May 2022 Venice Port

our secondary departure port is Bologna.

Bologna is 70 kms from the sea, 43 miles if you prefer. It's also 95 miles away from Venice, or 1 hour and 33 minutes away by high speed train.

I think your secondary port is Ravenna, the town famous for the port, the beaches and the ancient mosaics.

when the restrictions to the Venice ports will lift?

Never, the Lagoon was declared a national monument in July there's no going back from such decisions.

Smaller ships may be allowed to dock at Marghera in the coming months, but I don't know if Celebrity Cruise falls in that category.

Not that I'd pick Marghera over Ravenna! Marghera is just a dock close to an oil refinery that's in front of the "floating" districts of Venice.

I just checked the Celebrity Cruise Line website. On any cruise that lists Venice it has (Ravenna) listed like this right after it. I think this confirms that you will visit Venice, but your port will be Ravenna.

Your best source of information about the ports on your cruise is the cruise line itself. I would encourage you to contact them.

The previous posters are correct. Your ship will port in Ravenna, not Bologna which is landlocked. The Venice closure to all but the smallest cruise ships is permanent. If you want to visit Venice, I would suggest that you add days to the beginning of your trip and actually stay in Venice before moving on to Ravenna and the ship. But Ravenna also has much to recommend itself, so arrive there at least a day or 2 before embarkation.

Count yourself if you get to depart from Ravenna instead of Marghera. Ravenna is a jewel and well worth 2 nights before your departure. I highly recommend Palazzo Bezzi for your accommodations (not pricy in spite of the word “palace” in the name:

https://palazzobezzi.it/?lang=en

Another vote for Ravenna. The historic center is very nice, and the mosaics (in at least seven locations) are positively jaw-dropping.

Thanks so much to everyone for their responses. I truly appreciate the help 😁

Hope that your port is Ravenna, a worthwhile stop by itself. Most medieval art is faded, but the 4th century mosaics in Ravenna are astounding. The Venice port is permanently closed to large cruise ships which did a lot of damage and overwhelmed the city.
I agree with the person who suggested that you stay in Venice. The city is now charging day visitors a entry fee. Besides, you will get to see Venice before and after the day trippers. Be sure you get a pass for the vaporetti, the boats that take the place of busses in Venice. They go up and down the canals from side to side, and are essential to getting around Venice. You may even be able to get a vaporetto from Chioggia, a smaller city at the South end of the Venetian lagoon. You might even look into staying in Chioggia. I have not been there, but I hear it is like Venice without the tourist crowds.

On further thought, if Ravenna is now the cruise ship port for Venice it will be overwhelmed. When I was there Jan 2018 Ravenna was simply not equipped to handle the number of visitors that one cruise ship would bring, let alone several. Poor Ravenna!
I don't know how much time you have, but I would try to stay in Venice or in Chioggia (as previously mentioned), and treat Ravenna as a day trip. The mosaics there are still wonderful.

It appears the fastest trains between Venice and Ravenna (requiring a change in Ferrara) take 2 hr. 22 min. each way, so I wouldn't treat Ravenna as a day-trip from Venice just to have to turn around and go back to Ravenna for the cruise departure. Nor would I want to day-trip from Ravenna to Venice.

After all the good advice my traveling companions and I decided to stay in Venice for 2 days prior to our Cruise. We were able to book a hotel through Celebrity that includes transfer to the ship on the day of departure (guaranteed to be on time)
I will be sure to post how it goes-Happy travels to everyone & stay safe !

That is great news! Have a wonderful trip.

Chioggia ain’t Venice. Chioggia has a canal through “downtown”, and a bunch of boats. It also has cars, Vespas, market trucks, pantechnicons. It does not have gondolas, Ca’ Rezzonicos, Ducal palaces. I have spent a night in Chioggia and also visited from Venice another time.
Enjoyable, yes.
Venice? No.