Cruise crew dress up in Ku Klux Klan-like costumes for Christmas event

Crew aboard an Australian cruise ship have been accused of dressing up in Ku Klux Klan-like costumes for a Christmas-themed event.

But a spokeswoman for P&O Cruises Australia said the staff did not mean any offence and had dressed up as “snow cones”.

A video posted on Facebook by a cruise passenger showed eight people dressed head-to-toe in white outfits, with pointed, cone-shaped hoods covering their face, waving to passengers and walking around the deck of a ship.

The group were housekeepers competing in a Christmas-themed “sports battle day” event aboard the Pacific Explorer, which departed Melbourne on December 19 for an eight-night voyage to Tasmania and Kangaroo Island.

But, according to the Daily Mail Australia, some travellers were shocked by their costumes and dubbed the trip “the KKK cruise”.

Speaking on Sydney radio station 2GB on Wednesday morning, communications director for P&O Cruises Australia Lynne Scrivens, scoffed at suggestions the crew meant to dress up as members of the KKK.

“Come on. No one can seriously think that was their intention. Our housekeeping crew were dressed as snow cones,” she said.

“They were taking part in a Christmas family fun day on the ship as part of our Christmas crew. It was a tug-of-war event where the crew dress up, and our housekeeping crew decided to dress up as snow cones.”