Mystery at Sea

[kamikazegirl33]

Does the newspaper names contain hidden clues. Are we supposed to be looking into sound effects also?

 

[HumanCookie]

2007 will be a Mediterranean cruise and Venice will be part of the 11 day itinerary. These are the possible ports: Villafranche (Nice/Monaco), France; Marseille, France; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; Naples, Italy; Venice, Italy. I don't know if Barcelona, Spain or Villaferanche, France will be the home port though.

 

[mc'smommy]

Does the newspaper names contain hidden clues. Are we supposed to be looking into sound effects also?

In the coffee cup you can hear the coffee beans.. Maybe expresso ?
Italy..

 

[tigger795]

When I think of "the embrace" I think of Rodin's sculpture The Kiss. From what I understand, this sculpture is housed in the Tate Museum in London!

Oh, there are a few pigeons in London too especially at Trafalgar Square.


This is so much fun...

I think that PrincessTToo might be on to something. The cup contains tea, there is a tea bag in it. The English are pretty partial to their tea. The suspense is very exciting!

 

[makelab]

2007 will be a Mediterranean cruise and Venice will be part of the 11 day itinerary. These are the possible ports: Villafranche (Nice/Monaco), France; Marseille, France; Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy; Naples, Italy; Venice, Italy. I don't know if Barcelona, Spain or Villaferanche, France will be the home port though.

do you think disney might go the route of different starting and ending ports? like start in spain/france, and end in venice. then the two cruises would have similiar itineraries, but in reverse, and possibly one less day at sea, or one less port.

also, it looks like mickey wearing some kind of hat on the saucer. not buckingham palace guard, but definitely something.

 

[disneylover5]

I have a question?

Do you think that when they release the what ever it is they are going to release on the 21st....all of this will become perfectly clear? Will we know why the morse code said 'enjoying the pigeons and the embrace', and the Long/Lat is Alaska, NY and Amsterdam? Will we understand coffee and tea and Saint Michel's medals? Will it be perfectly clear why they used the Africian, New Zealand and Hong Kong newspaper? Will we understand the compass and why it has done the crazy things it has done lately? How about the sounds.....crinkely newspaper, bubbling tea, birds in the backround and wind chimes? Will we know why the first page had 1 hourglass , the 2nd page had 3 hourglasses and now this 3rd page is back to 1 hourglass ?

Frankly, I can not imagine what all of this means ....I do not think in my wildest dreams I could tie all of this together. I have to admit, I am having so much fun thinking about it....I just hope there is a conclusion and I understand each aspect of the clues.

Anybody else??

 

[disneylover5]

also, it looks like mickey wearing some kind of hat on the saucer. not buckingham palace guard, but definitely something.

If you look on the START page, it is the same as the saucer. You can zoom in with your toolbar. You will see it is a cruise ship from the front...TOO COOL

 

[ga9497]

Will we know why the morse code said 'enjoying the pigeons and the embrace'

I think this means Venice Italy. Lots of pigeons in Piazza San Marco and it is a romantic city, therefore the embrace

 

[debm]

Disneylover5---I have been thinking the same thing. I hope that this all ties together in the end and I will have an answer to this entire puzzle. Not just---here is the intinerary. And then if everyone is so excited about the itinerary I hope someone will still post the answers to a lot of the clues. I'm afraid the "mystery" will be solved yet the clues will be unanswered because I'm not very good at it. I used to love doing brain teasers and puzzle books as a kid, but part of the fun was after trying to figure it out for about 45 seconds I would then turn to the back of the book and see the answer! I want to make sure I can get these Disney answers.

I still wonder if some of these clues aren't character and movie related. I wonder if some come from movie scenes too. I keep thinking of the pigeons and the steps of the cathedral in Mary Poppins.

 

[mmouse37]

This really is too exciting and you guys are doing one heck of a good job with all the theories....only time will tell what eventually will be revealed but I really think the Magic will be in Europe and a possible announcement of one or two more ships....one that does Alaska in the summer and repos to Hawaii in the Winter and one that does the West Coast (Mexican Rivierera).....there just seems to be too many clues for just a Med announcement.

That would be a total of 4 ships.....that would be awesome!!!

 

[EpcotKilterFan]

OK, I went back and don't see this posted yet - but if it already has been, sorry.

The morse code dtd March 10th reads something like this:


Imagine awaits. Hot lava has gone to the birds.

Do you think that maybe "Imagine" is the name of a new ship?? So the announcement will be the itinerary and a new ship!

I am betting on tomorrow for a new clue!

Debbie

 

[seaulater]

Do you think that maybe "Imagine" is the name of a new ship?? So the announcement will be the itinerary and a new ship!

I am betting on tomorrow for a new clue!

Debbie

Hey Debbie! That would be great, two announcements at once! We can only hope!

I know the Magic is scheduled to be in Villefranche. It was on the Riviera port page listed until DCL found out and had them take it off. I printed out the schedule of the dates in was in port in Villefranche, but I must have taken it home cuz it's not here at my office.

Only 6 1/2 days until the announcement. And what time would that be?

Off to the Mediterranean we go!!!

Linda

 

[tic-toc-croc]

Some clues came from Disney's movie "Around the World in 80 days". Does anyone have the movie to check it out? The movie shows they went from New York to London... somewhere they stopped in Hong Kong....

The other clue came from Jules Verne's book 'In Search of the Castaways", the movie was released in 1962 by Walt Disney Productions. The story line includes identifying the coordinates of latitude 37 degree (37th parallel). We checked the world map, the 37th parallel goes across the middle of U.S. - Atlantic - Mediteranean - Asia - Pacific. The story includes exploring places like Patagonia (an area by Chile, a place you'll find lava caps, glaciers, granite rocks, wingless birds...etc. & other stuff), Tristan da Cunha Island (British territory), Amsterdam Island (French sub-artic island located at 37degree 52'S 77degree 32'E) and New Zealand.

Okay, she gave me lots of info to check out. But I don't have much time tonight, I think she's onto something. What do you think?

 

[Janet2k]

When the two messages on the Disney Cruise Line Mystery At Sea webpage were decoded via Morse Code, they stated:

The queen just loves the pie.

Magic awaits. Hot lava has gone to the birds.

For some reason, the following words in those messages jumped out at me: Queen, Pie, and Birds. Those words are found in an old nursery rhyme, “Sing a Song of Sixpence:” click here.

With that little ditty running through my mind, I decided to turn to the Internet to see if there was some sort of connection between the song and Disney Cruise Line’s Mystery At Sea campaign. I put the words nursery, rhyme, and blackbird into my search engine and clicked on search.

Imagine my surprise when a link to the Urban Legends (Snopes.com) website popped up: click here. Since I am familiar with the Urban Legends website, my interest was definitely piqued. I decided to see what they had to say.

As I began to read the webpage, I felt the blood slowly draining from my body. The history behind that so-called innocent nursery rhyme was terrifying. The more I read, the more frightened I became. According to legend, “Sing a Song of Sixpence” originated as a coded message that was used to recruit crew members for pirate ships. PIRATE SHIPS? YIKES! What on earth is the Disney Cruise Line up to?

Read on...

- - - - - - -
(Snopes.com's Urban Legends)

A Pocket Full of Wry

Claim: The nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' originated as a coded message used to recruit crew members for pirate ships.

Status: True.

Origins: Many of us fondly recall the rhyming ditties we learned as children, such as "Jack Be Nimble" and "The Farmer in the Dell." But how many of us realize that several of our most fondly-recalled nursery rhymes (e.g., "A Tisket, A Tasket" and "Little Jack Horner") were not mere nonsense songs, but actually originated as coded references to such dark events as plagues and religious persecution? Such was the case with another childhood favorite, "Sing a Song of Sixpence."

For those unfamiliar with this ditty, let's start by offering its lyrics:

Sing a song of sixpence
A pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie

When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing
Was that not a tasty dish
To set before a king?

The King was in his counting house
Counting out his money
The Queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey

The Maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose!

The surprising truth is that this innocent little rhyme, which dates from the early 1700s, actually represents a coded message used to recruit crew members for pirate vessels!

Pirates (or corsairs, privateers whose activities were sanctioned by letters of marque from a sovereign) did not spend all their time at sea: they cruised the waters in areas such as the Mediterranean, the Spanish Main, or the Atlantic coast of North America, looking for prizes, and they returned to port when the need for supplies or repairs demanded it. Upon reaching port, the ship's captain paid off the crew (primarily by dividing the spoils of whatever they had captured), and the crew members then dispersed ashore (usually to spend all their pay on alcohol and prostitutes as quickly as possible). Some crewmen tended to stay in the vicinity, but others left for other regions, caught on with other ships, died, were killed, or simply disappeared. Thus, much like the captains of naval vessels and merchant traders, the captains of pirate ships needed to recruit new crew members whenever they embarked on yet another venture. Since piracy (as opposed to privateering) was against the law, pirates devised codes that could be used to advertise for crew members without openly revealing their illegal affiliations.

The nursery rhyme "Six a Song of Sixpence" was a coded message that evolved over several years' times and was used by confederates of the notorious pirate Blackbeard to recruit crew members for his prize-hunting expeditions. Like many other messages passed down to us over hundreds of years by oral tradition, there is no one "official" version, nor is there a "correct" interpretation for any particular variant. In general, however, the most common form of this rhyme bore these veiled meanings:

Sing a song of sixpence / A pocket full of rye

Blackbeard's standard payment of sixpence a day was considered good money in the 1700s, especially since most pirate vessels did not pay a salary: the crew only received a share of the spoils if they were successful in capturing prizes (and many a pirate ship had to return to port empty-handed after spending several fruitless months at sea). As well, his crew was promised a pocket (a leather bag somewhat like an early canteen which held about a liter) full of rye (whiskey) per day. Not bad, considering that alcohol was the average sailor's raison d'etre.

Four and twenty blackbirds / Baked in a pie

As Henry Betts points out in his book on the origins and history of nursery rhymes, "It was a favourite trick in the sixteenth century to conceal all sorts of surprises in a pie." Buccaneers, too, were fond of surprises, and one of Blackbeard's favorite ruses to lure a ship within boarding range was to make his own vessel (or crew) appear to be in distress, typically by pretending to have been dismasted in a storm or to have sprung a leak below the waterline. Passing ships — both honest sailors wanting to help and other pirates looking for an easy catch — would sail in close to offer assistance, whereupon a crew of two dozen heavily-armed seamen dressed in black would board the other vessel (via a boat in darkness or fog, or by simply jumping into the other ship when it came alongside if no other means of surprise attack was possible) to quickly kill or disable as many crew members as possible. Thus the four and twenty "blackbirds" (i.e., Blackbeard's crewmen) "baked in a pie" (i.e., concealed in anticipation of springing a trap).

When the pie was opened / The birds began to sing

This follows from the previous line. Once the victim's ship was lured in for the kill, the "blackbirds" came out of hiding and attacked with a fearsome din.

Was that not a tasty dish / To set before a king?

This line is commonly misinterpreted. The King is not a reference to any real king, but rather to Blackbeard himself, the king of pirates. And the tasty dish is the plundered ship that was so easily captured.

The King was in his counting house / Counting out his money

Again, the King is Blackbeard (no real king would take on such a mean task as counting money). This line of the message signals that Blackbeard had the cash on hand to pay a crew on salary rather than strictly on divided spoils.

The Queen was in the parlor / Eating bread and honey

Blackbeard's main vessel was a French merchant ship named "Le Concorde de Nantes" that was jointly captured by Blackbeard and Captain Hornigold in the Grenadines in November of 1717. Upon his retirement from pirating, Hornigold presented the ship to Blackbeard, who renamed it "The Queen Anne's Revenge". Thus the "Queen" referred to here is Blackbeard's ship, and "eating bread and honey" meant that it was in port taking on supplies in preparation for a cruise.

The Maid was in the garden / Hanging out the clothes

The use of the word "maid" indicated that the location/route of one or more prize ships was known, and they were going to be specific targets of the upcoming cruise (this greatly enhancing the probability of the crew's collecting prize money). The waters around the Carolinas down to the Caribbean were referred to as the garden, as this was an area where pirates would often cruise for easy pickings. "Hanging out the clothes" meant the targeted ship was already at sea or just about to leave port (thus its sails — or "clothes" — have been hung).

When down came a blackbird / And snapped off her nose!

There is some scholarly debate in literary and maritime circles as to whether the last part was originally "and snapped off her nose" or "and snapped off a rose." Either way, the passage is taken to be a Blackbeard's bragging about his plans to swoop in and have his way with the targeted ship.

So, next time you hear this innocent children's song, remember that it was originally recited in taverns by drunken, bloodthirsty buccaneers as a code to recruit other pirates for their next murderous voyage!
- - - - - - -

So, my friends, you read it here first on the Dis website. The Disney Cruise Line will not be announcing a new itinerary next week. The Disney Cruise Line will actually begin the recruiting process for PIRATES to man their ships.

Janet

(PS Does anybody know where I sign up? I hear Jack Sparrow will be the captain of the ship. Arg! )

 

[fidldidi]

I've enjoyed reading all these posts, and as earlier posters have also suggested I hope that DCL also posts explanations to the clues when they make the big announcement. I'd love to hear their thought process behind all the clues -- and even any that were purposely intended to throw us off!!

 

[pipchik98]

Hey all, I think the secret destination may be the canary islands. One of the islands has a flag with the shield of st. michael on it (hence the name on the coin on the DCL website). The islands are spanish and are northwest of africa which explains a lot about the newspaper clipping on the website. Plus the last morse code posting talked about lava and birds. These islands are volcanic. Any thoughts?

 

[Hygiene99]

When the two messages on the Disney Cruise Line Mystery At Sea webpage were decoded via Morse Code, they stated:

The queen just loves the pie.

Magic awaits. Hot lava has gone to the birds.

For some reason, the following words in those messages jumped out at me: Queen, Pie, and Birds. Those words are found in an old nursery rhyme, “Sing a Song of Sixpence:” click here.

With that little ditty running through my mind, I decided to turn to the Internet to see if there was some sort of connection between the song and Disney Cruise Line’s Mystery At Sea campaign. I put the words nursery, rhyme, and blackbird into my search engine and clicked on search.

Imagine my surprise when a link to the Urban Legends (Snopes.com) website popped up: click here. Since I am familiar with the Urban Legends website, my interest was definitely piqued. I decided to see what they had to say.

As I began to read the webpage, I felt the blood slowly draining from my body. The history behind that so-called innocent nursery rhyme was terrifying. The more I read, the more frightened I became. According to legend, “Sing a Song of Sixpence” originated as a coded message that was used to recruit crew members for pirate ships. PIRATE SHIPS? YIKES! What on earth is the Disney Cruise Line up to?

Read on...

- - - - - - -
(Snopes.com's Urban Legends)

A Pocket Full of Wry

Claim: The nursery rhyme 'Sing a Song of Sixpence' originated as a coded message used to recruit crew members for pirate ships.

Status: True.

Origins: Many of us fondly recall the rhyming ditties we learned as children, such as "Jack Be Nimble" and "The Farmer in the Dell." But how many of us realize that several of our most fondly-recalled nursery rhymes (e.g., "A Tisket, A Tasket" and "Little Jack Horner") were not mere nonsense songs, but actually originated as coded references to such dark events as plagues and religious persecution? Such was the case with another childhood favorite, "Sing a Song of Sixpence."

For those unfamiliar with this ditty, let's start by offering its lyrics:

Sing a song of sixpence
A pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie

When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing
Was that not a tasty dish
To set before a king?

The King was in his counting house
Counting out his money
The Queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey

The Maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes
When down came a blackbird
And snapped off her nose!

The surprising truth is that this innocent little rhyme, which dates from the early 1700s, actually represents a coded message used to recruit crew members for pirate vessels!

Pirates (or corsairs, privateers whose activities were sanctioned by letters of marque from a sovereign) did not spend all their time at sea: they cruised the waters in areas such as the Mediterranean, the Spanish Main, or the Atlantic coast of North America, looking for prizes, and they returned to port when the need for supplies or repairs demanded it. Upon reaching port, the ship's captain paid off the crew (primarily by dividing the spoils of whatever they had captured), and the crew members then dispersed ashore (usually to spend all their pay on alcohol and prostitutes as quickly as possible). Some crewmen tended to stay in the vicinity, but others left for other regions, caught on with other ships, died, were killed, or simply disappeared. Thus, much like the captains of naval vessels and merchant traders, the captains of pirate ships needed to recruit new crew members whenever they embarked on yet another venture. Since piracy (as opposed to privateering) was against the law, pirates devised codes that could be used to advertise for crew members without openly revealing their illegal affiliations.

The nursery rhyme "Six a Song of Sixpence" was a coded message that evolved over several years' times and was used by confederates of the notorious pirate Blackbeard to recruit crew members for his prize-hunting expeditions. Like many other messages passed down to us over hundreds of years by oral tradition, there is no one "official" version, nor is there a "correct" interpretation for any particular variant. In general, however, the most common form of this rhyme bore these veiled meanings:

Sing a song of sixpence / A pocket full of rye

Blackbeard's standard payment of sixpence a day was considered good money in the 1700s, especially since most pirate vessels did not pay a salary: the crew only received a share of the spoils if they were successful in capturing prizes (and many a pirate ship had to return to port empty-handed after spending several fruitless months at sea). As well, his crew was promised a pocket (a leather bag somewhat like an early canteen which held about a liter) full of rye (whiskey) per day. Not bad, considering that alcohol was the average sailor's raison d'etre.

Four and twenty blackbirds / Baked in a pie

As Henry Betts points out in his book on the origins and history of nursery rhymes, "It was a favourite trick in the sixteenth century to conceal all sorts of surprises in a pie." Buccaneers, too, were fond of surprises, and one of Blackbeard's favorite ruses to lure a ship within boarding range was to make his own vessel (or crew) appear to be in distress, typically by pretending to have been dismasted in a storm or to have sprung a leak below the waterline. Passing ships — both honest sailors wanting to help and other pirates looking for an easy catch — would sail in close to offer assistance, whereupon a crew of two dozen heavily-armed seamen dressed in black would board the other vessel (via a boat in darkness or fog, or by simply jumping into the other ship when it came alongside if no other means of surprise attack was possible) to quickly kill or disable as many crew members as possible. Thus the four and twenty "blackbirds" (i.e., Blackbeard's crewmen) "baked in a pie" (i.e., concealed in anticipation of springing a trap).

When the pie was opened / The birds began to sing

This follows from the previous line. Once the victim's ship was lured in for the kill, the "blackbirds" came out of hiding and attacked with a fearsome din.

Was that not a tasty dish / To set before a king?

This line is commonly misinterpreted. The King is not a reference to any real king, but rather to Blackbeard himself, the king of pirates. And the tasty dish is the plundered ship that was so easily captured.

The King was in his counting house / Counting out his money

Again, the King is Blackbeard (no real king would take on such a mean task as counting money). This line of the message signals that Blackbeard had the cash on hand to pay a crew on salary rather than strictly on divided spoils.

The Queen was in the parlor / Eating bread and honey

Blackbeard's main vessel was a French merchant ship named "Le Concorde de Nantes" that was jointly captured by Blackbeard and Captain Hornigold in the Grenadines in November of 1717. Upon his retirement from pirating, Hornigold presented the ship to Blackbeard, who renamed it "The Queen Anne's Revenge". Thus the "Queen" referred to here is Blackbeard's ship, and "eating bread and honey" meant that it was in port taking on supplies in preparation for a cruise.

The Maid was in the garden / Hanging out the clothes

The use of the word "maid" indicated that the location/route of one or more prize ships was known, and they were going to be specific targets of the upcoming cruise (this greatly enhancing the probability of the crew's collecting prize money). The waters around the Carolinas down to the Caribbean were referred to as the garden, as this was an area where pirates would often cruise for easy pickings. "Hanging out the clothes" meant the targeted ship was already at sea or just about to leave port (thus its sails — or "clothes" — have been hung).

When down came a blackbird / And snapped off her nose!

There is some scholarly debate in literary and maritime circles as to whether the last part was originally "and snapped off her nose" or "and snapped off a rose." Either way, the passage is taken to be a Blackbeard's bragging about his plans to swoop in and have his way with the targeted ship.

So, next time you hear this innocent children's song, remember that it was originally recited in taverns by drunken, bloodthirsty buccaneers as a code to recruit other pirates for their next murderous voyage!
- - - - - - -

So, my friends, you read it here first on the Dis website. The Disney Cruise Line will not be announcing a new itinerary next week. The Disney Cruise Line will actually begin the recruiting process for PIRATES to man their ships.

Janet

(PS Does anybody know where I sign up? I hear Jack Sparrow will be the captain of the ship. Arg! )

Sign up's for pirates Here

 

[ceejay13]

I'm with EpcotKilterFan and the others that think it will be two announcements. I missed that Imagine awaits before the "Hot Lava has Gone to the Birds" clue. I bet they announce the Disney Imagine, and I wonder if the Hot Lava leads to Hawaiian itineraries on the new ship. There are just two many other clues and other info that point to next year being the Mediterranean or some part of Europe.

 

[two-foxes]

Two things I am realizing about myself while reading this thread...

1. I am not nearly as smart as I thought I was. I have the people at work thinking I am the morse code breaking geography genius. Not that they really care anyways, but I have them into this, but it is fun to just spew this out..."The queen loves the pie!!!" All thanks to you guys!!! Okay, they think I am crazy, but I can accept that

2. I soooo need to be on that ship next summer.

 

[disneycruise05]

I'm with EpcotKilterFan and the others that think it will be two announcements. I missed that Imagine awaits before the "Hot Lava has Gone to the Birds" clue. I bet they announce the Disney Imagine, and I wonder if the Hot Lava leads to Hawaiian itineraries on the new ship. There are just two many other clues and other info that point to next year being the Mediterranean or some part of Europe.

This is weird...where did y'all get the "Imagine awaits" bit? When I translated the morse code at the bottom of the page, it said "Magic awaits. Hot lava has gone to the birds." Did they change it again and I missed it?