The MS Poseidon, a luxury ocean liner, is making a transatlantic crossing. Former New York City Mayor and firefighter Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell) is traveling with his daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum) and her boyfriend Christian (Mike Vogel) to New York, soon to be engaged. Also on board is Navy submariner-turned-professional gambler Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas), architect Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss), Maggie James (Jacinda Barrett) and her son Conor (Jimmy Bennett), stowaway Elena (MÃ­a Maestro), and waiter Valentin (Freddy Rodriguez).
As the passengers are celebrating a New Year's Eve party in the ship's ballroom, officers on the bridge see a huge rogue wave bearing down on the ship. To survive the wave, they try to turn the ship to take the wave bow-first. However, the ship does not turn fast enough. The wave swamps and capsizes the ship, killing the bridge officers and many passengers. Captain Bradford (Andre Braugher) tries to restore order and assures the remaining passengers that help will arrive in a couple of hours, and that they should remain in the ballroom. Unconvinced, Dylan leads Conor, Maggie, Robert, Richard, and Valentin towards the bow, where he believes they will have the best chance of surviving the capsized liner.
As they head up, they have to cross an elevator shaft, into which Valentin falls before being crushed by the falling elevator. They meet up with Jennifer, Christian, Elena, and gambler Lucky Larry (Kevin Dillon), who had all been in the nightclub section of the ship. The group crosses a makeshift bridge across the lobby, where Lucky Larry gets crushed by the engine. The pressure from the water finally cracks the ballroom windows, drowning its occupants, including Captain Bradford and New Year's singer Gloria (Stacy Ferguson). With the water rising rapidly, the group is forced to escape through a vertical shaft and some pressure tanks, although Elena hits her head underwater and drowns.
With the ship slowly sinking, the survivors soon find themselves in the galley where they find the bow section is flooded, until an explosion lifts it out of the water. With their path blocked by the propellers, and knowing that the control room is submerged in water, Robert swims away to turn off the engine. He finds the 'off' switch to be broken, but presses the reverse button instead, before drowning. With the propellers now spinning in the other direction, Dylan throws a nitrogen tank into it, causing an explosion that leaves an opening for them to escape through. The group takes cover in an inflatable raft left floating outside, and watch as the Poseidon sinks into the Atlantic. After firing a flare, two helicopters and several ships arrive to rescue the six survivors, having tracked the Poseidon's GPS beacon.
Who played New Year's singer Gloria?
Stacy Ferguson