Our cruise on the Golden Princess was our 25th cruise so we do have a basis for comparison. Our cruise departed Ft Lauderdale on 3/13 and the destinations were St Martin, St Thomas and Princess Cay. Just prior to leaving on our cruise I read a review on the Golden Princess which was written by a very unhappy cruiser who had sailed the same itinerary on 2/4/2004. Based on that review I was not looking forward to our cruise.
That review was way off the mark. Our cruise on the Golden Princess was one of the best that we have in the 25 previous cruises we have taken. Starting at the begriming, embarkation was very smooth. We arrived at the port and within 30 minutes we were in our cabin. We had one of the mini-suites on the Dolphin deck. The cabin was well laid out, had plenty of room and had a balcony. If there was one thing that could have been improved, it was that the balcony did not have a cover so it was wide open to all of the cabins above us. This did not bother me, but did bother my wife. Our cabin attendant James was the best we have ever had.
We had requested traditional dining, but there was a waiting list, so we did not get it and had personal choice dining. We were very happy with personal choice dining in the Donatello dining room. We had the a standing reservation each evening at 6:30pm at the same table. This permitted us to to get to the early show each evening. The operation of the Donatello dining room was the best that we have ever experienced. It was extremely professional (a five start dining experience). There was no interrupting our dinner while the dining room staff sang songs or paraded around the dining room with baked alaska. It has a real 5 star feel and the food choices, preparation and presentation were superb. Our waiter (Valentina) was superb. The entire dining room staff deserves a lot of credit. Next time we will request personal choice dining. The Lido provided excellent choices and again the food was very high quality for a cafeteria.