We just booked our first cruise. It's a four night from NY. This is a practice trip because we want to sail Paul Gaughan from Tahiti next year for our anniversary. My husband gets seasick and we hope he can do this just fine. This way he can look forward to a week long cruise or else we won't go.

We figure we'll either have to spend a lot for our (my) dream vacation or we'll save that much.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. We have a balcony cabin in the back of the ship.
I understand these ships are very active and there are a lot of people.

At this point, if we do absolutely nothing but sail, eat, sleep and repeat the aforementioned, that will be fine. We need a getaway. This is just a test.

I've read where we can't bring wine on board. I enjoy relaxing with a glass and don't want to have to go to the bar or call room service. Will we be able to bring any at all? Will there be glasses in the room? How about if we buy some at the port of call?

I was also told by our rep that knives and heating pads are not allowed. ????? She then said perahps heating pads will be. I'm not ancient, but I don't know what we'll be doing for this trip and I like have this just in case. Have you heard of this?

I also understand that people dress a bit better for cruises than at, say the beach resorts. Correct? We're really casual folks.

I'll look forward to your input. This is completely new to us.

Karen, I've sailed Princess 5 times but never done a Carnival cruise. My first will be the Triumph to Canada/New England, 7 days in September.

I can't answer your specific questions, but can tell you that if you want to go to www.cruisecritic.com and click on Boards and then Carnival, you will find tons of information. You can use the search function to get the final answer on the wine question, or just post your questions there.

As far as knives, I'm assuming you mean something like a pocket knife. I don't see why you cannot put them in your checked luggage. The dining room is full of steak knives, what would the difference be? I never tried to bring a heating pad onboard but never heard that you could not. If you don't bring it, you might want to buy some of those instant heat self-adhesive muscle relief pads (sold in supermarkets and Walmart type stores). I had a free sample of those and it worked very well.

You can get answers to your dresscode questions at cruisecritic.com also. I don't know if there is a formal night or not on a 4-night cruise; generally, on non-formal nights the dress code is no jeans or shorts --- and men wear dockers and polo shirts, ladies wear slacks, capris, or sundress/casual dresses. That kind of thing.

What are you planning to do about he seasickness. I've never had it, but there are those who swear by the non-drowsy dramamine. Lots of info at cruisecritic about that also.

Enjoy your first cruise.

Thank you, Jasmine. I'll try those sites. Good luck in September. I'll write again when we get back.

If you want to attend the dining room formal night, you need proper attire, with most men wearing jackets and ladies in dressy outfits.

I would strongly suggest your husband TAKE PRECAUTIONS and not wait and "see" if he gets motion sickness. There are a wide variety of good products available, consult the MD. These all work on PREVENTION. Why take the chance?? You may want to head to your library and take out some cruising books. They can give you a better idea of what cruising is like since they are volumes. New England is NOT like sailing the Caribbean.

Have done Nova Scotia 3 times with Carnival over the past 10 years. We generally use Bonine to prevent seasickness, works every time for us. Just make sure to take it an hour before the ship sets sail and continue at least on sea days.

This is a great cruise for a test since it is short and inexpensive and a good way to get introduced to crusing.

Since it's such a short cruise, I would suggest buying your beverages on board, it won't break the bank.

Carnival is strictly casual, so don't be too concerned about dress codes. I believe on the 4 night cruise you will have one "formal" night, sport jacket and tie for men is general adequate.

Keep in mind that the weather in Nova Scotia is frequently wet and foggy so don't expect beautiful weather, but you may get lucky. When are you going, keep in mine that Sept - Oct are hurrican season and you may want to avoid thoses months.

Have a great cruise.

We took this cruise on the Carnival Destiny from NY to St. John and Halifax five years ago in the middle of July. Even though I had high hopes that because we were sailing in the middle of summer we would have great weather, regrettably we did not. The weather was cold, rainy and foggy. The seas were so rough that the Vegas style show had to be canceled because of the danger to the dancers. I will say, however, that we were not seasick and we weren't taking any type of medicine. I have been seasick before, but, fortunately, on the Destiny, I had no problems. I would suggest your husband plan ahead and be prepared, just in case. We were on the Carnival Destiny for four nights. There was one "formal" night. My husband wore a suit and I wore a nice (but not fancy) dress.

We had a nice time on the cruise. We had a balcony cabin, but, because of the weather, we couldn't really use it. The cabin was a very nice size and we were pleased with it. Food was good and all in all we had a good time. We loved Halifax and visited Peggy's Cove, which was great.

I hope you enjoy cruising.