June 1st 1925, the magnificent passage liner, The Empress Medina was found deserted in the Mediterranean Sea. All the lifeboats had been launched, and no evidence of food or drink was on board. Many explanations were offered, such as piracy, but with the lavish furnishings and priceless artwork still intact, this theory was dismissed. The weather had been fine, so what happened to the three hundred and eighty passengers and one hundred and fifty crew members? No wreckage of the lifeboats of evidence of bodies was ever found. Modern day and Ben Duncan and his wife, Natasha, along with four other couples receive a letter informing them that they have won a Mediterranean cruise, even though none of the recipients can recall entering the competition. James Davenport, the owner of the cruise ship meets the couples in Naples and they embark on what turns out to be a horrifying and enigmatic voyage in which the passengers under extreme circumstances are forced into the act of cannibalism.