P&O Cruises Australia has been forced into an official apology over a costumed deck parade which caused a major backlash.
During a family Christmas event on a festive cruise last month, crew members dressed up as ‘snow cones.’
They were dressed in white with inverted show cones over their heads complete with eye holes.
According to guests it resembled outfits of the Ku Klux Klan.
A guest who filmed the event posted the footage on Facebook.
However, it only came to light to a mass audience when it was aired on Australian news channels.
That forced the cruise line to respond and issue an apology.
P&O Cruises said it was an innocent mistake by crew members.
“We sincerely apologize for any offence this caused passengers. They were only in public view for a short time before management acted quickly and had them remove the costumes,” a P&O Cruises Australia spokesperson said.
“The crew members were horrified and extremely apologetic when they learned of the distress their outfits could cause.”
After the incident a guest who witnessed it contacted the cruise line but it did not respond until news media broadcast the footage.
