I’ve done the crossing on a motorbike with BF and DFDS and I found that DFDS had much better arrangements for securing the bike. BF seemed quite slapdash by comparison
Good to know - thank you. Videos that I’ve seen on YouTube of bikes on the Portsmouth Caen route show the crew using a ratchet strap over a padded bag across the seat and into two fixings on the deck - which hopefully should be sufficient as long as they tighten it down there isn’t a “D-Day 1944” style gale!
DFDS used the same system last year when my bike was parked in the middle of the ferry away from the walls - the previous year it was parked nose-in to the wall and the front wheel went into a clamp which gave an extra point of contact - though the clamp they got me to wheel into was broken!
Agreed - but for me coming from Guildford and usually going to Vienne/Charente or the Loire valley it’s a heck of a detour! 
Perhaps someone should start up a RyanFerry option using ex-WW2 landing craft and dropping off on Gold Juno or Sword beaches… 
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Depnds where you are coming to/going from, of course.
For me Folkstone is 3 1/2 hours from home, say two from arriving at the folkstone terminal to driving out of the Coquelles terminal, then 6 from there to the house.
About 12 hours in total but much too long a journey to do without some rest stops somewhere.
Or I can drive 2 1/4 hours down to Portsmouth, sleep on the ferry for a few hours - not as good as a full night’s sleep but better than nothing - and arrive at the house for 10-11AM depending on how long it took to get through passport control.
Plus I don’t have any tolls using BF, which makes even the DFDS route much less competitive.
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Like me, can use toll roads but its about €70+ each way and using the big non motorway N154 etc is only about 1/2 hour longer. (Actually that when I cheat and use a short bit of toll for around €10-12 otherwise it could be 1 hour longer and a danger of collecting a ticket.
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We are about 140 miles from the tunnel terminal, so 2.5 hours if the M25 is ok, 3.5 if not. Newhaven is about the same time, but half the journey is not motorway. On the far side both drives are about 6 hours + stops. I’ve done the return in 10 hours with about another 1 hour break time on top, but 11-12 + breaks is more usual.
My concern is travelling out, getting a short, poor night and then 6 hours driving Will make for a tough trip. But we’ll see. Going to Ouistreham would be even further although the journey to Portsmouth is a bit better.
Have you booked a cabin for the outwood journey? I make sure I have eaten before boarding the ship as eating late and then trying to sleep I find hard. Once on board I make for the sleeping area and have an eye mask to blacken out the glare from the lights if I havent got a cabin, which I seldon have these days due to the cost and availabilty.
On my most recent DFDS cruising I booked one of the ‘business’ cabins and was very impressed. The inclusion of a pod-type tea/coffee maker was particularly welcome as it meant I didn’t have to leave the cabin at all. Also, the announcement to vacate the cabin about an hour before arrival didn’t happen. I’m not sure if this is a change in policy, but it was very welcome as I could stay in the cabin untill the ship was tied up in port.
Cabins booked - we sail overnight both ways. The plan is to leave home before 6pm, drive to Newhaven and get dinner on the way. We’ll then go to the cabin as soon as possible for the few hours.
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Reading all the above posts, reminded me of not only the schlep of travelling to ones maison secondaire, but also the pleasure of walking around Calais in the evening, deciding where to have that first meal in France; and then the anticipation of striking out on the day’s drive the following morning - we lived a long way north in the UK and our French house is a long way south.
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I travelled though the tunnel from the UK in Sept. & thought I’d take a trip down memory lane, so drove into Calais to have a coffee in a café and if still on the menu a steak tartare frits . Found the café and was disappointed with everything, the locals ‘not French for the most, glued to some betting game on a screen’ , and not the slightest whiff of a Gitannes or Gaulois. Had a coffee an left 
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Seems like another reason to be glad to free of that cross-Channel necessity, but it remains important to recollect those brief, happy memories that make one more conscious of how wonderful it is to be living here all the time.
Dieppe trumps Calais for a great place for meal and scenery.
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I’m sure anywhere is better than Calais! Even more so than 35-40 odd years ago & I thought Dover was bad.
I think Dunkerque is the worst of the lot, I went there twice and it was closed both times 
That’s because they heard you were coming.
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Yes, come to think of it Dunkerque in the early 80’s…Stank of the sea, dead fish, engine oil and sht… The boats weren’t much better being freight only IIRC, but a hungry hitchhiker who didn’t pay the crossing wasn’t complaining as could have a cheap fry up.
You’ve reminded me of the time the firm I worked for organised a “works outing” weekend on the ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark.
Everyone had a good time getting pissed on the boat, but when we got to Esbjerg it was a Danish Bank Holiday and the entire place was closed.
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Yes but you know when you board. If in doubt just ask at reception.
I have used Sealink/Stena/DFDS for about 35 years and have always been happy with the service. I do miss the formal dining room that used to help pass away an hour or two but other than that I have no complaints.
For me the math is simple…five hour drive plus four hour crossing equals nine. Two hour drive plus seven hour crossing also equals nine but at less than half the price for the ferry. Then I have the added benefit of only a twenty minute drive to family in East Sussex. On the very rare occasion that I’ve alighted at Portsmouth I’m usually suffering from road rage within minutes.
Its different strokes for different folks but for me Dieppe-Newhaven wins by a mile.