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Each cruise line has its share of little things employees do to make passengers’ vacations more fun. Disney Cruise Line has, of course, Disney characters for photo ops and meet & greets. Carnival Cruise has John Heald, its Brand Ambassador and senior cruise director, who writes a near-daily blog that makes passengers feel more like “family.” Several cruise lines have an array of towel animals that their cabin crew will leave after making up your cabin. You get the point.

To that end, back in late December, P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Explorer cruise ship hosted a Christmas-themed event during its weeklong holiday cruise.

What was believed to be several members of the ship’s housekeeping staff came to the party wearing white long-sleeved suits, with white gloves. Their faces were covered in white masks that had pointed tops and eye holes cut out.

More than one passenger on the ship said their “costumes” were offensive and made them look like Ku Klux Klan members.

Left: Housekeeping staff on P&O Cruises (via X) // Right: Ku Klux Klan members in early 20th century (Public Domain)

One passenger, named Terri (last name withheld by request) explained the incident to Daily Mail Australia. “There was a lot of excitement [for the competition] … Everyone was there, everyone gathered, it was advertised, there was a lot of noise and it went dead quiet, just silent.

“A lady sitting in front of me, her jaw dropped she was like “what the hell”, everyone was like OMG – they were calling it the “KKK cruise,” said Terri. “The lack of judgment was astounding.”

“I (requested) a please explain and have received no response,” Terri added. This is not tolerated in this current environment and education is desperately needed.”

P&O eventually made a statement about the incident. They said the staff had “no idea” about how they looked, or, for that matter, what the KKK was.

P&O communications director Lynne Scrivens told 2GB radio: “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 [Note: an Australian retail store] 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.

“They had no idea, they were horrified when management said to them, ‘please take those outfits off.'”

A statement from P&O Cruises Australia also apologized for any offense caused. They reiterated the point that their staff didn’t intentionally dress up as something meant to represent a KKK uniform.

“The crew members were horrified and extremely apologetic when they learned of the distress their outfits could cause,” the statement said.

Our take on this

Although I could see how the staff’s costumes could be misinterpreted as KKK robes, I could also understand P&O Cruises’ explanation. We know from our own experiences on cruises that most of the housekeeping staff on cruise ships are indeed young, and the vast majority are from developing nations. Although they may have had some minor education about the history of the United States, they’re certainly not going to have done enough of a deep dive to know about the Ku Klux Klan.

I believe it indeed was an innocent but unfortunate action.

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