Hello Dahotone,
On every balcony I've had so far, all that opens is a panel/door in the balcony wall. It's nice to go from side to side easily, but if you are on your side, and your neighbors are sitting on their side, it won't be like you're sitting together.
Suer, I've never had a balcony on a RCCL ship before. I'm really surprised to hear that they wouldn't open the balcony doors. When we cruised with friends on Carnival, the steward opened them immediately that we asked. I wonder if this is a usual rule for RCCL?
This could be really important information to know when choosing a ship. We've have a potential cruise with friends in the very early planning stage, and I would be inclined to count that as a very big negative factor, when we consider which ship to take.