I can no longer determine a calendar alert snooze time?

Question

I'm very dependent on my calendar alerts and use them for recurring events like bill paying and unique events like meetings and doctor appointments. Up until OS 10.7 (Lion), when an alert popped up and I wanted to continue being alerted of that event, I could simply choose the snooze time (be it 5 minutes, an hour, a day or a week) and could continue to be re-reminded until I chose not to be.
Last week I upgraded to Mountain Lion so I could take maximum advantage of iCloud and my new iPhone 5. After much frustration and searching, it's apparent that the option of determining the snooze time in "Calendar", formerly known as "iCal" is simply no longer an option. Why remove a core feature of a core app? I'm stuck using the default snooze time as set in the calendar app, then, when the alert does pop up, I'm stuck with either dismissing it completely or hitting "snooze" only to be reminded every 15 or 20 minutes. This works okay for events with a short lag time, but in other cases (I will sometimes set up a bill payment reminder days before it's due so I have time to cover the due amount in my bank account) I'm stuck having either it pop up incessantly for days EVERY 20 minutes for DAYS or dismissing it, risking missing the payment due date.
I know from scanning these forums that a lot of other people are unhappy with the dumbed down functionality of this core app. I haven't been able to find an alternative to the app from any third-party. It sounds like both "busycal" and "fantastical" are dependent on Apple's calendar app so I don't know if they will solve the problem or not. I don't really wnat to spend money on a third party app just to get back a core function of an app I've been dependent on for years.
If anyone has found a good alternative to help get back this simple, but critical functionality, I'd love to know about it. Thanks!

Answer 1

I have also submitted feedback to Apple about this, as I think they have rendered Calendar all but useless by stripping out the ability to set sound cues, and to specify the lag time when hitting the "snooze" button. I completely agree, this is a serious and unprofessional messtep to remove a core function as though it were a trivial feature of the software. I've been a loyal Apple consumer for two decades, and this really makes me angry.
I am hopeful the wonderful people at Apple will restore this function with the next update to the OS.