Cruising on board of modern ships is already quite exciting. Visiting Alaska is one of most unique sightseeing one can imagine. Combine both, and you get truly once in a lifetime experience!
We decided to book our Alaska cruise with NCL for very simple reason: we cruised on Norwegian Spirit in 2005 and were pretty satisfied - so you can call us loyal NCL customers.
With the party of 5 we could not fit one cabin, and NCL site does not allow you to book two at once, so my wife decided to call. Overall, dealing with NCL over the phone was quite pleasant - live person picks up the phone quick, and is able to address your questions and issues quickly. However, net win was marginal, because they had to make two separate reservations anyway. It is not a big deal, however created us some hiccups trying to book shore excursions from two accounts at the same time.
Either way, booking of the cruise and shore excursions as well as on-line check-in on the NCL web-site were overall quite pleasant and convenient.
Cruise was rountrip Seattle, so to get there from Boston we had to fly, which I generally hate - especially speaking of 5 hr long flight. Jet Blue made it as nice as possible - simple on-line booking and check-in, no lines to drop-off luggage, leather seats with reasonable leg room... The only thing one needs to keep in mind is the fact that they cut costs by all possible means - so, they charge you for meals and even for headphones (bring your own, any standard headphones will do).