My husband and I as well as my parents cruised on Norwegian Spirit from 9/3-9/10 to Alaska. This was our third cruise, my parents first. Our first two cruises were in the Caribbean, one with Carnival and one with Royal Caribbean.
Embarkation: This was absolutely the best and smoothest transition we ever encountered. All of the embarkation staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. We arrived at the port at 11:20 am and we were in our room at 12:15. UNBELIEVABLE. Everything went very quickly. Kudos to NCL for mastering this normally frustrating process.
Rooms: We upgraded at the last minute to a balcony cabin, and I will advise if it is anywhere remotely possible, get a balcony!!!! There is so much beautiful scenery in Alaska and the public rooms with windows are very crowded and it is difficult to get a seat by the windows. Most of the trip it is pretty cold to be out on the deck, so having a balcony was GREAT!!! We would go out to get pictures, and then come back into the warm cabin. And let me just say the scenery in Alaska is FANTASTIC.