PUBLISHED: 00:01, Mon, Dec 2, 2019 | UPDATED: 19:23, Mon, Dec 2, 2019
Princess Cruises has been accused of racism after photos emerged of non-Māori staff dressing up as the indigenous Polynesian people in New Zealand, in the latest cruise news. The incident occurred at 6.30am local time today, shortly after the cruise line’s Golden Princess arrived at the Port of Tauranga, in New Zealand's North Island, according to local site NZ Herald. Images shared on Facebook show several non-Māori men in long skirts with “careless scribbles" across their faces.
They can be seen standing next to a gazebo with ‘Princess Cruises’ written across it.
Video footage also shows the men appearing to pretend to perform a pōwhiri, the traditional Māori welcoming ceremony.
Both provoked outrage online. Steve the Maori Facebook page posted photos with a lengthy critical comment on the incident.
“Many cruise ships when travelling to NZ Ports, such as the Port of Tauranga opt to have a traditional Maori Welcome (Powhiri) welcoming the 3000+ guests,” he said.
“From there they board buses and head to Rotorua, often there is no mention of Tauranga as the Cruise companies actually list Rotorua as the destination port in order to ferry everybody on buses and send them away to the tourist meca.
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Princess Cruises: Photos emerged of non-Māori staff dressing up as the indigenous Polynesian people (Image: Facebook/Steve the Maori)
Princess Cruises: Images shared on Facebook show several non-Māori men in long skirts (Image: Facebook/Steve the Maori)
“A lot of Cruise companies employ local Maori Cultural groups to sing or perform dances etc, welcoming
