We were on starboard side in verandah room 8508 (which is a stateroom for 5). I absolutely loved it. Because of the "daylight" hours (it literally was light out until past midnight and then the sun was back up at 4:30) when our kids were sleeping, I could go out on the balcony and enjoy the scenery. I loved this room because it is directly under the pop out deck area up on Deck 9, which means when/if it rained we were covered and never got wet, plus it seemed that we were always on the docking side of the ship....I think only one port we were not on the docking side. Alaska was our favorite cruise so far....we saw a lot of wild life from our balcony, many pictures of whales next to the ship....amazing. Cruising in the Caribbean is so different because you are in open ocean, and you don't get to see much....Alaska = about 20 hours of scenery. Take binoculars, we used ours a lot.
If it means the choice of not going to Alaska because of the cost difference of staterooms, then choose the lesser and still go, it is so worth it. We are from the desert, so this type of scenery is very much appreciated.