I will warn you all in advance. This may be the longest trip report/review ever! But I hope you enjoy it anyway. Maybe make some coffee before you start reading&&&
A little background about us before I get too far: this cruise was a sister-sister trip. We are both in our early-mid 30s. This is my second cruise (previously sailed on the Elation) and my sisters first. We usually take land-based vacations (Hawaii, Mexico, Caribbean, etc), but thought wed give cruising a try. We took the Eastern Caribbean itinerary to Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten.
We arrived in Miami on Saturday to extend our vacation and enjoy South Beach. Our flight landed around 3:15 with no problems, and we took a taxi ($32 pre-tip) to our hotel, the Marseilles, on Collins. Now, as far as South Beach is concerned, hotels are very expensive, but you do get what you pay for in this town. We paid a travel-agent rate for this hotel, and I am glad it was pretty reasonable, because the hotel needs a lot of work. The lobby was nice enough, and service was pretty good, but the room itself had some serious problems. The bathroom had cracked tile, the sink drained very slowly, and the shower had zero water pressure. Also, one of the two beds creaked terribly (overuse by previous guests???). To be fair, the room was very clean, with no sign of any bugs, and it was quiet. We also ate breakfast in their front-patio cafe, and thought it was excellent. Try their French toast and pancake options, they were delicious! Service was a bit slow, but not too bad.