Tom Stieghorst
I imagine there may have been a few high-fives exchanged in the halls of the Miami-based cruise lines when word leaked out that President Trump's Cuba policy wasn't going to affect them much.
It's tempting to think that the coast is clear.
So it's worth remembering at this juncture that it isn't all about us.
The media discussion was mostly about what Trump - the United States president - did, and whether Americans thought it was good or bad.
But let's recall that the recent opening of Cuba to tourism and trade has at each step depended on what the Cuban government wants, and less on what the U.S. authorities want to happen.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Trump's action, and more importantly his rhetoric, leads to some kind of tightening of cruise tourism to Cuba.
Trump's speech at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables was undoubtedly calibrated to please the conservative Cubans-Americans who supported him and hated the changes that the Obama administration made.
Just as surely, it was viewed as a provocation in Havana, if for no other reason than its resonance with the Cuban-American right. Cuban exiles have long been seen as a mortal threat to the island's socialist Revolution and any sign of their success with powers in Washington is bound to annoy the Castro regime.
Having received a pass from the Trump administration, and having made such real progress, it hardly seems logical from the vantage point of cruise suppliers and sellers that the stumbling block to advancement would be Cuba itself.
But it may be.
The Cuban government's response to Trump's speech was to blast it as "hostile rhetoric" and to remind Trump that he's in no position to lecture Cuba. Probably a third to a half of Americans would agree.
Now we need to watch for what Cuba does, not what it says. If Fidel Castro were still in charge, I have little doubt that there would be consequences, such as a roll-back of permission for cruise arrivals. The hope for the cruise industry is that his brother Raul is a more pragmatic man, and that Cuba will continue to welcome the foreign exchange that cruise tourism brings.