We sailed the Golden Princess on the April 10, 2004 cruise. We traveled with four teenage boys, six of us all together. We had two cabins, and the balcony door was opened in the middle for us, so we were adjoined in that way.
The Golden is a beautiful ship. She is certainly impressive at first sight, and even more so once you are inside. The staff was very polite and attentive, to the boys as well as my husband and I. They treated the kids like adults.
Our cabin was kept immaculate, even though our cabin steward was very discreet with his presence. Our cabin was very comfortable, we had plenty of room to move around and plenty of storage for our clothes. The balcony is a really nice addition. If you sail on a ship with balcony cabins, go for it. It is worth the extra money. Although we did not spend a lot of time in our rooms, the balcony was a wonderful escape from everything with the opportunity to enjoy being at sea.