Home Australia P&O Pacific Explorer cruise ship passengers left reeling as holiday voyage turns into ‘KKK cruise’

P&O Pacific Explorer cruise ship passengers left reeling as holiday voyage turns into ‘KKK cruise’

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P&O Cruise passengers were left horrified after the ship's crew appeared to dress up as white supremacist members of the Klu Klux Klan during a Christmas-themed event (pictured)

EXCLUSIVE

P&O Cruise passengers were horrified when the ship’s crew appeared to dress up as white supremacist members of the Klu Klux Klan during a Christmas-themed event.

According to the cruise ship, the unpleasant incident that occurred on the Pacific Explorer during a Christmas voyage was a day of staff fun gone wrong.

Videos and photos show crew members dressed in what one passenger described as “offensive KKK costumes.”

The crew were believed to be part of the ship’s cleaning staff and one of the members is pictured proudly holding a cleaning sign.

Dressed in white capes and white-tipped masked hats, crew members were competing in a fun Christmas-themed “sports battle day” that was “advertised throughout the ship in the lead-up to the event.”

Passenger Terri, who did not want to reveal her last name, told Daily Mail Australia there was a lot of “excitement” about the event.

But all was “quiet” when the cleaning team arrived at the area outside the ship known as the Lido deck.

Terri, who was on the eight-day trip with her husband, said he urged her to “get the camera” to take photographs, which she sent to P&O for a “please explain”.

P&O Cruise passengers were left horrified after the ship’s crew appeared to dress up as white supremacist members of the Klu Klux Klan during a Christmas-themed event (pictured)

“(I asked for) an explanation and have not received a response,” Terri said.

“In my personal opinion, this is not tolerated in the current environment and education is desperately needed.”

The incident occurred as the ship returned to Melbourne at the end of an eight-day voyage to Hobart and other islands.

Terri has since shown the video to others and shared it in a Facebook group.

“People call it the ‘KKK Cruise,'” he said.

‘There was a lot of emotion and then everything went silent… the lack of judgment was astonishing.

“Everyone was there, everyone gathered, it was announced, there was a lot of noise and everything was silent, just silent.

‘I think everyone was shocked, my husband said “bring the camera”…

‘A lady sitting in front of me, mouth open, was like, “What the hell?”, everyone was like, Oh my God, they called it the “KKK cruise.”

A man dressed as Santa Claus is seen walking alongside other staff members dressed as

A man dressed as Santa Claus is seen walking alongside other staff dressed as “upside-down snow cones”, according to a P&O spokesperson.

The Pacific Explorer is a popular experience for families and other tourists (pictured)

The Pacific Explorer is a popular experience for families and other tourists (pictured)

“They had walked around the ship dressed as the KKK and paraded around the deck of the Lido practically in front of all the passengers, but it was only then that the senior crew saw them and took off their hats.

“I spoke… to one of the (cleaning) staff members, they were all men, and he said, ‘We didn’t think we hadn’t done anything wrong.’

“They didn’t say they weren’t dressed like the Klu Klux Klan when I asked them, but I really think it was an innocent mistake.

“To think it was done maliciously would be horrible, but I don’t think it was, all the staff seemed lovely.”

Terri said she waited for the ship’s senior crew to offer an apology or explanation, but none was forthcoming.

The Klu Klux Klan is a racist organization first established in the 19th century by American Protestant fanatics that was famous for its white hooded lynchings.

It is notorious that gangs of Klan members hunted black people to hang them from trees and left burning crosses in the front yards of black families’ homes.

A P&O Cruises Australia spokesperson claimed the crew were dressed as “upside-down snow cones” and not the Klu Klux Klan.

“We regret that a recent incident on a Pacific Explorer cruise ship has offended any guests,” the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Several members of the team dressed up as snow cones for a family Christmas event, not understanding how their costumes could be misinterpreted.

“They were in public view for only a short time before management acted quickly and ordered them to remove their costumes.

“The crew members were horrified and very apologetic when they learned of the distress their suits could cause.”

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