Hi Noobie,
We used a borrowed baby bath for a couple of months and used it on our loungeroom rug with a towel under it and it was fine. Now that DS is older we have given the bath back and he has showers with us, mainly.
Actually, we stopped using the baby bath on advice from our swimming school. We started washing WITH him (shower or bath), and that way we could teach him flotation and having the security of a parent in there with him. This helps babies in deeper water, like the pool. We started swimming lessons at about 4 and a half months of age and would have ideally done them from birth (can be done if your swim school has the right program for it), so DS is quite comfy in deep water. The principle is that a baby bath, or one of those bath seat things remove the need for flotation and lead to increased water fear when a baby finally gets into water where they can't feel the bottom.
So, I would suggest that for now, bath baby on the floor, or take baby into the shower, running water over the head (with baby facing down and in the crook of your or DH's elbow) and have your partner take the baby from you when the baby is washed (until baby is older and you become more adept at getting yourself and baby out without help...which we can now, woo hoo!).
So, what I'm saying is, your current bath should be fine - when baby is too old to be bathed in the bath on the floor, you should hopefully be able to bath with baby in your tub (whenever that may be due to tank considerations), and also be able to leave baby to explore the shower base whilst you're showering, too.
See? It's as hard as you want it to be, and your friends seem to want it to be hard for you! Don't worry, we have people like that in our lives too, and it's nice to show them that it doesn't have to be hard after all