I know it was merely a plot point to "put" George Kirk in command, but would could Robau really have done to A) protect his ship and B) live! He just gave in to easily and was killed for his integrity. What would you have done differently to get the ship out of danger? Or was that the only thing he could have done? Nothing was gained with his death. Narada still continued fire on Kelvin and they still abandoned ship and Kelvin was still destroyed. I would have set the ship to self distruct, set helm for collison course, ordered General order 13 and abandoned ship! (Basically what they did, WITHOUT the Captain dying)
The Kelvin had no chance at all against the Narada. Robau going over for "negotiations" offered a brief respite from attack and gave the Kelvin crew a chance to prepare for plan B. Robau knew he wasn't coming back - he may not be the demigod the internet makes him out to be, but the way he marched over there and asked Nero "What gives you the right to attack a Federation vessel?" while surrounded by crazed Romulans was first class. The only way to save the Kelvin would be through some Voyager/Enterprise-style deus ex machina. Not every starship gets an infinite supply of luck.
...Of course, Nero could have been bluffing. Half a dozen of those missiles of his damaged the Kelvin without destroying her; at the grand finale of the movie, his panicky command "Fire everything!" unleashes only perhaps twenty such missiles. Possibly the Kelvin could have escaped on impulse while Nero frantically tried to reload, then. Perhaps the ship would have been saved, had she been commanded by a less calm and composed skipper, somebody who would have turned and fled even when the baddie told him not to? Timo Saloniemi
True, those are reserved for Enterprise! lol But just imagine if Kirk was asked to come over to seek "negotiations". It just seemed odd that a Starship Captain could die so easily, yet Nero was superhuman! (Sorry, Superromulan!)
Remember that at the point Nero shouts "Fire everything," the Narada had destroyed 7 starships that went to Vulcan, 47(?) Klingon ships, and possibly a big chunk of whatever defenses Vulcan had in orbit within the span of a day or two. It's probable that they were running low on munitions at that point, hence Nero keeping Pike alive to get the codes for Earth's defenses so he wouldn't have to plow his way through and expend what little was left of his arsenal.