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Taken November 2007 from Auckland (International) - AKL to Melbourne, Victoria (Tullamarine International Airport) - MEL

Emirates First Class - yes the service and comfort really is as good as its cracked up to be. Compartments were heavenly, entertainment options were boundless, comfort exceeded anything else on land or in the air.

However, there were a couple of issues.

1. The food - on the way over it was high class and acceptable given the restraints on preparation, however on the return the lamb meal was chewy and bland. Generally the food was conservative and underspiced. The return trip, which was a morning flight, had no breakfast (as it was a connecting flight), only lunch (shabby considering we boarded around 8am), and that was below the standard of Air NZ cattle class.

2. The bilingual announcements - surely when you have noise canceling headphones it would be possible to eliminate having to listen to every announcement twice including once in a language you don't speak. As each announcement blocked out whatever you were watching it became quite annoying.

The Dom Perignon was sublime, and the red we had was gorgeous, and there were plenty of beautiful and considerate touches. The lounges were also excellent.

It isn't often that we fly First Class, and this was only done because of a special deal - around $1200 each return. Given the amount of $400/bottle champagne that was flowing, it was worth every cent. The only time I have ever been disappointed that the plane has actually landed.

Would I fly on this service again? For the same price -most definitely. For the standard price - no - there's more important things to spend money on, no matter how much you have. Definitely something everyone should try at least once. There's a sale on first class flights to Europe coming up - I'll be crunching numbers to see if its doable.