I let momma do her research thing. She says this is part of the round the world cruise, with a long layover in Rio for crew, food, booze etc. Room prices are good, but gotta add in the excursions. Also nothing written in stone about stops etc except likely BA and Rio. And Capetown.

Three days in Rio.

We booked before the "big change", so we get all the included excursions. We're still waiting for them to post something for Saint Helena.

I'm still amazed at how good the fares are on Cunard for late crossings this time of year. Ive seen an offer (through an agent) for a crossing 19th Nov - 26th Nov - perfect for anyone wanting to get to USA for Thanksgiving.
£415 per person double occupancy balcony - will be a sheltered balcony I'm sure but who cares in November. Inside cabins are £360 a person! Can you get an economy flight one way for that week??

I took a look on google flights and it IS possible to fly cheaper! But I dont personally fancy any of these - prices are for 2
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8d8ee9a4b2.png
On Virgin (if you have miles you could squeeze a bit better value and fly direct)
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7d51818e85.png

To follow-up, I got to NY from my Cunard QM2 transatlantic crossing on Wednesday. Here are a few notes:

1) It was often cold in many of the public areas on the ship. That was particularly true when the gangway was down and it took 2 days to warm up after. Almost nobody wore shorts or short sleeve shirts. I had a couple of sweaters with me (which I'd needed in Hamburg anyway). Fortunately, the Britannia Dining Room and the Royal Court Theatre were better, so I could wear my sleeveless formal dress.

2) We ended up leaving from Bremerhaven, rather than Hamburg, because of a problem with the ship. Cunard provided a bus to transport passengers. I was on the first bus and it was fine but people on the later buses had serious delays.

3) While my reservation said I'd have warly dining at a table for 6, they actually gave me open dining (any time from 6 to 9). This actually proved to be advantageous, as I met more people. I just went to the restaurant at about 6:30 and asked to be placed at a shared table. There was usually a mix of couples and solo travelers and, except for one night when 7 of us were seated at a table for 12, making conversation difficult, almost everyone was quite amiable.

4) They also offered bus service from Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan (Grand Central, Port Authority, and Penn Station) for $60, which was convenient for me.

5) If you're traveling alone, I recommend going to the solo travelers get-togethers. I met some lovely people. (On the 1st night, I discovered another passenger and I have a mutual friend!)

6) I never saw any issues with drunken passengers though I heard one story about someone (not a German, but a Scot) who overdid it at the pub.

7) There was a wide range of activities. I went to several lectures, shows, and trivia contests. I regretted not being able to be at multiple places at the same time. I also enjoyed the library.

Overall, I enjoyed the crossing. I would do it again if I had the time.

I might fear that this may not be true 100% of the time. Travel agencies in the old days might have accounts with travel providers and have a 2 step process where they charge your credit card for cost + whatever, banking your payment, and then use their own payment method with the provider. Maybe that model is not in high use now, but I would be sure to check if the discount was a deal maker.

American Discount Cruises book directly through Cunard, period. And the charges are straight through Cunard.

And any changes or modifications goes straight through Cunard for approval. It's the only travel agency I use.

I managed to snag a really cheap one again, via an online TA I'll give a shout out to
Vacationstogo.com. They seem to have - from time to time - rates I can't get elsewhere
Also thee rates come and go, perhaps they have limited number of "promotional offer" berths?
Anyway $1510, which in proper money is £568 each, for a sheltered balcony (I was offered a balcony on deck 11 but decided something lower down and in the middle would be better so I have chosen a deck 4 sheltered Balcony)
I just double checked the next day and the price was showing $1300 per person so I guess I did the right thing booking it when I saw it. It's for 30th October 2026 so not exactly last minute.
These are the latest , sorted by price balcony staterooms - inside also bookable usually about $3-500 less
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...a514487517.png
I hope this is of use to some of you. After booking you get a link you can use to access everything on Cunard's site so any extras you can buy direct from them.
The booking was visible on Cunard the next day
Just in case anyone's looking for something pretty cheap right now.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6fbe0a3012.png
Prices are in the far left column