John is a restless 18-year-old college freshman who grew up in a conservative small town in the Pennsylvania mountains. He unexpectedly gets the opportunity to satisfy his craving for adventure as a waiter on an iconic passenger liner. He excitedly boards the ship at its New York City home port to experience foreign travel and satisfy his youthful adrenaline and hormone-driven desires.

Many surprises await him in the hidden world below decks where he becomes mired in a hidden world of illegal gambling, international drug smuggling, danger, and betrayal. He must navigate a maze of the competing interests of an international law enforcement task force, his shipboard friends and acquaintances, the woman of his dreams, and his conscience without being destroyed by it.