s1362083 The equipment swaps last year and this year were announced and publicised on this forum in the various 'Operational changes' threads before they were implemented. In fact some provisional swaps for next year have already been announced. If you follow those threads then you should be reasonably sure of an A380.
Unfortunately if you do not have a First class boarding pass then you will not be given access to Al Safwa. This would not apply if you arrive into DOH on longhaul F, but even there there are changes to the rules being implemented.