During a Christmas-themed event, cruise staff appeared to dress up as members of the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan (KKK), terrorizing passengers as they paraded by the pool.
P&O Cruises Australia has apologized after footage leaked online showing a group of eight staff members wearing white cleaning suits and pointy hats walking around the ship's pool deck.
“Is this appropriate for 2024?” the passenger captioned the clip after uploading it to Facebook.
According to the cruise line, when the Pacific Explorer decided to dress up as an “upside-down shaved ice” costume for an event during its voyage from Melbourne to Hobart in December, cleaners had no idea what they looked like. He said he had no idea what he was doing.
A spokesperson for P&O Cruises Australia told news.com.au: “We regret if any guests were offended by the recent incident on Pacific Explorer Cruises.”
“Several crew members dressed up as snow cones for a family Christmas event, but they didn't realize how their costumes could be misunderstood.”
A spokesperson said the crew members were only in public for a short time until management acted quickly and removed their costumes.
“When the crew learned of the distress their clothing could cause, they were horrified and extremely apologetic.”
The Kluck Klan (commonly shortened to KKK or Klan) was a racist group notorious for hunting down black people, hanging them from trees, and leaving burning crosses in the front yards of black families' homes.
P&O Cruises Australia's director of communications, Lynn Scrivens, said the cleaners were from all over the world and when management pulled them aside to quickly remove their clothing, they had “never heard of the organization. There wasn't,” he explained.
“No one can seriously think that was their intention,” she told 2GB host Ben Fordham on Wednesday.
“We have limited resources on board,” she said, adding that when it comes to costumes, they make do with what they have.
They were very sad… They are really hardworking and do their best to provide a great vacation for their guests. ”
Ms Scrivens said no guests had made formal complaints about the costumes at the time, but said the incident was “deeply disappointing”.
“[We] Accept it and take full responsibility. ”
Terry, from Melbourne, was on an eight-day trip with her husband when she filmed the trip and uploaded it to a Facebook cruise forum.
She described it as an “offensive KKK outfit,” but doesn't believe it was intentional.
“They were advertising it in the ship's newsletter, saying it was going to be a tug-of-war between the crew, and we were there to see what we thought was going to be a great event.” said Terry, who did not wish to give her last name to news.com.au.
“And then the crew came out. I looked at my husband and said, 'Housekeeping, oh my god.' My husband was like, “Oh, get the camera out, get the camera out, no one's going to believe you.” Because it was out in the world too much.
“We were like, 'Are we seeing this right?' It was so weird. You can hear it on the video, but it just went silent,” Terry said.
She said the woman sitting in front of her had a look on her face like, “Oh my God,'' but that was “basically the whole vibe of the ship.''
Terry said he had asked the cruise ship for an “explanation” but had received no response, adding: “This is unacceptable in the current environment and education is desperately needed.”
“I spoke to one of the crew members and he said he was immediately asked to take off his hat and he did so without hesitation. I thought this must have been an innocent mistake.
“I was shocked. However, this is our third time on a P&O cruise and while we love it, it leaves a bit of a sour taste.”
