DISAPPOINTING ATTITUDES

DISAPPOINTING ATTITUDES
Date of visit: December 2018
The attraction itself is great, very nicely done. However what my 12-year-old daughter had most been looking forward to was the Go Aloft experience where you can climb up the rigging to a viewing deck. This sounded like a lot of fun and I had planned to do it with her. We were early and were told this part of the attraction opened at midday. Having been round the rest of the ship, we waited an extra half an hour in the cafe specifically to be able to 'Go Aloft'. Was about to pay for the tickets when the instructor stepped up to say we would not be able to do it because we wore headscarves. The only explanation was that having something round our necks was a risk as it 'could get caught'. There was no real explanation why this was any different to having on a polo neck. Note that our headscarves are not like long woolly scarves but are firmly secured and do not flap around. Note that a helmet would easily fit over them and that we would have been happy to knot them even more securely if necessary. Note that we have been on a variety of helmet-needing attractions with them on, including climbing the O2, indoor skydiving, the ArcelorMittal Orbit slide; my daughter has also been on a number of adventure holidays including abseiling and climbing Jacob's Ladder (similar to this ship's rigging). Not one of these places had ever mentioned that wearing a headscarf was a safety risk. I waited to speak to the duty manager. The manager spoke with me for a while then went and spoke with the instructor. After this discussion he said that loosening our scarves around our neck might be an option (so that our necks were uncovered) - surely it's more dangerous having a _loosely_ tied scarf?!! I still could not understand why having something securely tied around my neck was any more at risk of 'catching' on the rigging than any other item of clothing. He could not answer this but said he had to defer to the instructor, of course citing Health and Safety. If headscarves have not been an issue for other similar attractions I think there is an error in reasoning here. I suggest SS Great Britain leaves the history below decks and brings their attitudes into the 21st century.