The biggest threat presented in the Kobayashi Maru isn't the destruction of either ship or crew; it's the political fallout that would inevitably spark (another) war with the Klingons. Don't give the Empire what it wants.
At the Academy, Ensign Maro pretty much went out of his way to specialize in the linguistic and cultural aspects of First Contact encounters. Whether he'll actually be good at it remains to be seen.