How do you pronounce 'Oceania'?

[Imagineer]

...we are brand new to Oceania, we actually have to wait almost a year for our cruise, April 28th on Insignia from Rome to Venice...but I've been told I'm not saying the name of the line correctly, I've been going around saying it like this: Oh-shee-an-ee-uh, but others are saying its Oh-shee-an-uh...
...when I asked my TA she said its the like the second example I've given...
...how do all of you say the name of this line?
...Frank? How does Frank say it, after all he's the boss...

cheers,

Lorne Miller
upcoming NCL cruise on the Wind - Aug 27/06
upcoming Oceania cruise on the Insignia - Apr 28/07

[Druke I]

Well, I pronounce it "oh shee ann ee ah".

[YOW]

On Regatta, the staff (cruise director, et al) pronounced it as if the "i" weren't in the name. So does their promotional video, IIRC.

[caribbean dreams]

O she anna

[Bruin Steve]

I keep saying O-shee-ah-nee-ah...Because THAT is the way it's spelled...just like in the geographic term for the region of islands in the South Pacific...

...HOWEVER...I got that DVD from Oceania, the one that you can order through their website..AND the narrator on that thing continually pronounces it O-shee-ah-nah...

So, that being an "official" publication of the company itself, you don't think they'd distribute it with an unofficial pronunciation, do you???

[fsalzer]

...we are brand new to Oceania, we actually have to wait almost a year for our cruise, April 28th on Insignia from Rome to Venice...but I've been told I'm not saying the name of the line correctly, I've been going around saying it like this: Oh-shee-an-ee-uh, but others are saying its Oh-shee-an-uh...


http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=oceania

Oh-shee-an-ee-uh

Fred

[Kiwifruit]

I think it depends on where you come from (and possibly your level of education) as to how you pronounce "oceania". No doubt an anglophile would pronounce it "Oh-shee-an-ee-uh" which is certainly the only correct pronunciation so far as the dictionary is concerned. Nevertheless, English is an evolving language and it seems an alternative pronounciation is acceptable on your side of the Atlantic .... or is it just slurring or laziness of speech? ;-)

Being an inhabitant of Oceania, I certainly prefer the English pronunciation but each to their own.

[dougiefresh]

...we are brand new to Oceania, we actually have to wait almost a year for our cruise, April 28th on Insignia from Rome to Venice...but I've been told I'm not saying the name of the line correctly, I've been going around saying it like this: Oh-shee-an-ee-uh, but others are saying its Oh-shee-an-uh...
...when I asked my TA she said its the like the second example I've given...
...how do all of you say the name of this line?
...Frank? How does Frank say it, after all he's the boss...

cheers,

Lorne Miller
upcoming NCL cruise on the Wind - Aug 27/06
upcoming Oceania cruise on the Insignia - Apr 28/07
They don't seem to pronounce the "i"

[timbo89]

And all this time I've been pronouncing it Oh-shee-an-ya.....

Guess I don't know how to pronounce!!!

[ClaudiaF]

...wrote in part......Frank? How does Frank say it, after all he's the boss...


On a cruise that both Joe and Frank were on that I was on they each said it different..one said Oh shee an ee a and the other said Oh she an a..so you say pot ay toe and I say po ta toe lol..
FYI
In the beginning they were going to spell the name Oceana..but it was already in use by another line so the spelling was changed..:D

[CruisingSerenity]

The employees at corporate pronounce it "Oh Shee Ann Uh"

Just so you know.

[Liat]

There is only one absolute rule of pronunciation in the English language. It is: The correct pronunciation of a person's name is the way that person pronounces it.
Therefore - despite the dictionary pronunciation of the geographic term "Oceania" (and the fact that I have always used that pronunciation) if the company choses to pronounce its own name without the "i" sounded, and therefore using only four syllables; "Oh-she-a-na" is the correct pronunciation for the cruise line. Maybe not for anything else spelled the same way - but it is for the cruse line.

[Kiwifruit]

While I agree with your comment regarding the pronunciation of a person's name (common courtesy would dictate this), we are talking about a cruiseline here. As Claudia has stated there is not even a consensus between the founding directors as to how the name should be pronounced so I think the question is very much still in the air.

[mike35]

Joe Watters addressed a group of us "Oceanites" recently and explained the confusion. The originally conceived name was Oceana, pronounced accordingly. Due to a conflict with another cruise line with the same name, they decided to add the "i", resulting in Oceania. BOTH pronunciations are acceptable. Now - if only we could get our decider-in-chief to pronounce nuclear instead of nuke-you-lur....sigh....

Mike

[PA Nana]

Hi Mike -
Did you happen to see him on TV today when he was describing his choice for heading the CIA's proficiency in "technological" areas....Try as I might, I can't do it like he did. Actually I think he was saying the gentleman was
technologically proficient. At least that's what I think it was.

As my husband would say - OK Ms Perfect. NOT!

I say as long as we can spell OCEANIA - to write it in our checkbooks, we're safe.

[mike35]

No, Pa Nana, didn't see him on TV today - all of our sets have bush filters installed, I'm afraid.

Mike

[Ask4Jay]

Brilliant, Mike -
a Bush filter! And I still have to hit the >> key a couple of times on my Tivo.
I know, it's so 20th century.

[cryscruiser]

And all this time I've been pronouncing it Oh-shee-an-ya.....

Guess I don't know how to pronounce!!!
That's what I say, too.