re: whale watching
if you guys can swing it, you could try driving up to MA and go on a whale watching trip from Cape Cod or Boston. We took a few family vacations to New England and did a whale watching trip from Provincetown.
I know it would be a long drive, but a ~5 day road trip to MA would be considerably cheaper than flying to AK.
You could also stop in Mystic, CT and visit the aquarium (they have Beluga whales) and Mystic Pizza.