My daughter and I cruised to Alaska aboard the Norwegian Pearl this June. We were very excited because our last cruise experience a couple of years ago with Royal Caribbean was fantastic!
We flew into Seattle the night before the cruise. We arrived at the Port around 12:30 embarkation day. There was a fairly long line to get checked in and boarded, but the weather was pleasant and we enjoyed chatting with our fellow travelers, so that wasn't a big deal. I think it took about an hour, maybe a little less to get boarded.
Once we got on board, we were told our cabins wouldn't be ready until 2:00, so we started exploring the ship. To me, the decor was OK, neither impressive nor offensive.