I thought I would add to this thread with my recent experience of Emirates in J class (all sectors were in J). I travelled from LHR - SYD via DXB. I used the non-stop service from DXB - SYD on the A340-500. I hope Swiss Tony does not mind me hijacking this thread!

So these are the negative points: -

• I still do not think that enough focus is placed on safety demonstrations; they happen with little warning and go on and on.
• Cabin announcements are completely inaudible - turn the volume up a little
• The 777-200 has very limited legroom (46"?) and the IFE in this case was not ICE (I was not expecting ICE, so this was not a problem). I am surprised that this aircraft is still in service on the LHR - DXB route given the competition from Virgin, BA and probably also Etihad. If the person in the row in front reclines, it is very difficult for anyone not on the aisle to get out.
• The food service can be unbearably long and random in its delivery (people being missed out, orders not being taken etc.) - there was no problem with drinks taking a long time as have been reported previously. The food on the journey out of LHR and from DXB - SYD was pretty bad (overcooked and/or dry) some of it was also VERY heavily spiced catering more for an far eastern taste.
• The seat on the A340-500 is bizarre. The massage function is great, but the positions of the seat itself are strange. The controls are fiddly, and do not always do what you think they should. It was not possible to sleep on my side during this journey as the seat does not go flat enough to allow this. I am not surprised that this seat has not made an appearance on the 777-300ER. I am generally surprised at the fact that Emirates are continuing to roll out a non-flat seat given the increasing competition on this route.
• The lounge in Dubai does get very crowded very quickly, there is not enough seating for all the passengers who need it. The plus point was that some of the staff were helping passengers to find seats, the negative was that passengers were getting irate with staff because of the lack of seating - but what can the staff do except report difficulties to management?
• There are not enough toilets in the lounge - there is always a queue for the loos at peak times. I did notice about showers, but I could not see where they were.
• Boarding is still a little chaotic - even though they call you from the lounge, they are not always ready to get you onto the aircraft when you arrive at the lounge. At DXB they were very protective over the First Class cabin and did not allow passengers to board through the first/business dedicated air bridge.

And now for the good points!

• The chauffeur drive service is outstanding – a real plus point (even on a companion fare, we got two cars in London to and from the airport). The only problem was that one of us did not confirm the journey on the way back, and as a result there was no car scheduled for pick up in London. This was quickly rectified by the guy behind the desk, the drawback being I got the reserve idiot driver who took the most bizarre route back to my home. This took 2 hours for a journey that shouldn’t have been more than an hour, frustrating, but seeing as I had nowhere to go (urgently) this was not a problem.
• The new lounge at Sydney is great, the only drawback being that they have only installed 2 cubicles in the men’s loo for the capacity of the lounge (this is just plain silly).
• The food from Sydney right through to London was much better (for some reason).
• I do like the concept of the multi lingual and multi ethnic cabin crew.
• The cabin crew on the service from SYD - DXB were very good (friendly, efficient and interested).
• The pitch on the 777-300ER is fantastic - all aircraft like this please Emirates!
• I made Skywards Silver on the return journey (bad news is that my next journey will mean that I do not make Gold because Skywards run the January - December membership period).
• ICE is good, but I would not rate it as highly as others have. There is an absolutely enormous list of films and TV. I managed to get through a couple of films, but did not find very much that I really wanted to watch. They do have a big selection of TV programmes, but they could offer more of each series. I watched 6 episodes of Friends, 3 episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, 6 episodes of Kath and Kim, 3 episodes of Prison Break and bits of other series. On journeys of this length, more episodes would be useful - how often do Emirates rotate/change their content? Even with this much choice, I could see it getting repetitive after a couple of journeys (that’s right, customers always want more!).
• Can't think of anything else right now, but if I do, I will add to this list...

Overall, a good trip, at £2,100 per person, this is cheaper than my next trip to Perth at Christmas which is coming in at £2,400 for a shorter journey.