Members of staff on a cruise in Australia dressed up in white outfits and pointed hoods, similar to those worn by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), leaving passengers shocked. Eight members of the housekeeping staff on the Pacific Explorer heading to Hobart from Melbourne in December 2024 dressed in all-white costumes and pointed hoods with eye-holes cut out in them for a Christmas-themed event, according to news reports. However, according to the cruise organisers, P&O Cruises Australia , the staff were not dressed to resemble the Ku Klux Klan.
Instead, they were meant to be dressed as “snow cones” for a Christmas party on the cruise. “We regret if a recent incident on a Pacific Explorer cruise offended any guests,” a spokesperson told The Independent . “Several crew members dressed up as snow cones for a Christmas family event, not understanding how their costumes could be misconstrued.
“They were only in public view for a short time before management acted quickly and had them remove the costumes .” The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist group that was created in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Members of the KKK discriminated against Black communities, using violent methods like lynching and flogging to terrorise the neighbourhoods in which they were active.
Klan members also burned crosses on hillsides to intimidate Black Americans and other marginalised groups. Members of the KKK usually wore hooded robes to hide their identities and avoid prosecution. Vid.