Private Transport Bologna to Parma

Why don't you just take a train from Venezia Santa Lucia at 5:15 with changes at Mestre and Bologna arriving at Parma at 8:31. Does the tour start near Parma station?

Don't have tour details yet. Waiting after submitting my contact info. We will have our luggage in tow. This will be our first Italian train ride; will we be able to negotiate the train changes as non-Italian speakers? Without the prepaid tour I wouldn't so much worry about a missed connection, figuring there will be another train, but I would hate to miss the tour. What type of train is this, and do I need to reserve ahead?

The Parma train station didn't have a place to leave your luggage when we were there. You should contact your Food tour and see if you can store your luggage at the store. Sometimes they are just meeting you on a street corner to begin the tour. You would definitely want to not be dragging your suitcase along the tour.

I concur with the previous comment to just take the train to Parma. I would also let the tour guide know that you're coming by train.

There is a nannybag location at Piazza della Pace 700 meters south of Parma station.
https://www.nannybag.com/en/luggage-storage

Unfortunately, since this is a Sunday, you will have to take a taxi from Piazzale Roma in Venice to Mestre station. Then a Frecciarosso high speed train to Bologna, departing at 5:37, arriving at 6:52, then connecting to a Regionale Veloce train, departing at 7:33, arriving Parma at 8:31. Tickets bought today are 44.50 EUR for 2 people, nonrefundable. Tickets bought day of travel will be an additional 40 EUR.

I speak no Italian, but have never had a problem navigating the trains in Italy.
You might want to watch Rick's short instructional video's on European train travel. Ignore all comments about rail passes. Times have changed. It will be better of you to just buy tickets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AxtbifeoBY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBLrjKFP9Xw

Or take a taxi to Venezia Mestre and take that departing 05:37 FR 8401 which is a Frecciarossa with an ultimate destination of Fiumicino Aeroporto. It has a bar car.

It will call at Padova (Padua to Americans) at 05:53, Rovigo at 06:13 and arrive at Bologna Centrale 06:52. You would have 13 minutes to change to

FB 8802 which is a Frecciabianca (not as fancy as Frecciarossa but still good) which is going to Milano Centrale, departing at 07:05, also has a bar car.

It will call at Modena (personal comment - I love Modena) at 07:25 and Reggio d'Emilia at 07:38 and arrive at Parma at 07:51 which should give you nearly an hour to drop your bags in a predetermined place and meet your group.

I'd suggest getting hold of your tour group ASAP, tell them which train you will be on (FB 8802 arriving Parma 7:51) and ask where the meeting place will be and where they suggest to leave your luggage. I'm sure that that is the sort of question they get all the time and will have a ready answer for.

13 minutes for a connection in Bologna isn't bad. There has been a lot of redevelopment in the station and the tracks have been realigned in the couple of years since I was last there. The direction signs and flow through the station was fairly good when I used it and from what I have heard it is even better. You may arrive and depart under ground. Just find the screen with all the next train numbers and platforms (binario, abbreviated BIN) and find your 8802. Look for the train number not destination or where you are going. It really is easy, and that's what others will be doing. Then find the sign near the escalator or stairs and go the direction it says. You don't need to know Italian. It will be clear. Look at those old videos linked above.

If you have the Trenitalia app on your phone and have either wifi or cell data it will show you the progress of your trains and platform numbers so you are ready armed with that information.

You can do it.

Nigel, I saw that connection on the Bahn site but not the Trenitalia site. I speculated that maybe 13 minutes was not enough time, or maybe just a quirk in the Trenitalia trip planner.

It's not a quirk, it's logic. The minimum official connection time in big stations like Bologna Centrale is 15 minutes, trenitalia.com obviously does not show non-protected connections.

I'm afraid the germans do not care if some tourist misses a connection in Italy because the first train is late and then discovers at the counter that he is supposed to pay for a new ticket.

Being Germans, Maybe they think trains just shouldn't be late, but Bologna Centrale is a labyrinth. Since the new high speed tracks are two levels under the old station used by local trains, I'd rather have more than 15 minutes to transfer, not less.

“Bologna Centrale is a labyrinth.” Wow, I agree with Dario!

I was there last September making a connection. The fast train came into the station on the bottom level, and I had to go up some series of escalators and eventually out to the lowly Regionale train to head to Ravenna. To add to the fun, my first train was very late, so I had two minutes to make my connection! (I actually made my connection but never would have if not traveling solo!). I’m sharing this to let you know to not dally in that train station. There’s good signage, but you may experience more walking than normal train stations.