I just talked to guest services and she said they think it would be good after Whittier but didn't know when they'd be able to confirm that. They said rumor is they are just testing it now.
For anyone else wondering i also confirmed you can get off in whittier although I imagine you won't get any compensation for the southbound if you do so. I didn't bother asking since they said they are taking it on a cruise by cruise basis.
This logic is incredible short sighted and frustrating. I had this issue when I found out Ketchikan was cancelled and since I didn't have an excursion booked on the second leg I wanted to see if I could get the one that was cancelled then instead and was told I couldn't book anything till Whittier.
I may honestly just eat the money and try to find another to salvage what little vacation time I'll have left. The compensation is nice but like most Americans I get very little time off and this was most of it.