"Yossarian" wrote:

Situational awareness is your responsibility. Think ahead; if you feel
you're going to be too high too close to the airport, ask for lower.
You may not get it, so you should also be thinking of what you'll do if
you don't.

In the case you described, you were cleared to make whatever maneuvers
were necessary to land; that's what "cleared for the visual" means. But
if I was going to do something unusual like do a 360 to lose altitude,
I'd let the controller know.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM