This article considers economic risks which could potentially threaten the competitiveness and sustainability of cruise destinations such as New Zealand. Included in this article are those economic risks which are factored into cruise lines’ decisions as to whether to send their ships to a destination and the destination’s capacity to host these ships and their passengers. A cruise life-cycle framework has been developed to provide a structure for discussion: (a) product development; (b) infrastructure development; (c) distribution; (d) consumption; and (e) disposal. Five strategies for managing economic risks are presented: the formation of an adequately funded peak committee; the cultivation of a cruise culture; the provision of appropriate training; the creation of a national cruise manual; and the design, development and implementation of a cruise brand. Each of these strategies is based on an approach to risk management which calls for a positive view of risk and how it can be transformed into competitive success.