Day 007: Saturday began with our fifth and final breakfast at the Ibis Southampton Central, lingering over tea and toast before completing checkout shortly after 10:45 in the morning. Stepping through the front doors, the towering superstructure of MSC Virtuosa was immediately visible down West Quay Road, standing out clearly under an unexpected break of Hampshire sunshine. A flat kilometre down past Dock Gate 10 to Berth 102 tempted the notion of rolling our bags to the quayside on foot. Pavement is merciless on luggage wheels. We summoned an Uber instead, letting an engine handle the road clutter and deliver us directly to Horizon Cruise Terminal.
Terminal baggage drops and check-in security moved with brisk maritime efficiency, sorting thousands of passengers through the gangways with minimal friction. By 3:00 in the afternoon, we were thoroughly fed from the buffet, our cabin was secured, and the unpacking was complete. Suitcases slid under the berth. Hangers were claimed, wardrobe space was apportioned, and the cabin settled into our floating residence for the next twenty-four nights.
The voyage begins with an Iberian detour, slipping through the Strait of Gibraltar for a brief turn in the western Mediterranean before swinging out into the open Atlantic towards Madeira and the Canary Islands. In the cabin, a tethered handset now bridges clean connectivity straight to the laptop keyboard, establishing an orderly digital desk before the Solent fades behind us. The long crossing to Rio de Janeiro has begun.