A cruise ship’s staff have pleaded ignorance after their “upside down snow cone” fancy dress costumes were misconstrued as Ku Klux Klan (KKK) outfits.

P&O Cruises Australia issued an apology after footage surfaced online showing crew members strolling across the desk in all-white outfits with pointy hats and masks with makeshift eye holes.

The costumes looked distinctly like the white robes and masked hoods worn by the American white supremist hate group, the KKK.

The cruise company has since said its housekeeping crew were completely unaware of the connotations and were actually dressed as “snow cones” during a Christmas-themed family event on the Pacific Explorer voyage from Melbourne to Hobart in December.

The international crew had “never heard of the organisation [the KKK]” when management asked them to remove their outfits, said Lynne Scrivens, communications director of P&O Cruises Australia, adding it was an innocent case of improvisation gone awry.

“No one can seriously think that was their intention,” Ms Scrivens told Australian radio station 2GB on Wednesday. 

She added: “They were so distressed … they really are so hardworking and try their hardest to deliver guests amazing holidays.

“They are wearing their cleaning uniforms, and they’ve got something on their head that looks like an upside down snow cone,” Ms Scrivens said, noting that none of the passengers had complained at the time.