We're taking a cruise southbound from Whittier to Vancouver on Princess in May. It will be my husband, his best friend, and his wife. The other couple have never cruised before, and they don't go on vacation unless we go with them. Anyway, this is our first trip to Alaska as well. With all of the resources on the internet, I've been able to book our independent travel to Denali from Anchorage, as well as our independent whale watching tour in Juneau.
We purchased the Northern Lights coupon book which gave us 2-for-1 travel on Alaska Railroads (www.akrr.com) for our Anchorage-Denali-Anchorage trip, as well as our Anchorage-Whittier train trip. (There is a coupon, I believe, for Anchorage to Seward.) We also took advantage of the lodging special with Denali Resorts (www.denaliparkresorts.com) to stay in the Grande Denali Lodge for two nights for the price of one. A lot of this "special pricing" is due to us being there so early in the season--- so it may not apply to your travel.
The point is, however, with a little bit of internet surfing, you can create your own "cruisetour" for way less than what you're paying through the ship... and not be in large groups going at someone else's pace.
Our private whale watching tour out of Juneau is on Harv&Marv's (www.harvandmarvs.com). Our excursion only holds 6 travelers, so at most, there will only be one other couple on board with us that we won't know. It cost about the same for the 4 of us as it would have had we booked it through Princess--- but the tour through Princess would have been on a much bigger boat, with probably 50 of our "closest" friends ;)
Here are some links that may help you in your planning:
Ketchikan
Ketchikan Webcam - http://www.earthcam.com/usa/alaska/ketchikan/
http://www.visit-ketchikan.com/
http://www.ketchikanchamber.com/
http://www.ketchikan.com/
http://www.ketchikanonline.com/
http://www.city.ketchikan.ak.us/
Juneau
http://www.traveljuneau.com/
www.juneau.com
http://www.juneauempire.com/
http://www.juneaualaska.com/
Tours (Multiple Places)
http://alaska.org
http://www.graylinealaska.com/
http://www.majormarine.com
http://www.alaskatravel.com
http://www.alaskahiking.com/
http://www.alaskantoursandvacations.com
http://www.allenmarinetours.com/index.html
http://www.bestofalaskatravel.com/
http://www.temscoair.com/
http://www.alaskagalore.com/
http://www.mtsobek.com/alaska_Discovery/
http://www.theboatcompany.com/
http://www.alaskaadventures.com/
http://www.mightygreattrips.com/index.htm
http://www.goldbelttours.com
http://cyclealaska.com/
http://www.alaskaalpineadventures.com/
http://alaskaview.com/
Denali
http://reservedenali.com/
http://www.nps.gov/dena
http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisi...-schedules.htm
http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisi...and-hikes.html
http://www.kantishnaroadhouse.com/home.htm
http://alaska.org/denali/hiking.htm
http://alaska.org/denali/mckinley-chalet.jsp
http://www.denaliparkresorts.com
http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/gui.../overview.html
http://www.denali-cabins.com/
http://www.flyrusts.com/webcam.html
http://www.denalirivercabins.com/
http://www.mckinleycabins.com
Seward
http://www.kenaifjords.com/
http://www.seward.com
http://www.renowntours.com/
http://www.alaskasealife.org/
http://www.alaskasaltwaterlodge.com/
http://www.alaskadogsled.com/
http://vangilderhotel.com
http://www.breezeinn.com
Cheers,
Pam