The cruise industry -- rocked by cruise ship fires, rogue waves, heavy lists, passengers overboard and the Norovirus -- got just the help it needed July 26th: publicity for an exercise testing how security agencies would respond to a terrorist attack on a cruise ship.

The San Diego exercise, dubbed Bay Shield, simulated an attack on a cruise ship in San Diego bay by terrorists aboard a bomb-laden suicide boat.

More than 30 local, regional and federal agencies participated in the day-long drill to test how they would respond to an actual terrorist attack.

While the planning obviously is a great idea, the decision by the U.S. Coast Guard to issue a press release announcing its intention to "test the San Diego Area Maritime Security Plan" may not necessarily have been just what a shaky cruise industry needs.

In the exercise, participants sat for eight hours around rows of tables inside a hangar at the Coast Guard station, playing out their respective roles in coping with the aftermath of the “attack.” The drill was covered by the local newspaper, the San Diego Union Tribune.

“Everybody sits in and discusses what happens next after the initial response,” said Coast Guard Lt. Rick Hipes. “This is a test of our security plan and to look at our shortfalls.

“We will see everything we did wrong, so that if there's an actually event, we can come out perfectly.”

That all sounds great, and we hope these exercises lead to improved security not just in San Diego but other U.S. cruise ship ports as well. But we would counsel: Hold the press releases. At this juncture, the publicity may not be just what the U.S. cruise industry needs.