We were on the first Alaskan (May 3-10). Here are my reviews from another thread:
Skagway: Yukon exploration with White Pass RR and dog sledding through Chilkoot Charters...this was FANTASTIC! Our favorite experience by far
Juneau: Whale Watching and Mendenhall Glacier...also loved this. Saw humpbacks up pretty close, sea lions, porpoises and bald eagles. They served drinks and snacks (salmon, crackers, chocolate) and had a restroom onboard. They also had a naturalist onboard to talk about the whales and we learned a lot. The boat is enclosed, but you can go out the back or front when they find the whales. Glacier was gorgeous and you could walk pretty close, nice trails and visitors center but only 1 hour there and it goes by quickly. I would probably not do the whale watching again simply b/c we saw so many from our verandah, though the tour was great. The 9:30 whale watchers didn't see whales and got their money back. We also did Historic Gold Panning Adventure that afternoon, since we were back at the ship in time to do another tour. Very fun. They took us to Gold Creek, where Juneau himself struck gold, and let us pan. This is really great for kids, especially in the 7-11 range. Get your feet wet and find some riches! The kids in our tour loved it. They do make sure everyone "finds" gold by giving you your first pan from their stock of sand. You get flakes and they will put them in a vial for you.
Ketchikan: My DD and I did the Potlatch Park with youth activity tour. We really liked this. You visit the totem park with a guide and he did a great job of telling some kid-friendly stories about the totems (like how one is their version of Hansel and Gretel). It didn't last too long and let the kids get up close with the totems. Then we met the carver at Potlatch Park and got to see her studio. After a quick visit to the clan house and some questions from the kids,
DCL youth counselors magically appeared to help the kids paint feather-scales for the totem that is being erected. We then explored the town a bit and went to the DCL Lumberjack Show (I just bought tickets for this on the lumberjack show website...you don't have to book through DCL...it isn't literally "exclusive," though I suspect it will fill up later in the season). This was wonderful! You should definitely do it. Kids loved it. Loved. Lots of participation for the 7+ set. My parents did a trolley tour of the town and said it sucked. They also visited Saxman village and said that without a guide, it was a waste of time b/c they didn't know what they were looking at.
Interesting that the next cruise's Whale Watching adventure had loads more people. Ours was probably 35 on the boat and it was a small, fast boat, not a double-decker. We also had longer at the Glacier.