support@headlinenews360.com
Last Updated:
Some crew members appeared in an all-white ensemble which allegedly looked quite similar to the gear worn by the infamous white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan.
The crew reportedly wanted to look like ‘upside-down snow cones’. (Photo Credits: X)
A cruise line staff in Australia stirred controversy for their choice of costume for a Christmas-themed party. The event unfolded on a P&O Cruises Australia vessel on December 19 last year. A group of crew members appeared in an all-white ensemble which allegedly looked quite similar to the gear worn by the infamous white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan. In a video going viral, the employees, decked up in white co-ord sets and matching conned hats, were captured marching on the vessel alongside a person dressed as Santa Claus.
Their appearance reportedly shocked many passengers on board. One such individual told Daily Mail Australia, “There was a lot of excitement for the event then it all went quiet when the staff walked out. The lack of judgment was astounding.” One of her fellow passengers even branded it as a “KKK Cruise”.
An American investor who dropped glimpses of the Christmas event on X mentioned that the crew chose the white outfit to look like “upside-down snow cones”. “Travelers on a P&O Cruises Australia ship were horrified to see staff walking around with white hoods on,” the user added in his post.
NEW: Cruise line staff dresses up for a Christmas costume party, cruise line insists they were dressed up as “upside-down snow cones.”Travelers on a P&O Cruises Australia ship were horrified to see staff walking around with white hoods on.
Communications director Lynne… pic.twitter.com/Kc9Oqc6oFE
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 22, 2025
The company later issued an apology. During an interaction with People, communications director Lynne Scrivens claimed, “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 dressed up, and our housekeeping crew decided to dress up as snow cones.”
“Our crew are from different cultures all over the world. They’re young, and they had just never heard of that organization or what their outfits could symbolize. 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. They were actually wearing their cleaning uniforms,” she added.
The X post featuring the video went viral in no time, attracting reactions from many users. One of the viewers commented, “The vast majority of cruise line staff are 3rd world foreigners, I wouldn’t expect them to know 19th and 20th-century American history.” “They knew exactly what they were doing,” added another.
A user defended the cruise line staff, saying, “So young adults from Australia are supposed to know the entire history of the United States? What a joke. No one was hurt.” Echoing the same sentiment, a person asked, “How much of the rest of the world knows about the KKK? It is just an American thing.” The video has already garnered more than six million views on the X platform.
