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"He always wanted to go through the Panama Canal, but he never made it," Van Horn said.

Longtime friend Sherrie Slick of Ketchikan had been planning a birthday party for the man she called "our Mr. Republican in Ketchikan," when she got a call from Nancy Elkins saying her husband had died on board the ship.

"Even though we knew how sick he was, we always expected him to come home," Slick said.

Slick said Elkins was traveling with his wife, his brother, his son and daughter and two high school friends from Oregon. Elkins, a native of Bend, Ore., was a retired bar owner and former Ketchikan Gateway Borough assemblyman.

In the fall of 2005, he was diagnosed with liver cancer.

Van Horn said he didn't have details about how Elkins died or about the pending funeral arrangements. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach the family on Tuesday were not immediately successful. Celebrity Cruises could not immediately comment, a spokeswoman said.

Van Horn said Elkins was respected for being steadfast in his beliefs, while serving the state and his district.

"He was a devout family man, a very strong Republican," Van Horn said. "He was very faithful to his friends. He told you what he thought. He didn't hesitate to speak his mind."

He served as co-chairman of the House Transportation Committee, which is now being run by his successor Kyle Johansen.

Johansen broke the news of Elkins death on the House Floor on Tuesday. He said no one had a bigger heart or cared more about his district than Elkins.

Johansen later said he first met Elkins as a 16-year-old when he ran a truck into Elkins' bar, The Fo'c's'le.

"He came out of the bar a ball of fire, and by the time we parted we were laughing," Johansen said. "That's the kind of guy he was. He was right in your face but he had a lot of caring in his heart. He wanted to make sure I was OK before he worried about his building."

Before being elected to the House, Elkins was appointed to the state Senate by former Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2003. But he never served a day in the Senate.

Murkowski rescinded the appointment after Elkins criticized him for ending the state's longevity bonus program. The program gave Alaska's elderly payments of up to $250 a month.

Sen. Hollis French, R-Anchorage, said he and fellow Anchorage Democrat Rep. Les Gara enjoyed lunch with Elkins recently during a layover in Ketchikan.

"He was an independent Alaskan, kind of an old school Republican," French said. "He never let politics stop him from pursuing a good idea. He followed his own policy nose, and we valued him for that."