A Missouri woman cruising out of New Orleans defeated some 200 competitors to claim top prize of $30,000 in the first NCL Casinos at Sea Buy-In Slot Tournament held aboard the Norwegian Sun.

The 200 slots players -- who got a special Casinos at Sea price on their cabin that included a $100 initial tournament buy-in -- competed in 5-minute preliminary rounds on February 12th, the first sea day of the cruise.

Initial rounds were designed to narrow the field down to 20 players for the finals.

But players who did not fare well in the initial rounds on February 12th had two more opportunities to make their way to the final. A number of them bought into the Re-Buy sessions on the second and third days of the tournament, held in the early evenings after the Norwegian Sun sailed from Mexico and Costa Rica.

The winner of the final round, Phyllis H. of Independence, MO, played "lucky machine number eleven."

She is shown receiving her check from (left to right) Darren Beauchamp, Manager Onboard Player Development, Richard Guy, Casino Manager, and Norwegian Sun Captain Alf Hilden.

Phyllis said she planned to share her winnings with her sister, who was cruising with her.

The other nineteen finalists divided up a total pot of $57,500, with the second through fifth place finishers also sailing away with major prize money.

During non-casino hours, there was also the opportunity to socialize with other slot tournament participants as well as partake in a variety of activities on the Norwegian Sun's port calls in Costa Maya, Mexico; Santo Tomas, Costa Rica; Belize; and Cozumel, Mexico.

Based on the success of this tourney, NCL already is planning additional Buy-In Slots tournaments, and readers of Cruise-Casinos.com are invited to register their potential interest by emailing NCL at SeaTheDifference@NCL.com.