Mädchen über Bord (2005)

Student Katrin has two problems to overcome in her life: she has no boyfriend, and ever since a traumatic childhood experience, she has been terrified of water. When her best friend Babsi is about to set off on a two-week cruise with the man who is courting her, he ends their relationship over the phone because he does not want to leave his wife. But Babsi is already on the ship, and Katrin is the only one who hears the message on the answering machine—Babsi has left her mobile phone at home—so Katrin decides to tell her in person. However, while trying to get on board, she faints and only comes to when the luxury liner has already sailed with her aboard. For the next few weeks, she has to face her great fear. Since Babsi’s boyfriend’s absence means the travel costs are no longer covered, the two women have to work: Babsi as a bartender and Katrin as a chambermaid. During the pre-employment medical examination, Katrin runs into the ship’s doctor, Markus, whom she had met shortly before and accidentally kissed. A relationship develops between them in keeping with the saying, “Those who love each other tease each other.” Meanwhile, Babsi starts seeing Nick, the ship’s executive manager, but wants to end the affair when she discovers his wedding ring and begins to fear a repeat of what happened before. Then, when she also discovers that she is pregnant by her ex, she is at the end of her tether and takes an increased dose of sleeping pills. Katrin, meanwhile, is not having a carefree time either. Diana, Markus’s long-term lover, comes aboard and is determined not to give up the fight for his affections. In the meantime, Nick finds Babsi and saves her. Later, he confesses to her that he only wears the wedding ring to make it easier to comply with the rules on board against relationships with passengers or crew members. One evening, Katrin and Markus’s lover finally have a kind of verbal showdown, in which Katrin ultimately wins his heart. Some time later—when the cruise is already well underway—Katrin learns that the engagement to Markus’s girlfriend is now going ahead. But when she storms the celebrations, she realizes that in the meantime the girlfriend has found herself a new lover and is getting engaged to him. Markus is there too, and his affection for Katrin has not diminished. And so the happy ending is complete.