Anniversary cruise for the Gimbels

In their 40 years of marriage, Paul and Karen Gimbel of Wisconsin, America have been on four cruises.

Their latest one was far more special as the couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary.

The happy couple beamed with joy while sharing their story with this newspaper , showing that love is a beautiful and cherishing experience.

Just a few days away from Valentine’s Day the couple marked their ruby anniversary with a cruise to the South Pacific.

The Gimbels were on board the Celebrity Edge cruise liner that called into port on Tuesday, February 11. They were sight-seeing in the Capital City of Suva when The Sunday Times team caught up with them.

“We are on a cruise for our 40th wedding anniversary, well it was a couple of years ago, but it took us a while to decide on where we wanted to go,” they said.

“We have three children; they are all adults – 40 and almost 40 and we have four grandchildren and two dogs.”

The couple said their grandchildren and dogs pretty much ruled their lives.

“It’s a long time for us to be gone – we’re very active in three of our grandchildren’s daily lives and it’s nice that technology these days enables us to keep in touch with them.”

The trip has been an amazing one for the globe-trotting couple.

Paul has worked in performance contracting and engineering while Karen was in insurance underwriting. Now retired, the couple love spending quality time with their grandchildren and their canine friends.

“We both worked at home for quite a while before we retired so we’re used to being together.

“Now retirement has only made it better.

“We are very blessed with our family – our children, the grandchildren and the dogs. Life is good.

The couple has had a long and beautiful relationship and wanted to cherish it with a cruise to the South Pacific – a first-time experience for the both of them.

“We travelled from Wisconsin to Auckland and got on the ship there.

“We were at the Bay of Islands (New Zealand) earlier and this is our second stop, Suva. After Suva we will go to Lautoka and then to Samoa and from there we return to Auckland.

They said the voyage has been good, but the sea was a bit choppy for a couple of days.

“It’s a great ship, it has good food and entertainment.

“It’s our fourth cruise but the first with Celebrity Edge.

“We were in Alaska and did a couple (cruise) in the Caribbean, but this is the first in the South Pacific for anything.

Celebrity Edge is an Edge-Class cruise ship operated by Celebrity Cruises a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group.

Describing Fiji, the couple said Fijians were very friendly.

“Here it’s different as you are approached by so many people, everyone is very welcoming.

“There are some that are trying to sell you something but that is also happening in the United States.”

The couple looked forward to visiting Lautoka and making their two stops in Samoa after visiting Suva.

The Celebrity Edge which recommended by the Forbes Travel Guide is on a 12-night cruise.

The guests were on their fifth day into the cruise when they visited Suva.

According to Wikipedia, Celebrity Edge was the first Celebrity ship to be equipped with what the cruise line dubs the “Magic Carpet,” a tangerine glass-sheltered platform that protrudes and is suspended from the starboard side of the vessel.

It was designed to facilitate more accessible tender embarkation and disembarkation.

When not in use as a tender platform, it can rise or descend alongside the ship on its track and otherwise hosts additional dining and lounge space