sail2wind you are correct - the VI is not Verizon friendly... at this time

Ok I could have this wrong, but I think they may be feeling growing pains.

The government run Puerto Rico Telephone Service was sold to GTE many moons ago

Not sure how Verzion Wireless / GTE relationship worked, but into 2005 Verizon sold to a Dom Rep/Mexico corporation that is known on island as CLARO.

However Verizon and CLARO must have had an agreement, so your Verizon was still local in PR and life was good for the everyday traveler.

Recently, (end of 2013) Verizon decided it wanted to have a full presence back on the island, and was or has procured a small provider in PR called Open Mobile. The target was to bring the new Verizon on line in the April timeframe.

So what the guest may be encountering is that buy out did happen and now CLARO will tack on Roaming Charges to Verizon customers as Verizon rebuilds or expands the much smaller Open Mobile network on the island.

The wedding party MAY (emphasize MAY) be experiencing this transition.