We arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on Super Bowl Monday! It’s so strange to put the word “Monday” with “Super Bowl” given it’s always on a Sunday back home. But here we were. And, of course, our Kansas City Chiefs were contenders so we simply had to watch.

Our ship had a Super Bowl watch party in the Insignia Lounge, complete with snacks, a beer special, and a huge cake to celebrate the occasion. We swung in to check it out, but were more keen on getting of the ship to watch the big game.

We headed out with the boys for a first-half spot, which was also a spot for us to get some Wi-Fi. The boys were less interested in the game itself, so we agreed the first half would be at one location, then at half time we’d run them back to the ship, and John and I would head out again for the second half. So, our first half we landed at a place called Coops and watched the game while getting some work in, things downloaded, etc. Given how the first half went for the Chiefs, this was a nice diversion.

At halftime we swung back to the ship with the boys and then John and I bolted for Dr. Rudi’s, a local bar where we had made reservations for four so that we could hook up with some friends (Dean and Carol) who are joining us on the New Zealand segment.

We had a great table, with a perfectly huge view of the game, and were just in time for the second half.

Dean and Carol joined us and we spent the rest of the game catching up while cheering for our team.

The bar was great. I think we counted upwards of 7 different teams represented on people’s clothes, and the cheering was loud for both teams. At our first stop (at Coops) there were far too many 49ers fans! In the end, of course, we had the big win! Yay Chiefs!

Unfortunately, despite the overall win, we didn’t win the bets we placed through the casino on the ship. As you can see, though, Tori’s box was only one spot away from the big winner. Oh well. Next time…