which do you prefer?

I'm wondering whether you prefer the Star or the Golden. Why?

Same ships with very few differences.

Whichever one I can book a cruise on will be my favorite.

Golden had a weird retrofit which involved moving the Casino from Deck 6 to Deck 7 resulting in traffic to and from the Princess Theater forced to pass through. Also there is the clusterflop of the entrances to the Lotus Spa and the Kid's Clubs right next to each other on Deck 15 forward. Star has neither of those anomalies; if you plan to frequent either the Casino or Spa regularly access is much easier on her.

Golden had a weird retrofit which involved moving the Casino from Deck 6 to Deck 7. Also there is the clusterflop of the entrances to the Lotus Spa and the Kid's Clubs right next to each other on Deck 15 forward. Star has neither of those anomalies; if you expect to frequent either the Casino or Spa regularly access is much easier on her.

That would be the refit that added in the Window Suites. If you are interested in checking out a Window Suite - full suite benefits but no balcony and often priced at about the same cost as a mini-suite - then Golden is the ship. Star doesn't have the Window Suites.

We sailed the Golden a cruise or 2 after the major refit on 2009 with the addition of the IC/Crown Grill etc. They did a fantastic job.

We would pick the Golden.