We were there the middle of July - we took the Princess roundtrip San Francisco cruise through the inside passage. Can't say that I "saw" Alaska, but I did see a very pretty part of it, along with those awesome whales. We went into Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. I enjoyed getting to visit the places that I had read about in Michener's "Alaska", especially Skagway.
Someday I'd like to take a trip through Denali National Park...then I will feel like I can actually say that I've "seen" Alaska.
Having visited SE Alaska, you might enjoy reading 'George Carmack' by James Albert Johnson.
link
It was an interesting story, and lots of gold rush history is down in that area.