Kristin and Richard Morris
For Kristin and Richard Morris, running Arizona Cruise and Travel has been a journey shaped by resilience, reinvention and a love of helping people see the world. What began in 2014 as an unlikely move into the travel business has since become a multimillion-dollar franchise. Kristin, who was born and raised in Tucson, built her first career in nursing. She specialized in pediatric oncology at University Medical Center, working with children who faced some of the most difficult diagnoses. Later, after moving to the Valley in the mid-1990s, she returned to nursing and spent more than a decade in labor and delivery at Chandler Regional Medical Center.
By 2013, her husband, Richard, a longtime insurance broker, was looking for a new business venture. “He just happened to see Cruise Planners’ franchise come across his screen one day, and he started looking into that,” Kristin said. “He’s like, what do you think about starting a travel agency? I was like, ‘OK, that’s kind of off the wall.’”
But the couple decided to take the plunge. They signed their Cruise Planners franchise agreement in early 2014 and quickly began learning the business. Morris recalls that their first booking was for themselves and close family on a 12-day British Isles cruise. “We hadn’t even had a passport before we bought,” she said. “So, we had to get passports and everything.”
Over the past 11 years, the Morrises have built Arizona Cruise and Travel into a full-service agency, with an office in Gilbert and a growing team of independent contractors and employees. Their client base ranges from retirees to young professionals who rely on the agency to handle the details of complex trips. The company has earned recognition within Cruise Planners’ “Millionaire Club,” and this summer achieved its first month with more than $500,000 in sales.
The couple has also built a reputation for going beyond cruise bookings. “In fact, that is our tagline: ‘More than Just Cruises,’” she said. “So, we are a full-service travel agency.” Their work has ranged from planning European getaways to arranging bucket-list trips for clients facing serious illness.
Morris leads the agency alongside her husband, who still manages his insurance business but increasingly devotes time to travel. Together, they are planning for the future—both in terms of business expansion and personal travel goals. Africa and Australia remain the only continents they haven’t yet visited.
At 61, Kristin Morris says she sees no reason to slow down. Travel advising, she notes, is a career that can continue well into retirement, and she and Richard intend to keep building on what they’ve created. “We absolutely love what we do,” she said. “We love helping people. We love putting trips together for them. We love hearing about it when they come back.”
Join Kristin and Richard Morris as they host Reiner Marks, Director of Business Development—Viking Cruises as he presents “The Viking Difference” on Feb. 12 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Tuscany Falls Clubhouse Chianti Dining Room. Please call 602-626-3740 to RSVP. Light appetizers and refreshments will be served. Attendance is free.