Review: Emirates First Class 777-300ER Dubai to Male

Introduction
Planning & Booking
American Express Centurion Lounge DFW
Emirates A380 First Class Dallas to Dubai
Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates 777-300ER First Class Dubai to Male
Transfer to Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Resort & Park Villa
Park Hyatt Maldives - Water Villa
Transfer to Male
Singapore Airlines 777-200ER Business Class Male to Singapore
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Singapore Airlines The Private Room Singapore
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Singapore to Hong Kong
Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First Class Hong Kong to San Francisco

We boarded from the Emirates First Class lounge which basically means you get your boarded pass scanned at the "gate" in the lounge, talk an elevator down to the concourse and walk straight to the jet bridge (cursory boarding pass glance on the way).  The boarding area had already been cleared out so when we stepped on the plane, we were amongst the last passengers to board.

This flight was scheduled to be operated by an older version of Emirates' First Class Suite.  The flight to Male is under 4 hours during the day so that didn't matter much to us.  We were pleasantly surprised when we stepped onto the plane to see Emirates' "new" first class.  The seat is essentially the same as the A380 seat - just a little bit narrower.

Emirates 777-300ER First Class

Mini bar in the air

Since we flying into Male, we both selected window seats (1K/2K) so we could enjoy the views.

Dom, Date,  Arabic Coffee

We settled in with a glass of Champagne (Dom Perignon 2005) while the crew made final preparations for departure.  Interestingly enough, we had another American captain on this sector.     You realize the world is small when you are flying on a Middle Eastern airline from Dubai to the middle of nowhere with an American at the controls.  Pretty cool.

Emily enjoying her suite

Dates and Arabic Coffee were served before we pushed back on time.  There was some phenomenal plane spotting during taxi and amazing views of Dubai during the climb.

DXB Terminal 3

Emirates A380 

Emirates A380

Dubai from the air

Once up in the air, the crew kept the Dom flowing and served a paired down (but still excellent) Arabic Mezze.  I finished lunch off with a cappuccino and stared at the window at nothing but water for awhile.

Arabic Mezze

Pretty soon we were approaching Male and the views we expected did not disappoint.  

Imagine flying this plane from Denver to NYC?  The flight was exactly what you would expect for a 4 hour day flight on Emirates.  Great food, wine, service, seat, and amenities.

Middle East 3

We had already traveled 10,500 miles to this point.  We were VERY excited to be <300 miles away from paradise!  Landing was smooth and we pulled up next to a Qatar A330 preparing to depart for Doha.  We were soon in the immigration line to enter Maldives and begin our journey to the Park Hyatt!!