Hi, I am a casual electric bass player who has been dabling for years. I can play a little , have taken serious lessons that included theory but never progressed to any level of mastery.
Now I want to learn to play the cello. I bought an inexpensive one and thought I'd give it a try. Any suggestions for a good begining? What are some essential first steps to developing a good practice? Any suggestions?

Find a teacher as soon as possible

The teacher suggestion is good advice. You will have to get used to playing an instrument that the strings are 5 notes apart instead of 4.
The tuning for a cello from the bottom to the top string are C, G, D, A and the bass is E, A, D, G
I did the oposite from you, I played the cello through school the took up bass years later. I ended up tuning the bass like a cello but an octave down and my bass is fretless so everything worked out fine. That way I didn't have to go through a long learning and practice period to start playing with a band.I don't think you would want to go with bass tuning on the cello though.

Thanks! Finding the right teacher will be my priority for now. I live near New York City so that may not be too hard, I hope I can afford a good one. To reply to bobmrbassman...I don't think I'll tune my cello to anything but C G D A for now. I suppose that many things will change in how I play, I probably will make mistakes for a good while going from five to four. I cant wait to start!