Sadly, this also sort of mirrors my experiences on EK of late.

When Emirates first came into being there really was no-one who came close to them in terms of service. They were one of the best but sadly, have simply sat on their laurels for the last few years.
Catering has most definitely taken a dive (I recently had THE very worst meal I have EVER had on any flight anywhere in the world) and the standards have, in my mind at least, dropped seriously of late.

But the biggest problem are the inconsistencies in service, from the really quite laughable lottery of seats in J & F to the extremes of crew quality, which really can range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I will continue using them for now at least because the chauffeur service is one of the few remaining genuine benefits (and because I can't bear the thought of having to fly Big Airways and change at T5, as I live in the Midlands) but like DTB, I too have my eye on Ethiad and Qatar for future travel. . .