We have been on the golden princess twice. THere are many good things to say about the ship and the experience. The food is much better than disney's--especially the buffet.
The personal choice dining was great for us in terms of convenience. The drawback is that the wait staff is not incented to be friendly or attentive. You get different waiters every night and that makes a difference. Of course, you could opt for the traditional dining with the same wait staff every night. We just preferred flexibility.
The staterooms are clean, well maintained, but smaller than disney. There is plenty of storage space. The cabin stewards on both golden sailings were EXCELLENT. Friendly, efficient, courteous. ANy time we went into and out of the cabins, they went right in and cleaned up. They were always smiling and greeted us by name.
The big down side is that although there is a kids club and plenty for the kids to do, they are not really "welcome" THere were many older folks and some of the ship's staff as well, that seemed less than pleased to have so many kids on the ship. THat being said, the pool areas never felt as claustrophobic as on the disney ships. WHile I like the overall
DCL experience, the pools drove me completely nuts. It has got to be a saafety hazard to allow so many kids in the mickey and goofy pools at once. THese pools were so busy and so loud that my husband really would prefer never to go on disney again. It is that crowded and uncomfortable. I am surprised that the magic and wonder do not have more bathing options. THe only rules the lifeguards enforced were the keeping the babies out of the pool. Parents also do not watch their kids. It made me nuts.
On princess, WE always got deck chairs when we wanted them.
Disney had first run movies on the ship and we really enjoyed that. Princess had movies that were alreadyout on DVD showing in their theatres.
ALl of this being said--these are both beautiful, exciting superb ships and we would go on either one again in a heartbeat. No vacation is perfect. We just try to keep our expectations realistic. Princess has cruisers on board. On the disney ships, it always feels like we are in the theme parks. That is good and bad!
