We are a family of experienced cruisers (2 adults, one teenager) with more than 20 total cruises on five or six different lines. This is our second NCL cruise.
We flew into Seattle and took the Go Shuttle from SeaTac airport to downtown hotel for $12 per person. Great deal, convenient, and much cheaper than a taxi, limo, or cruise line transportation.
On the afternoon of embarkation, went to the pier, and found that the boarding formalities, in spite of long lines. were moving speedily and we were on board in less than 45 minutes from arrival at the pier. We knew that the staterooms would not be open before 1 pm, and so there was no reason to rush to get on board. So we slept in at our hotel, had brunch there, and then went to the pier at about 1:30 pm.