Originally Posted by jackal

Check the day cruise schedules to make sure it'll work for you. Stuff really starts shutting down right around the middle of September (9/15). Assuming all options are still available to you while you're in Alaska, I'll point out that you can do day cruises out of both Whittier and Seward. Whittier is a little bit closer to ANC (~1h vs 2.5h, although you can wait up to a half an hour to get through the one-lane tunnel to Whittier). Whittier cruises tend to see more glaciers and also traverse the protected (i.e. not choppy) waters of Prince William Sound, whereas Seward's cruises see a good bit more wildlife but fewer glaciers (although they usually include a trip to at least one large, spectacular glacier). Rates might be lower as you're off of peak, so that's a potential plus.

I made up a list of ANC hotel options and posted it in post #5 here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/20388098-post5.html. That post does touch a bit on safety, but basically, most major properties are in perfectly safe areas. As a single female traveler, you probably don't want to be walking alone at night in Mountain View or Fairview, but you won't be anywhere near those if you're at any hotel in town. Parts of Spenard can be a bit dicey ,but the part with the major hotels is fine (it's further up Spenard away from the airport where the illicit activity occurs). Downtown, especially anything on the west end of downtown (i.e. the Hilton and everything west), is perfectly safe to walk around at any time.

One thing I do miss about moving out of ANC was getting to play host to the hordes of FlyerTalkers who used to come up on mileage run fares. Travel safe, everyone!