Chalk this up in the category of what were they thinking. A cruise ship is garnering backlash and controversy after several of the staff dressed up as white supremacist Ku Klux Klan members.
The incident happened over the holidays during a Christmas event on the cruise ship. A video captured the staff walking across the deck while in full garb. The video went viral and has garnered a lot of backlash from horrified passengers and viewers. "Is this appropriate for 2024?" a passenger captioned the clip.
However, according to the cruise ship company, staff wanted to dress up as "upside down snow cones." The company claims that it was an innocent mistake and that the crew didn't realize what they looked like.
"We regret if a recent incident on a Pacific Explorer cruise offended any guests," a P&O Cruises Australia spokesperson told news.com.au via New York Post."Several crew members dressed up as snow cones for a Christmas family event, not understanding how their costumes could be misconstrued."
Cruise Ship Backlash
Additionally, the spokesperson claims that the staff changed quickly upon realizing their mistake. The spokesperson said, "The crew members were horrified and extremely apologetic when they learned of the distress their outfits could cause."
Lynne Scrivens, communications director of P&O Cruises Australia, said the international crew had never heard of the white supremacist group in America.
"No one can seriously think that was their intention," she told 2GB host Ben Fordham. "They are limited with what resources they have on ships... They were so distressed ... they really are so hardworking and try their hardest to deliver guests amazing holidays."
She also added that the cruise ship staff accepts accountability.
Meanwhile, a passenger named Terri said that the costumes were offensive. But she said she doesn't believe that the crew intentionally meant to dress like the white supremacist group.
"They had been promoting it in the ship's newsletter. It was going to be a tug-of-war battle between the crew. And we were there to watch what we thought was going to be an awesome event," Terri said. "And then the crew came out. I looked at my husband and said 'It's housekeeping OMG' and my husband was like 'OMG get the camera, get the camera out, no one will believe us' because it was just so out there. We were like, 'Are we seeing this correctly', it was so bizarre - you can hear it on the video it just went quiet."
