On his 33rd birthday, Alex Bergmann's familiar world is turned upside down. After a boisterous night at his local pub, he wakes up completely disoriented in a strange apartment, unsure of where he is, how he got there, or who the woman lying next to him is. The second birthday surprise comes from his aunt, his father's single sister: a trip to the South Seas on a luxury cruise ship. His clumsy attempts to navigate the unfamiliar environment could be chalked up to a learning experience. However, being catapulted from a small classifieds editor to an investigative journalist for a Hamburg news magazine due to the ever-churning rumor mill on board the luxury ship, and suddenly finding himself embroiled in an international arms smuggling operation, is a much more serious matter.