As a true "lover of cruises", I believe that the Queen Mary 2 is the best cruise I've ever taken. What a magnificent ship.
Starting in London, which is such a great city, we had a ship transfer from Victoria Station. The bus station was EXTREMELY crowded, and we were ok to get through the crowds with luggage, but I don't know how an older person could have done it without falling over or getting a little beaten. Once we were on the bus, things were fine. The ride was about 2 hours to the port, which was longer than I expected, but ended up fine.
The ship was a definite presence in the yard. Quite a big lady - although beautiful. The lines to get on the ship were very long, unfortunately, but once we boarded the ship, things went exceedingly smooth.