We sailed out of Seattle on Sunday afternoon August 26th, after an extremely easy boarding process, from curb to ship probably taking only 15-20 minutes in all. Rooms are not open until 1:30 pm or so, but Norwegian allows boarding from 11:30 am or thereabouts, so at least you are on the ship even if you can't get into your room for a while.
We live in Seattle, so it was nice to get on the Pearl full of energy, and not exhausted after a long flight and a cab from the airport.
The Pearl was launched in November 2006, and it does look like a new ship, although the bright colors may be a little too overwhelming at first! Don't want to be hung over and walk through this ship.