Hi Karrie, and welcome to CruiseCrazies!! Congrats on your 1st (of many, I'm sure) cruise. We're going on the EOS in April, and I'm really looking forward to it.
As to your questions, the conventional answer is that having a cabin all the way forward, you will feel the movement of the ship more than if you had one in the center of the ship. we've had cabins in different parts of ships, and never really felt a difference. To be fair, we never had one as forward as you are describing. My wife and I are both prone to motion illness, but never got sick on a ship wherever we had our cabin.
As for dining, we always take the late seating. This gives us pleanty of time to get back from port and relax before dinner. Also, we find that the best time to walk around the ship is while the early seating passengers are eating, and the late seating passengers are napping. It's a great time to walk on deck and just watch the sea. Also, there are less children at the later seating so it is a much more serene atmosphere. It's not that we don't love kids, it's just that we like the clmer atmosphere.
Most cruises have two shows per night after each of the dinner seatings, so you will not miss anything.
Whichever you choose, you will thoroughly enjoy the cruise. Enjoy the anticipation. :grin:
Howard