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Yes, Alaska or the Canadian North are good places for aurora, with much more regularity than the south due the the latitudes you can achieve while still being in fairly civilised areas and also could prove cheaper to get to than New Zealand. As an example, Queenstown, on the south island of NZ, is only 45 degrees south. That is the northern hemisphere equivalent of Portland. As you are well aware, there is much of North America north of that point.
From growing up in Alberta at 52 degrees north, I remember having visible aurora at least once a week during winter months around solar maximum, and often strings of 4-5 nights in a row. It was hardly predictable that far south though.
Places like Alaska, Whitehorse, and Yellowknife are all situated well inside the normal range of the auroral oval. Other factors to consider are length of day and season; for example you'll have a tough time spotting aurora in Anchorage from May through September, when the sky there never really gets all that dark.
While your best bet might be Fairbanks in January, it would not only be in the wrong month for you, but it would be damn cold, especially on a boat. You'd have to pry her gloves off to stick the ring on.
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