Alice-Miranda is thrilled to be back at school, where the girls are preparing a play with the neighbouring boys' school. But it's not all glitter and stage lights: there are rumours of a witch in the woods, and Jacinta and Millie are clashing with a rude new student, Sloane, and her pushy mother, September.

Alice-Miranda is set for a luxurious cruise aboard the royal yacht Octavia, where Aunty Gee is hosting the wedding of Aunt Charlotte and Lawrence Ridley. Wild weather and rumours of a jewel thief throw the travellers into turmoil, but something else is giving Alice-Miranda one of her strange feelings. Why does the ship look so familiar?