iCloud Mail is for non-critical mail
Through Apple's:
(1) inability to restore service in a reasonable time period (2 days and counting?) and
(2) their total inability to be transparent and open with their customers describing what the issue is (why the secret?) and
(3) their unknowledgeable and untrained telephone support staff (try calling them on this issue... it's a joke)
they have rendered their email service and the credibility of their cloud offerings to the level of entertainment. Going forward, I will not use any of their service offerings (mail, calendar, storage) for anything important.
Mac Pro; MacBook 15"; iPhone 4; iPad 3G 32gb, Mac OS X (10.6.5)