Texas cruise capital

Maroon 5 rocks Galveston as Carnival Cruise Lines celebrates the Magic

With the Carnival Magic in the background, Maroon 5's Adam Levine rocks thecrowd.
Photo by Jim Sulley of Newscast and T.C. Baker
Carnival constructed a stage for the concert, which fronted the water along Pier21.
Photo by Jim Sulley of Newscast and T.C. Baker
Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine performed for nearly an hour at the privateconcert.
Photo by Jim Sulley of Newscast and T.C. Baker
The Carnival Magic will be based out of Galveston.
Photo by Jim Sulley of Newscast and T.C. Baker

It was a Galveston tourist official's dream-come-true Sunday afternoon.

With the gigantic Carnival Magic cruise ship in the background, Maroon 5 rocked a crowd of several thousand along Pier 21 to celebrate the new boat's arrival in Texas on a picture-perfect day. The stage was so close to the water that pleasure boats with excited spectators hovered alongside to soak in the action.

Lead singer Adam Levine, his jeans looking as if they might droop dangerously close to R-rated territory, led the band thoughout the hour-long set, singing such hits as "Moves Like Jagger," "This Love," "Sunday Morning" and "She Will Be Loved," as many in the audience waved their arms and shouted out the lyrics to every song.

Adam Levine, his jeans looking as if they might droop dangerously close to R-rated territory, led the band thoughout the hour-long set, as many in the audience waved their arms and shouted out the lyrics to every song.

Carnival Cruise Lines brought in the popular pop group to herald the new ship, which embarked on its first cruise from Galveston Monday. "Here at Carnival, we're all about F-U-N," said senior cruise director John Heald.

At a cocktail reception for travel agents and selected members of the Houston media on board the ship Sunday night, Carnival Cruise Line president and CEO Gerry Cahill enthusiastically endorsed Galveston as the site for two of its large cruise ships.

The Carnival Magic was launched in May in Venice, Italy and offered tours of the Mediterrean over the summer from Barcelona before a 16-day Transatlantic cruise ended in Galveston Sunday. The ship will be based in the Texas island city, with seven-day cruises to such destinations as Montego Bay, Cozumel and Grand Cayman throughout the year.

In addition to the 3,690-passenger Magic, the company also operates the 2,758-passenger Carnival Triumph, featuring four- and five-day cruises to Cozumel out of Galveston. Prices on the Magic range from $549 to just over $2,000 per person, depending on cabin and time of year. The Triumph ranges from $309 to $1,249.

Extending the length of three football fields, the Magic looks like a Las Vegas hotel on the inside with a 10-story atrium and glass-and-gold chrome elevators. Features include a massive water park for youngsters and an adults-only "Serenity" lounge on the top deck, along with a two-floor spa, fitness center, casino and several lounges featuring nightly entertainment.

Among the many food-and-drink options are a Caribbean-inspired pub, a steakhouse, an Italian restauarant with singing waiters, and food stations offering Italian, Indian, sushi, and Mongolian wok cuisine.

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On the road

Vonlane ramps up luxury bus service from Houston to key Texas city

Photo courtesy of Vonlane

Vonlane has added new routes in major cities around Texas.

Luxury bus operator Vonlane is adding new routes across Texas for 2026, including bringing back crack-of-dawn rides between Houston and San Antonio.

According to a release, effective February 16, Vonlane will run new early-morning and evening departures in four Texas cities on high-demand travel days. Six additional weekly departures have been added in each city as follows:

NEW Fort Worth to and from Austin:

7 am and 7 pm Monday, Thursday, and Friday

NEW Houston Galleria to and from San Antonio:

6 am and 6 pm Monday, Thursday, and Friday

As of February 16, the schedule to and from these Texas cities will be as follows:

San Antonio to Houston Galleria:

6 am, 10 am, 2 pm, 6 pm Monday, Thursday, and Friday
10 am and 2 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday
1 pm Saturday

Houston Galleria to San Antonio:

6 am, 10 am, 2 pm, 6 pm Monday, Thursday, and Friday
10 am and 2 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday
9 am Saturday

Vonlane also offers routes from Houston to Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin.

The company says the expanded schedules aim to help facilitate day trips, allowing regional business travelers to arrive in time for morning meetings and return home the same evening.

“Business travelers are telling us they want schedules that actually work,” said Alex Danza, founder and CEO of Vonlane, in a statement. “These new departures make it possible to take a morning meeting without a 4 am alarm, stay productive on the road, and still be home by dinner. That flexibility is exactly what Vonlane was built to deliver.”

Dallas-based Vonlane launched its high-end bus service in 2014 to cater to business travelers. Each bus, which holds fewer than two dozen passengers, features amenities like Wi-Fi, satellite TV and radio, snack and drink service, sleep masks, and leather seats. Their fares are flat-rate, one-way or round-trip, with no taxes, baggage fees, or change fees.

Vonlane now offers more than 500 departures weekly across nine cities, in Texas and beyond. Routes run in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio, Texas; between Atlanta, Georgia, and Nashville, Tennessee; and between Nashville and Memphis, and Nashville and Knoxville.

In Houston, buses to Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin depart from the Hyatt Regency Downtown at 1200 Louisiana St. Buses to San Antonio depart from the Hyatt Regency Galleria at 2626 Sage Rd.

Reservations can be booked online, and may be canceled and fully refunded up to 24 hours before departure.

Vonlane also just launched an app to make booking and managing trips easier for passengers; it is available for Apple and Android devices.

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