I had to file two reports this week and neither actually reached NCMEC. Both hung on the actual image upload. It does submit at least *some* data to NCMEC, since we get a seemingly valid case number from them, but it just bounces back from their system as an incomplete report.
As an aside, NCMEC's own CyberTip system is much easier to use than it perhaps used to be, so using this instead may actually be a viable option now.