A British holidaymaker was left stunned after receiving an email from Virgin Voyages claiming her security photo contained nudity, just as she was about to embark on a cruise.
Kate, who was set to sail with the company in September, shared her shocking experience in a TikTok video, reports the Manchester Evening News.
She explained that she had uploaded the photo weeks prior and was baffled by the email, which read: “Ahoy, We apologise for somewhere along the way, a snafus occurred that’s preventing your Ready To Sail to be ‘officially’ complete.
“In order to avoid any delays at the port, log into the Virgin Voyages app to complete check-in and correct the following issue(s): Security Photo. The photo contains nudity.”
Kate revealed that the photo upload process involved fitting her face into a circular frame within a larger square frame, and she assumed only the circular portion would be used for security purposes.
She expressed her confusion, saying: “My understanding was the only bit that would be submitted or needed to be used, or was being used for AI or something, was the circular bit, maximum the square bit, right?
“And I was naked, which means my ta-tas were out in this bit at the bottom here that I didn’t think was being submitted. The fact that the email has come weeks later means it’s not been picked up by AI, it’s literally somebody’s looked at it.”
She concluded her video with a piece of advice for others embarking on the same process.
Kate’s video went viral, amassing over 79,100 views, gathering 3,577 likes and sparking 98 comments.
The revealing blunder left many viewers in disbelief, chuckling at the error.
Becks said: “I’m also sat here wondering if this email template was created just for you or if other people have made this error.”
Matt said: “I DID THIS FOR A PHOTO FOR A NEW JOB, she emailed saying I need to be clothed for the photo and to do it again.”
Polly added: “My friend does approval photos and gets them so much.” Katie said: “Hahahaa I had to take this kind of picture for an esta, luckily I thought ‘better put a dressing gown on just in case’ I thought I was just being paranoid.”
The user @hannlclark said: “What they don’t tell you is that photo (when you’re clothed) comes up everywhere on the ship when you’re paying for stuff. I looked AWFUL in mine.”
Photos are a necessity on Virgin Voyages as they’re connected to The Band, a technological innovation that enables passengers to make contactless payments and access their cabins.
This Band holds a unique encrypted ID which allows the crew of Virgin Voyage to view your security photo on their devices.
In case The Band goes missing, the crew can verify the passenger by matching the security photo linked with the band.