We were an extended family of 10 on our first cruise. Grandparents, and two couples (brother and sister) with our spouses and kids. We had a teenager, then a 8 year old and two 7 years olds. Everyone had a wonderful time.
We went up the night before and stayed at the Seaport Marina Hotel and used their Park and Cruise feature. This hotel was a bit run down but a good value. We paid $89 for our rooms which included parking for one week. The breakfast there was very inexpensive and quite good. My spouse and my brother dropped us off at the Queen Mary and the porters took the luggage for us. They took the cars back to the hotel and took a taxi back to meet us. This cost an extra $20 for them to share a taxi. The downside to this is that it took a while. We then went to the Queen Mary and used the early check in feature which I highly recommend. We did have to wait in line for a while, and boarded the ship at 12:30. We proceeded directly to our rooms, 5216, 5214, and 5212. The rooms were on the upper deck. They were clean and ready for us. We were very pleased with the bedding since there were nice comfy duvet covers that obviously were fresh and cleaned for you. They did not have an bedspread that someone else had used. Later in the evening, they take down the upper bunk and my older son (8 years old) really liked it. My 17 year old nephew liked it also.
A buffet was ready at the Mermaid's Grille on the Lido deck. We are are a family that cooks a lot from scratch and we were impressed with the food and the variety. Everything was fresh and well prepared. The pizza got a thumbs up from the pickiest teenager.