Dubai to Southampton 19 days

Arrived Dubai airport which was chaos,around 3,000 trying to get through security and no directions of which queue to use. Breakfast at hotel and then onto the ship, by the time we boarded it was late afternoon. (poor organisation) We had booked a cabin with restricted view but this was with an obliterated view due to a large life boat across the large window which is repeated along the whole ship. (Do not book a restricted view cabin)
We could not obtain any veterans discount as on a previous P&O Cruise and other Cruise Lines or any on board spend.
Drinks were expensive and the waiter service was hit and miss. There are far too many activities as many conflict with each other, better organisation required.
The entertainment was dire, only a couple of acts just passable apart from a lecture by an ex fleet street photographer.
The food was not to an acceptable standard, all the veg was only just warm and the waiter had to be asked to make sure we received it hot. I requested only peas and carrots and he obliged but even these became just warm and I declined any further veg.
Some ship areas were cold, the wife having to rap her legs and body one day to keep warm in the cabin, many others stating the same.
On the last few nights we had a banging noise in our cabin which became louder and after much chasing of the reception and demanding maintenance to attend we finally received two personnel from that department. Yes he knew what the problem was but then complete silence form them both. I asked how long it would take to rectify the problem, his response being that they could not carry out any repair as they did not know if they would be able to replace all the parts in time. (it was three days since reporting this and was now the last day before Southampton) It was agreed that his superior would visit our cabin when my wife returned around 4 o’clock and discuss moving into another cabin but we never had any visit from anyone. (Good customer relations) We found out later that we were not the only ones with this problem.
All the staff are mostly Indian, which I have no problem with, but they did not fully understand what you were requesting and many were hard to understand when speaking.
The last Cruise on Ventura was bad enough but this was the worst one to date.
We have used Crystal, Cunard , and Royal Caribbean previously and for a lively and active time we prefer Royal. The entertainment is far above anything that we have experienced with P&O, better than what is on the TV. They also provide an option of a full drinks package and the staff are excellent with language and service, and they provide a discount for veterans. We received better service travelling to Manchester Airport and back from Southampton by train as they provided assistance at every station. We highly recommend that service.
Would we recommend P&O.? I leave that for you to decide.!!!