We did RCCL 1 way from Vamcouver to Seward in early June of 2023 and a land tour as far north as Fairbanks(20+ hours of daylight is a trip).

Weather was great but you need to be prepared for anything at any time.

On the Radiance of the seas the outdoor pools were heated and were hotter than the hot tub. This was a great break after a port day.

We didn't see Glacier Bay but did see Hubbard. They did have a naturalist on the boat talking and answering questions. My research suggested that you have more time seeing Glacier Bay but Hubbard is closer and more expansive. But weather and other ships could make either experience vary. We balanced the less time from Hubbard by hiking on and to glaciers in our excursions. In Seward we took a small ship to Kenai Fords NP where we were close to a Glacier and had a great day.

For 1 way crusies that take the inside passage the side of the ship matters less as you will have land on both sides for some parts.

For cabin selection we had 1 balcony and got lucky to get a second balcony for less that it would have been straightaway via the last minute upgrade program all lines seem to have these days. Again availability will drive this opportunity. We had inside cabins as well which we have had on other ships and are fine with.

If price is a factor i would recommend spending on excursions over the cabin. We tried to get out of town at least part of each port day to experience the land. We have many more memories of those different places vs our cabin. We also found lots of viewpoints on the ship, like at dinner where we were close to windows that was 1.5 hours of view each night. But if you spend alot of time in the cabin not sleeping then it should be a higher priority.

We also used an RV and train to get around for our land tour, but we like these modes of transportation. The RV(not the latest model year but was still nice) was similar in cost to renting a large suv even if you were not using it for accommodations(we only used it for sleeping one night where a child and adult fit better in thr RV). Gas may have put it over the top but our grouo appreciated the ability to move around while driving.

For planning, I started from the cruise ship land tours to get ideas and if you are a planner you can find what that they have and do it independently. You want the train car they have with a outside balcony you can do it independently, you want the nice lodge outside of Denali you can book it independently, you want cabin on the river in Fairbanks you can book it independently. You just have to put more effort into getting between places in interior Alaska. Again train and Rv/car are the most available options, bus a little less, but you really need to plan them all out.