Hello Paul,
Welcome to cruising, and to Cruise@ddicts.
You've picked a wonderful ship for your first ever cruise. We sailed on the Golden a couple years ago and she was amazingly stable. We hardly felt her move at all.
But if your wife does get motion sick she should come prepared. There are several remedies that are frequently mentioned here on the board. I can only list them for you, not vouch for them, since hubby and I don't get seasick. The choices are:
- Pills like Dramamine and Bonine. (I took Dramamine on the first night of our first cruise as a precautionary measure. It put me to sleep for most of my first evening on the ship. Never took it again, and never needed it.) ( Generic form of dramamine used to be free from the purser's desk when we first started cruising, ('96) I don't know if it still is. If not you can always buy it in the ship's shops.)
-Sea bands, which look like sweat bands but have a little bead sewn into them that presses on an accupressure point, that is supposed to stop the seasickness. Some people swear by them. You can buy that at travel stores, like at AAA.
-Candied ginger, nibble on it from time to time and is suppresses nausea. Does it work? I don't know, but did you ever wonder why your mom always fed you ginger-ale when you were sick? There's usually some truth to those old home remedies.
-Another food related remedy that worked for my son's girlfriend on their last cruise, is to eat two red apples. Sounds odd, I know, but the room steward told her to try it. My son ran up to the lido deck buffet and grabbed a few. They seemed to work. After that they made sure to have room service bring a bowl full of red apples every day. Must be red, don't ask me why.
Other recommendations for avoiding sea sickness is to stay up on deck as much as possible. Supposedly feeling the breeze and looking at the horizon helps.
One thing to note for seasickness is to choose your cabin wisely. As you've said you're already located amid ship, which is good. If you're avoiding seasickness you'd be looking for one that is more centrally located, not too far forward and not too far back. Preferably on a lower deck. The more central you are the less you'll feel the pitch (forward to back rocking) and the lower you are, the less you'll feel the roll (side to side rocking).
As for formal nights, there will be almost certainly be two, which is pretty standard for a seven night cruise.
If there are any specific questions you have feel free to ask, here or by e-mail.
Merely asking for suggestions is really far too general of a question. I wouldn't know where to begin. In what areas do you need advice? Packing lists? What to bring besidrs clothing? Other formal night advice? Pre-cruise hotel stay? Insurance? Excursions? Sign and sail card proceedure? Cruise documents and pre-registration?
For a great list of general cruise tips and packing list, have you tried Cruise Diva's site yet:
<http://cruisediva.com/>
For another wonderful packing list and precruise reminder list there's Calgon's lists. Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page:
<http://www.geocities.com/Calgon1/>
There is so much more to know about cruising than I ever would have thought possible before our first cruise, and before I started reading this board. I still learn something new here everyday.
..Joanne