We took our first Etihad long haul in J the other day AUH-SYD and the service was abysmal.
Everyone had to use the call button for anything during the flight. The cabin crew did not proactively walk through the cabin and on the rare occasion one did dart through, they tried to avoid any contact with passengers.
No water top ups, just terrible service.
I will see what they are like on return but so far their hype far exceeds their reality. EK and QR are light years in front (each for their own reasons).