Scrivens said the eight housekeeping staff had “no idea” their costumes could be seen as offensive and were “horrified” when senior managers aboard the cruise told them to take them off.
She added the group were only on the ship’s pool deck in the outfits for “a very short time” and were “very apologetic” when told how their outfits were perceived.
“They live and work on a cruise ship. They’re not going to Spotlight to buy a bunch of materials for fancy dress. They’ve got to make do with what they’ve got. And they were wearing their cleaning uniforms, and they’ve put something on their head that looks like a snow cone – [an] upside-down snow cone, at that,” Scrivens said.
She said P&O Cruises “accept this should not have happened” and took responsibility. The staff took off their costumes straight away, she added.
“Our crew are from different cultures all over the world. They’re young, and they had just never heard of that organisation or what their outfits could symbolise,” Scrivens said.
She added: “The idea that this was a KKK cruise, like the headline screamed, is just ridiculous. It’s just stupid to even think that there was any malice in this.”
P&O Cruises Australia said they were sorry for any offence caused.Credit: Facebook
In a formal statement on Wednesday afternoon, a P&O Cruises Australia spokesperson said the “inappropriate dress onboard Pacific Explorer has caused distress” and stressed “this was not the intention of crew”.
“Despite this, we sincerely apologise for any offence this caused passengers and the broader community,” they said.
“Staff have been counselled around this incident and we will ensure this does not happen again.”
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