I wanted to follow-up RE: my original post. We did in fact travel to Alaska in early July of this year. It was wonderful!
We planned 8 days on land using your advice, Trip Advisor and friends input. We used VRBO for most of our lodging needs and were very satisfied. Our first four days were in the Denali area. We enjoyed hiking and taking in lots of sights. We had hoped to see Denali but by day 3 things weren't looking good. Fortunately on day 4 the skies opened up and we took our pre-arranged flight to view the mountain - it was FABULOUS!!! While in Denali we saw Grizzly with her cubs, moose and lots of other animals. We spent time in Whittier and Seward areas as well. Exit Glacier, water excursion etc. We boarded a cruise ship in Seward and sailed for 8 days ending in Vancouver. While on the ship we arranged for two excursions. The Tracy Arm Fjord and White Summit Rail - both were great in their own unique ways!! In Vancouver we rented a car and drove to Seattle where we had a quick visit with family. We were gone a total of 17 days. We compared notes with friends of ours who had just completed an 8 day cruise with 3 days on land (via the cruise line). They were envious of all we had done and the much more reasonable cost of ours vs. the tour they purchased. Thank you to everyone for your input!!