicle is still dirty, the company has the right to assess a charge of $250.

The renter is also required to empty the holding tank before returning the RV, which could mean an extra charge of $50 if this is not done. An environmental fee is also tacked on at the end. Overall, there are a lot of backend charges that cause headaches later, but here is a list of prices for the different models:

• Large RV: approximately $90 per night
• Standard RV: between $80 and $165 per night
• Compact RV: between $65 and $150 per night
• Truck Camper: between $55 and $140 per night

The insurance coverage for renters might be one of the high points of the company. The company provides coverage policies in the three different sections, which are over the smallest amount of automobile coverage against a 3rd party.

The details in the rental agreement are highlighted by Supplemental Liability Insurance, which provides liability insurance under $1,000,000 for rentals in the United States. There is also a maximum responsibility of up to $1,500 in the event of vehicle loss or damage. Lastly, there is a plan for expense reimbursement of up to $3,000 if there is a breakdown mechanically.

Cruise America offers a 24/7 roadside travelers assistance number that all people can call. While they can be timely and responsive to your needs during the slower seasons, the busy times are a different story. There are unfortunate stories about people who had to wait up to 5-6 hours for a tire repair because the company did not want to replace it right away with a higher-priced tire.

The cancellation policy is consistent and fair for customers with Cruise America, compared to its competitors. You can cancel and receive a full refund if you cancel at least a week before the start date. Any less notice than seven days will result in the forfeit of the initial reservation payment. There is also no refund on any one-way RV rental cancellations.

During the busy seasons, the customer service teams are often overwhelmed with a massive influx of bookings, which takes away from meaningful interactions. The staff is trained to be polite and courteous, but that is not always the case. They are sometimes inconsistent with delivering your RV on time, which limits your enjoyment.

As you can see, Cruise America has the infrastructure and fleet to deliver competitive prices with its listings. But turnover and staff support inconsistency hurt the company from a service standpoint. There are insurance coverages that help protect the renters, but there are many other hidden fees that can raise the cost of your trip, which gives you an unexpected financial surprise at the end. If you want to opt for a more traditional RV rental company, I think El Monte is a better deal than Cruise America.

If you want a more personable and smooth booking process with actual RV owners instead of a corporate company, check out  RVshare  or  Outdoorsy . Because an individual owner backs each RV listing, you are more likely to find better quality in the experience. The customer service team is also very competent and offers you unique solutions. You deserve to rent stress-free – good luck on your adventure!

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Cruise America   Reviews

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Reviews 4.1.

7,104 total

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Kier was very helpful, great service.

Kier was very helpful, as my first time renting an RV the experience was more than what I expected. The breakdown of the price and service charges was reasonable, thank you.

Date of experience : November 03, 2023

Reply from Cruise America

Hi Fabricio, Thank you for your review! We recommend to call our Reservation line to reserve and ask questions if this is your first time. We are grateful that out breakdown of the price and service charges was well explained and reasonable. We are excited to hear back from you to reserve your next trip!

Table bed side support broke on the second night and black water plunger also broke, so we were unable to dump and had to go to repair shop.

Date of experience : October 16, 2023

Hello, we're very sorry to hear about the inconveniences you experienced during your trip. We strive to provide clean, functional RVs and see we missed the mark in your case. If you would like to further discuss the issues, please email us at [email protected]

Derek is really cool and handled our…

Derek is really cool and handled our request very effectively with quick time. We will recommend cruiseamerica to all our friends

Date of experience : December 20, 2023

We are glad to hear that Derek from Reservation assisted you effectively with quick time. Thank you for sharing and we hope to see you again!

100% recommend

We had our unit for 78 days and this is a honest review We want to thank Cruise America for a awesome experience and making our first trip to the states as enjoyable as it was Pick up and drop off was easy and painless In 11200 miles we had a few issues, some we fixed ourselves and some that we had to go out of our way to get sorted but that’s life on the road. The aircon in the cab stopped working so we contacted the hotline on a Friday and understood it was the weekend it couldn’t get fixed right away so we made do and got it sorted the next week trouble free. Kelly was on the line was so helpful and contacted us back as soon as she could to help, she couldn’t do enough, she’d text and ask for updates what a champion We did a tyre and the fridge stopped working on propane but again got it sorted as soon as they could book us in. The unit had 123000miles on it when we picked it up and the lining on cupboards etc was showing it’s age (peeling) but that was fine, doors came loose but if you buy a screwdriver and tighten it up that doesn’t last long 🙄 The unit performed faultlessly the whole trip and we loved every second of it and would recommend CA to anyone. Thanks again from the boys from down under 🦘

Date of experience : October 22, 2023

Hi Matt, We appreciate your feedback. This is one of the benefit of renting with Cruise America, is receiving free service 24/7 from our Traveler's Assistance to help and guide you if things breakdown. We apologize for the issues you've encountered during your trip, but we are glad to hear you enjoyed every seconds of it. We are excited to hear back from you for your next trip! Thank you for being a loyal customer.

All the detail I needed was provided…

All the detail I needed was provided and the booking experience was easy. I later had to cancel my trip and there was no delay in processing my refund. I will use again at another time.

Date of experience : November 22, 2023

Thank you for your review. I am sorry to hear you had to cancel your trip, we will be here to assist you on your next trip and thank you for choosing Cruise America.

you ph ucks want to charge a cleaning…

you ph ucks want to charge a cleaning fee for about 12-15 hairs. PH UCK YOU. And I put up a yelp saying so. Everything was fine until AFTER I paid to clean out the camper before I treturned it. Then your ph ucking punk ass cleaner boy says to me, "well you got ripped off for the cleaning then" PH UCK YOU. I am going to my bank and credit card and am disputing the charges...

Date of experience : September 23, 2023

Robert, We are terribly sorry to hear that you are unsatisfied with our cleaning fees. We try and make these fees abundantly clear to our renters prior to ever receiving the vehicle. The information is available on your pre-departure paperwork and requires the renter's initials acknowledging the fee. We have an obligation to the next renter that they are going to receive a clean and well maintained vehicle. Part of this means that we want to ensure that any allergens, such as pet hair, regardless of amount are removed. Kindest regards, Cruise America Customer Relations

Great experience

Heath was friendly, fast, efficient & just a pleasure to work with. Thank you!

Date of experience : March 02, 2024

The agent I spoke with was amazing

The agent I spoke with was amazing. He went above and beyond to find an RV. He was patient and professional. It's rare these days to get this type of service

Date of experience : January 20, 2024

Hi Mark, We really appreciate your review, glad to hear that our reservation agent were able to accommodate for your trip and for being patience and professional. We can not wait to hear about your trip and for your next trip!

Everything they promised in their ad came through

We booked the van for a special event. The event has been canceled. In less than a day of notifying Cruise America, they cancelled everything for us without a question. FIRST CLASS Service, for sure.

Date of experience : October 01, 2023

Hi Carl, We are glad we were able to cancel your reservation with any issues. We hope to hear back from you for your next event!

Very friendly & helpful

Date of experience : March 19, 2024

Hi David, Thank you for your review and recognizing our friendly and helpful service. We hope you enjoy your upcoming trip and we are excited to hear from you again!

Easy to deal with!

The staff at Cruise America are professional and cordial. It’s a real pleasure talking with them on the phone both headquarters and local.

Date of experience : October 17, 2023

Hi Ronald, Thank you for your feedback and we are glad you had cordial experience with Cruise America employees. We are excited to hear back from you to book your next trip!

The process was fast and efficient

The process was fast and efficient. The agent was very helpful in applying the discount coupon with a good savings.

Date of experience : January 10, 2024

Hi Anthony, Thank you for booking with Cruise America. We are glad to hear your experience was fast and efficient. Welcome and we can't wait to hear from you for your next trip!

Employee was friendly

Employee was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. He made us comfortable in our decisions.

Date of experience : February 14, 2024

Hi Gregory, Thank you for your review and recognizing our employee was friendly knowledgeable and helpful. We are excited to hear about your trip and more upcoming trips!

they were very knowledgeable and made…

they were very knowledgeable and made me feel very good about renting the unit

Date of experience : February 21, 2024

Hi David, Thank you for your review and recognizing how knowledgeable our Reservation agent was. We are glad you feel good about renting an RV, we hope you will have a great time! We are excited to hear about your trip and to hear from you again for your next trip!

After months of trying to resolve with…

After months of trying to resolve with CruiseAmerica after renting an RV with a bacteria-filled water tank, the only thing they will offer is a gift certificate for future use. Do not recommend it. My response to your comment: I have already been in touch with your customer relations for months and the most you would offer was a $300 gift certificate. The only acceptable solution to me is a REFUND. I wasted a whole day and had to abruptly end my trip with my two toddlers because of your inability to deliver a quality product. Your customer relations and the agency I rented from both tried to pass me off to the other so that neither of you would have to resolve the issue. You refer to the contract that I accepted the RV "as-is" fully aware that it would have been impossible to verify this until connecting the RV to a water source at my destination. Customers - get your RV from a company that actually stands by their promise of quality.

Date of experience : August 01, 2023

Hi Melissa, we are sincerely sorry to hear about the issue you had with the water tank. We definitely understand the frustration so, please continue to email us at [email protected] so we can continue dialogue and provide a better offer or solution to make things right.

Great staff!

Unfortunately, we had to cancel at the last minute however your staff was great throughout the process!

Date of experience : December 13, 2023

Hi Scott, Thank you for your review and glad we were able to make the process great for you. Hope to hear from you soon for your next trip!

Great Way to Move our Cats to Florida

We moved from Michigan to Florida and were worried how to move our cats that far when they hate being in cages. I saw that Cruise America offered one way pet friendly RV rentals. This worked perfectly! I was able to find a one way special to take an RV from Chicago, IL, to Orlando, FL. The only "issues" we had was how long it took too pick up the RV. It was on the north side of Chicago and the pick up appointments we running late. We did not get done as soon as we would have liked to beat the traffic but it worked out. We loaded up and left Michigan the next day. The RV was great for the cats to roam around or sleep on the trip to Florida.

Date of experience : July 22, 2023

Hi Melissa, We are proud to be "pet friendly" company, because we love our pets. We are glad you had a success trip one-way. We are excited to hear back from you again for your next trip!

Heath was very personable

Heath was very personable, professional and very informative, which was very appreciated. Excellent customer service. Keep up the great work.

Date of experience : February 27, 2024

Hi Valorie, Thank you for your review and recognizing Heath from reservation of his professional and being very informative. We hope to hear from again for this trip and for more to come with Cruise America!

The service rep was funny

The service rep was funny, friendly and helpful. Really gave the whole interaction a pleasant experience. Theresa was awesome.

Date of experience : November 21, 2023

Hi Howard, thank you for your awesome review. We always recommend calling into our reservation to assist with your booking and make sure you understand what you are renting and paying for. Theresa and us are excited to hear back from you again on your next booking!

I love renting from Cruise America

I love renting from Cruise America! They are always friendly and do their best to accommodate any request.

Date of experience : November 09, 2023

Hi Kitrina, glad to hear we are able to accommodate for your request. We are excited to hear from you again on your next trip!