Andy alerted me to this thread.
I've had discussions with the Ramsgate-Oostende operator and the situation is likely to remain that cyclists and foot passengers won't be taken as individual passengers, but a small minibus or taxi can make the crossing and carry you between port entrance and berth and v.v at either end. This is especially a limiting detail at Oostende, where the distance you will need to ride is over 1Km through the freight marshalling apron area. Here are many HGV and tractor-tug movements of large trailers, presenting a high risk zone for cycling and with low demand for foot passenger and cycle use they claim that providing a shuttle bus (as at Dieppe and Newhaven), to carry these passengers to the berth is not a viable proposition and an added cost (for foot passengers) would be the provision of a Customs Building to process those coming in and out (of the UK).
The solution is to get a driver and an 8-seater to go on the ferry with you and your bikes - any bigger than an 8-seater will also be refused as coach parties have to come off the coach and use a Customs Hall. So for a low budget operation you need to have a minibus and driver to do a return trip (or dump the minibus with someone in Oostende) I am wondering if a car club or car hire company might consider having such vehicles for hire so that groups might co-ordinate sharing a hire, or you find someone who fancies a cheap trip to Oostende who will do the 2 trips for inbound and outbound. You might try an post the request on
www.Liftshare.com as they already broker workplace lift-sharing and might like to look at a cross-channel version using Eurotunnel and the ferry routes, as a standard trip that many would like to lift share on.
The same detail applies to the Dover-Dunkerque route, as the facilities at Dunkerque are very simple - it deals only with vehicles and will not deal with vehicles carrying more than (I think) 8 people. Those on foot and parties in a coach need to go through a Customs Hall, and the operation would not be viable if they have to build something bigger than their current portacabins (unless of course there is an MEP in Dunkerque who can drum up support for a 'vanity' project that delivers coach parties to the town with a super but overspecified Customs facility, which might be too costly to sustainably operate). Dunkerque is actually quite a civilised port as the berths are very close to the town itself, most pleasantly the opposite of Calais, and to a lesser extent Dover.
That said there may be options for really low cost Eurostar tickets to Lille or le Frethun, as well as Brussel and Paris, especially if you can pack your bike down to it their carry-on bag size (120cm x 90cm x 30 cm) as many cycle tourists already do, as this avoids the £30 cost of registering to have the assembled bike transported (max length 2.0m). Packed to this size bikes can go on the High Speed services like Thalys/IC-E and TGV - you can be in the South of France in 6-7 hours this way
Regarding the DFDS routes - there was an apparent block on cycle and foot passenger bookings, but this was again driven commercially - they get more per passenger if the party brings on a car, and with less heavy freight they have car deck space available, allocating this a priority for every additional car deal they can sell. It does make cycle bookings a bit scarce at times, if passenger spaces are held back for car occupants.
Not sure about all of the ex Seafrance detail just yet - I'll need to check that one - once my CTC laptop resurfaces after repairs.
The next move - well there is always the Treaty of Rome and European Human Rights Law - namely the issue of being able to pass freely between member states. Thus the blocking of individuals who do not have access to private motor vehicles, is a significant limitation on a fundamental tenet of the EU, and with the Ports often controlled by or receiving support from Governments, there is a possible call on those Governments to ensure all ports with passenger ferry services have the facility for an individual to arrive under their own power on foot or on a bike and cross the border.
This isn't really something for CTC alone, especially with the major opportunities presented by the current road safety and promotion action coming from Central Government, but it may be usefully raised with MEP's, especially where ports and ferry services receive EU funding, and with those promoting sustainable tourism (you only need to see the effect on Dieppe when the cars head to & from the incoming ferry).
Be thankful that the Port of Dover has a better attitude on cycling and lets you ride from the port entrance to the berth with the trucks, cars and buses, and lets you do this for night sailings when they don't accept foot passengers, as the shuttle buses don't run to serve the overnight sailings. They have had a cyclist killed by a truck movement, but this was a staff member riding in a marshalling area rather than someone using the defined routes and they did not respond with a knee jerk ban on cycling - let's keep this one working, and try to persuade Ramsgate & Oostende that cycling to the berth is not a high risk issue. I'll cc this thread to ECF folk in Brussel in case there is a Belgian/French perspective they can apply to the issue.
Meantime - if there is a value in passenger numbers and revenue that can be shown let's try to build a case based on blunt financial benefit to the ferry operator - delivering passengers to the ferry but without the added costs of safe transfer or extra Customs facilities.
