A cruise line apologized after staff members dressed like “upside-down snow cones” in pointed white hoods that resembled those worn by Ku Klux Klan members. Footage has emerged of housekeeping crew on the Pacific Explorer voyage from Melbourne to Hobart marching along the deck in all-white uniforms and pointed masks with cut-out eyeholes. But P&O Cruises Australia said the footage, from December, showed the staff dressed as “snow cones” as part of a Christmas-themed family event. Lynne Scrivens, the communications director of P&O Cruises Australia, said the crew were forced to improvise with their outfits due to a lack of supplies. “They are wearing their cleaning uniforms, and they’ve got something on their head that looks like an upside-down snow cone,” she told Sydney radio station 2GB on Wednesday. “No one can seriously think that [to emulate the hate group] was their intention,” she added, saying that none of the passengers complained. But one of the guests told Daily Mail Australia that a “quiet” descended on the deck when the staff emerged. “Everyone was like ‘OMG’ – they were calling it the ‘KKK cruise’,” she said. A spokesperson told the outlet that the cruise line regrets if the incident “offended any guests,” and said that the staff involved “were horrified and extremely apologetic when they learned of the distress their outfits could cause.”